Chromebooks Are Outselling iPads In Schools 225
Nate the greatest (2261802) writes Apple thrilled investors earlier this week when they revealed that they had sold 13 million iPads to schools and claimed 85% of the educational tablet market, but that wasn't the whole story. It turns out that Apple has only sold 5 million iPads to schools since February 2013, or an average of less than a million tablets a quarter over 6 quarters. It turns out that instead of buying iPads, schools are buying Chromebooks. Google reported that a million Chromebooks were sold to schools last quarter, well over half of the 1.8 million units sold in the second quarter. With Android tablets getting better, Apple is losing market share in the consumer tablet market, and now it looks Apple is also losing the educational market to Google. Analysts are predicting that 5 million Chromebooks will be sold by the end of the year; how many of those will be sold to schools, do you think?
Papers (Score:1, Insightful)
What are you gonna use for typing papers?
Just say'in.
Surprise, surprise (Score:3, Insightful)
What do I think? (Score:2, Insightful)
Analysts are predicting that 5 million Chromebooks will be sold by the end of the year; how many of those will be sold to schools, do you think?
As a parent in a school district, I'm pissed that our school district is buying every student a Chomebook*.
I would be even angrier if they had gone with the iPad.
These programs are a bloody sham--they're a waste of money and will not help the education of our next generation one bit. There is nothing that providing a laptop per child affords that can't be accomplished through classroom media presentation devices (computer & projector) and a good school computer lab. These devices will only be a distraction and huge expense for families and schools as millions of them are broken every year.
*Our district is requiring that families pay for half, so I guess they're only half buying them and being dillholes toward us. I would be in favor of a program that provides these devices to low income families (and the district can pay for the whole thing).
Re:What do I think? (Score:5, Insightful)
When I was at school I wasted vast amounts of time being forced to write stuff out in draft form and then re-write it neatly. Fortunately now we have computers that allow editing. This is progress - I can write a report and edit it without endless copying out by hand.
Kids should have access to computers. Not all families can afford them. By giving all the students the same computers it is easier for the teacher to teach without getting bogged down in technical differences, and allows the school to administer and manage them.
Re:Keyboards (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think it has anything to do with being "remotely managed" but rather the simple fact that a tablet and a laptop are still two different tools.
I think people are starting to understand that using a tablet isn't just "using a computer with a touch screen." It's an entirely different experience, one that is probably better suited for certain tasks that rely on organic movement. Gaming happens to be one of those tasks but certainly not the only. Music and art are others.
A chromebook is a cheap and crippled laptop, basically, but it beats the heck out of any tablet for typing which pretty much anyone would agree, at least as of now.
So I guess if you're seeing a controversy between people clamoring for one item over the other, a reasonable conclusion to draw would be that one person thinks one type of education is better than another.
Re:Good (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow, that's much ado about nothing.
Re:Outselling? (Score:2, Insightful)
Whoop dee fucking doo.
Re:What do I think? (Score:4, Insightful)
Writing by hand remains an essential skill, and will continue to be an essential skill for the foreseeable future. It is true that it is no longer the domain of people who author reports or books, corresponding with friends and businesses, and many other areas. Yet it is still used extensively for note taking, completing forms, and in many situations where it is easier to use the pen than the keyboard (diagrams, equations, etc.).
In time, that may change. In time, it will probably change. Yet I am getting quite tired of reading the handwriting of adults that wouldn't pass the muster of a grade 3 teacher.
Re:Good (Score:5, Insightful)
How many school kids have a daily need for AutoCAD or Photoshop? I'd imagine only a tiny percentage. So why should a school district equip elementary and middle school kids with a computer powerful enough for tasks that only a small minority of their high-school students need? Would it not be better to give something more powerful (and much more expensive) to just those with the specialist need for something more powerful?
As for a compiler, they could use something like Cloud 9 [c9.io] for cloud based developing.