iPad Mini - Game Changer?

[tmcd35]

You honestly can't see an alternative for pages or keynote on Windows 8??? (or even Windows RT??) Please, open the other eye!

.

I'll hold my hands up on this one, only because I know a new version of Office is due for release around the same time, and my understanding is that it has been engineered with Windows 8 metro mode in mind. So yes, of course there is Powerpoint. Now if Steinberg could be so kind as to release a metro version of CuBase my argument will be lost entirely

[CyberNerd]

Erm, I take it you've not used Garageband then? Can you recommend me a good Android alternative to AmpKit+? How about attaching a keyboard and using Pages? Hell, is there a good android alternative to Pages?

 

 

 

I'd like an equivalent of Tasker if you happen to know what it is.

I was in a meeting with a teacher who's iphone rang, so I simply said why ont turn the ringer off when in a meeting - how do you do that ? easy on my android, I can turn loads of things on or off depending upon the circumstances, location, apps running etc. I promised I could find something on ios, but i've not been able to.

[X-13]

I'd like an equivalent of Tasker if you happen to know what it is.

 

Shazam.

 

I've heard of a few issues with it, but a lot of people like it.

[SYNACK]

I'd like an equivalent of Tasker if you happen to know what it is.

I was in a meeting with a teacher who's iphone rang, so I simply said why ont turn the ringer off when in a meeting - how do you do that ? easy on my android, I can turn loads of things on or off depending upon the circumstances, location, apps running etc. I promised I could find something on ios, but i've not been able to.

 

It's like all apple products, really simple, there is one button that fixes everything

[CyberNerd]

Shazam.

 

I've heard of a few issues with it, but a lot of people like it.

 

Thanks - I couldn't see any calender integration though.

[X-13]

Thanks - I couldn't see any calender integration though.

 

Similar, but not quite the same.

 

 

Could be the reason to jailbreak.

Edited October 24, 2012 by X-13

[featured_spectre]

http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/5673250_460s.jpg

 

Surprised nobody has posted this yet!

[X-13]

Surprised nobody has posted this yet!

 

I would have done it at some point. Though probably not from 9gag.

[GrumbleDook]

The things with tablets ... they are just a tool. Like any tech, you can do some wonderful stuff with it but how well that happens depends on the teacher, the ethos of the school, the curriculum that is delivered ... and whilst you shouldn't tailor education to tech, there are time when doing so will actually give things a structure and purpose that makes change in other areas far easier ... but this will vary from school to school.

 

When looking at tablets there are some pretty common concepts between them all and understanding those is important. Look at previous research about mobile tech, about game-based learning, about tech-enhanced learning and you can see this. The main thing that matters is that when choosing the tech you have to consider whether there are some killer apps or functions that funnel a few things in your decision making, about whether the cost of implementation / management is considered, about how the models of learning will change over the next 5 years (or rather, how they will change at your school) ... and work out whether it is cost effective to use tablets for this.

 

Combining it with other changes around better use of a VLE / LP and you can get some of the cost savings you might need to help improve your infrastructure ... some of it might be invest to save ... it will vary from school to school.

 

Consider training of staff and learners ... and learners will need some training, just not in the same model or the same training the staff get ... the idea of digital natives is a myth ...

 

When it comes to people saying that you can't do X ... it generally means that X is difficult, expensive, time consuming or is not yet a feature ... these are all things that can be compromised around.

 

Also remember that education is not democracy. You will have people say they want to use Y ... and there are times you just have to get on with it ...

 

The iPad Mini is a good replacement for those schools who had been using or looking at iPod touches as learner devices ... a bit more expensive but the larger screen / better performance looks like it will be worth it. The apps are likely to be the key to why iOS devices are chosen, along with learner engagement (yes ... the 'oh shiny' factor can work to the benefit of the school if channeled correctly) and the 'consumer management' model has been shown to be workable.

 

That is not to say that other devices can't do the same ... and give it 12 months and it might be that there are killer apps on other platforms that schools want ... and stuff that is not just on a website so thinking about a device which is mainly just a browser is not likely to be the solution.

[mthomas08]

I along with others have yet to get an iPad or tablet kind of device. Took me a while to decide on an upgrade mobile to the iPhone, do i regret the decision? well to be frank I have nothing new or extra thats been a benefit to me but I have spent far too much time on it. And .... money for apps.

 

I will probably wait till Windows 8, dont think the ipad mini at all is a game changer they have simply shrunk their initial design. The iphone was a game changer (i hate to admit it). Of course it will sell there are a lot of dedicated people who decided to queue up for the latest iphone even though it gave very little extra. Even my other half wants it because she is "bored" of her current 4s, ask her why and that is the answer i get - Bored.... She also wanted an ipad - again ask why.. I get no real answer - so she can better use the internet for facebook...

