Apple's Ed Tech Efforts Are Asleep At The Wheel

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

Apple's Ed Tech Efforts Are Asleep At The Wheel

In typical form, Apple threw a splashy event to show off their new education product lineup. And, as usual, the star of the show was... the iPad.

Having seen the success of Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, and CloudReady (a Chrome OS 'clone' for older PC hardware, targeted largely at education), and the part played in this by Chrome's low price point, they've decided to cut educators a bit of slack and charge them 'only' $300 per device for their slabs, slightly upgraded.

And for a mere $50 or $100 more they can add a 'Crayon' or 'Pencil' Stylus, which require charging (awkwardly, via the Lightning port on the tablet), pairing, and special storage due to the lack of an included port for storing it.

Compare this to the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, announced a day earlier. At $330 it costs a bit more, but comes with an included, non powered stylus with a stowing port. Those styli are easily replaced at a reasonable cost, if they're lost, and likely schools will keep boxes around.

It's not clear if the Acer Tab is any more rugged than an iPad, but at 9.7" it should be compatible with a lot of iPad covers, and it should be easy for makers of iPad covers to adapt special versions.

And the Acer, of course, works with Google's education management tools, without any major change from existing Chromebook management tools. Apple's education management tools are getting better to be sure, but still have a ways to go, and are handily beaten by Google's drop dead simple and affordable offerings.

Sure, some of Apple's education apps for the iPad are shiny and pretty, but most school districts aren't run like startups looking for Blue Sky Thinking. They have a set of requirements, including budget constraints, and they get the best tech they can with this, then developers do the rest.

It seems unlikely a puny price reduction will do much to bolster iPad, and the Tab 10 likely won't be the last competitor, though in truth it is the first (in the education market, specifically).

#AppleEducation #iPad #Chromepad
https://amp.businessinsider.com/apple-new-ipad-is-too-fragile-expensive-and-impractical-for-school-2018-3

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