 

Ack well the latest fab, I thought we was all in financial ruin but people can still spend 300 pound on a device they probably already have but it looks better and maybe a little faster...

 

Edit:

Sorry I am not a major in anti MAC but I too am against in buying a new pair of trainers every month, new mobile every 6 months and a new PC every year... a lot of money for something not really needed - my view

Edited October 24, 2012 by mthomas08

[aerospacemango]

I along with others have yet to get an iPad or tablet kind of device. Took me a while to decide on an upgrade mobile to the iPhone, do i regret the decision? well to be frank I have nothing new or extra thats been a benefit to me but I have spent far too much time on it. And .... money for apps.

 

I will probably wait till Windows 8, dont think the ipad mini at all is a game changer they have simply shrunk their initial design. The iphone was a game changer (i hate to admit it). Of course it will sell there are a lot of dedicated people who decided to queue up for the latest iphone even though it gave very little extra. Even my other half wants it because she is "bored" of her current 4s, ask her why and that is the answer i get - Bored.... She also wanted an ipad - again ask why.. I get no real answer - so she can better use the internet for facebook...

 

Ack well the latest fab, I thought we was all in financial ruin but people can still spend 300 pound on a device they probably already have but it looks better and maybe a little faster...

 

Edit:

Sorry I am not a major in anti MAC but I too am against in buying a new pair of trainers every month, new mobile every 6 months and a new PC every year... a lot of money for something not really needed - my view

 

Well said, that man!!!

[Arthur]

to me it seems that to supersede a device 7 months into its product cycle is a bit of a shabby thing to do I felt there, that probably could have been held off until at least a 12 month, it is a bit of a kick in the teeth I felt for people who do invest in their technology platform.

Google's Nexus 7 is only 3 months and 8 days old and the 16GB model is about to be superseded by a 32GB model for the same price. That's like being kicked in the teeth, the shins and the groin all at the same time!!!

 

It seems to me that Apple are a bit lost in the post Jobs era

Tim Cook has worked at Apple for 14 years (thirteen of which were while Steve Jobs was still alive). A large part of Apple's success in the past has been down to Tim, so I don't think Apple are lost at all. They are just doing what they normally do.

 

I reckon Apple have been planning on making an iPad mini for quite some time since they are experts at price anchoring.

 

http://i.imgur.com/axzdO.png

[Arthur]

Interesting blog post by Mr Speirs...

 

Thoughts on iPad mini « Fraser Speirs

 

On the price, it's more than I had hoped for. In the UK, the Nexus 7 is selling for £159. Given the relative strength of the Apple and Google ecosystems, I've never thought that Apple needed to undercut or even match Google's price. I think the gap still feels a little large but you have to look at what people are actually buying and using and I'm not seeing Nexus 7s everywhere I look.

 

From the point of view of a school, I don't think the iPad mini will enable a lot of new 1:1 programs. The reason that we don't have more isn't purely money. After all, devices cheaper than the iPad have existed for years - they're called Netbooks - and we don't have hundreds of schools full of 1:1 Netbook programs. I think, for a full-time 1:1 deployment, you're still going to want to use a full-size iPad.

 

What the iPad mini will do is cut the cost of a class-set deployment. When you deploy in a class-set approach, the actual use of the device is typically more ad-hoc and not as detail- and creativity-oriented as a permanent 1:1 scenario. Perhaps the iPad mini will work better in that situation.

 

As for the iPad 4, I'm not at all upset that Apple 'obsoleted' my 6-month-old iPad 3. You're asking me would I rather the pace of innovation slowed down just so I could feel like the king of the hill for a bit longer? That's crazy. If there's one thing you'll never hear me ask for, it would be that Apple slow down the rate at which iPads get better.

[Alis_Klar]

I'd like an equivalent of Tasker if you happen to know what it is.

I was in a meeting with a teacher who's iphone rang, so I simply said why ont turn the ringer off when in a meeting - how do you do that ? easy on my android, I can turn loads of things on or off depending upon the circumstances, location, apps running etc. I promised I could find something on ios, but i've not been able to.

 

Are you scared that if you know how to flick the little switch on the side on an iPhone we'll all accuse you of once having touched one? The iPhone (unjailbroken) has many failings in regards to toggling services on or off quickly (wifi springs to mind) but toggling the ringer to silent it not one of them! Has the iOS bashing really leaped into unreality on this thread?

[X-13]

Are you scared that if you know how to flick the little switch on the side on an iPhone we'll all accuse you of once having touched one? The iPhone (unjailbroken) has many failings in regards to toggling services on or off quickly (wifi springs to mind) but toggling the ringer to silent it not one of them! Has the iOS bashing really leaped into unreality on this thread?

 

Look up tasker.

 

See what it does.

 

Realise how stupid what you just said is.

[Alis_Klar]

The scenario was that a teacher went into a meeting without turning their phone to silent. Will the teacher really have the time to learn tasker and set up a profile. The great unwashed want a simple solution

[Edu-IT]

In terms of putting the phone on silent though, what's up with the switch?

[SYNACK]

The scenario was that a teacher went into a meeting without turning their phone to silent. Will the teacher really have the time to learn tasker and set up a profile. The great unwashed want a simple solution

 

Because doing something simple hundreds of times is so much more efficient than doing something reasonably simple once. I don't dispute your logic though, the average idiocracy characters that inhabit this place raving about iRubbish because they can actually use it is so depressing and a very sad enditement of the human race. We are headed into another dark ages with captain Apple at the helm. Because remember kiddies, stupidity is cool!

[X-13]

Because remember kiddies, stupidity is cool!

 

Of course it it.

 

Don't you remember "the cool kids" when you were at school? Did THEY ever pay attention to their studies? [YMMV]

[tmcd35]

iOS isn't by any means perfect, and sure for some people something like Tasker can be invaluable (and a reason to choose Android over iOS), however when evaluating "Killer Apps" for education it's probably nowhere near as high on my list as Garageband or Pages (and as a guitarist, AmpKit trumps everything). From my experience of having tried both ecosystems the quality of apps seem higher and the breadth wider on iOS at the moment. I do hope that it will change, after all Android is now the number 1 phone OS and for all it's faults Windows 8 is still Windows backed (hopefully) by 30 years of Windows development.

 

In terms of putting the phone on silent though, what's up with the switch?

 

Lol, I didn't want to ask! (I use mine all the time - it works very well).

Edited October 25, 2012 by tmcd35

[X-13]

From my experience of having tried both ecosystems the quality of apps seem higher and the breadth wider on iOS at the moment.

 

To be fair, that could be because of the standardisation.

 

All iPhones have the same OS. Which works in the same way.

 

 

Android is currently way too fragmented.

 

 

Windows 8 is still Windows backed (hopefully) by 30 years of Windows development.

 

Ahem. Vista.

 

That is all.

[Alis_Klar]

I think there is a tendancy for non-techies (teachers esp) to feel superior to us techs and when we can beat them at something hands down they feel they have to crow from the rooftops when the fully master a piece of technology (or feel they have). You have to admit iOS devices really are simple to use (the only thing they could have made easier is to replace safari with the "blue e" so thicko's could get on the net with it. )

 

Android has more flexibility but consequently is perhaps a little more confusing to master to the technophobe.

 

I think as people become more IT literate more people will become frustrated with Apple making all the decisions for them somewhere along the line.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Alis_Klar

[X-13]

I think there is a tendancy for non-techies (teachers esp) to feel superior to us techs

 

Oh, God, yes.

 

There's only 1 teacher here I don't really mind it from. He's a fellow comic-nerd, has a degree in programming [and professional experience of it] and shares my immature humour. [And uses Android.]

 

Don't get me wrong, it annoys me. Just not as much as it does coming from other people.

 

I think as people become more IT literate more people will become frustrated with Apple making all the decisions for them somewhere along the line.

 

The thing is... That's the reason why Apple stuff "just works".

 

BEACUSE it's so locked down.

[featured_spectre]

Want to annoy apple fan boys? Show them some FPS games, most Macs can't run them without severe graphics lag

[localzuk]

I think there is a tendancy for non-techies (teachers esp) to feel superior to us techs and when we can beat them at something hands down they feel they have to crow from the rooftops when the fully master a piece of technology (or feel they have). You have to admit iOS devices really are simple to use (the only thing they could have made easier is to replace safari with the "blue e" so thicko's could get on the net with it. )

 

In part, its actually that simplicity that annoys me. Diagnosing an issue can be near enough impossible, as there's no way to run anything to actually do any diagnosis - you have to rely on searching Apple's site to see if there's anything related to what is going on. (Eg. the whole 'ssl not going through proxies' issue at the moment).

 

Android has more flexibility but consequently is perhaps a little more confusing to master to the technophobe.

 

I would liken it to a car vs a train. A train is a very simple technology for someone to get from station to station, but as soon as you want to go somewhere which doesn't have a station, you can no longer just take the train. A car allows you to go from anywhere to anywhere, but is more difficult to use.

 

Both have their place, but a car is a more robust general purpose transport option.

 

(Note, I don't drive... So for me, I'm stuck with public transport, which on the whole does me fine, but it isn't flexible).

 

I think as people become more IT literate more people will become frustrated with Apple making all the decisions for them somewhere along the line.

 

I think in many cases, the Apple gear forces them into becoming more IT literate, as they hit something they can't do, and are forced to learn other ways of doing it. Then they discover Android and realise that Apple stuff was ridiculously restrictive.