Thanks, Apple...

[zsdersw]

You really are flexing your market position, and that's making my task of purchasing iPads (not my choice, believe me) a lot more expensive than it would be with products from almost any other manufacturer.

Not only do you forbid other retailers (CDW-G, TigerDirect, BestBuy Business, etc.) from selling to organizations like mine in quantities greater than 1, but your "discount" of $20 off each iPad applies only to packs of 10 iPads. If I want 14, for example, I get the first 10 for $479/ea. and the other 4 for $499/ea.

I will not, however, be going with your company's products when I outfit the other two-thirds of our organization with tablets. Specific usage demands required iPads at this one level, but the other two will not have such a clear-cut need for iPads... and your snobby pricing will make us take our business elsewhere.

 

[Patranus]

LOL

I guess all of those fortune 500 companies are doing it wrong.

People like are you why the general public hates IT people.

 

[zsdersw]

LOL

I guess all of those fortune 500 companies are doing it wrong.

People like are you why the general public hates IT people.

Doing what wrong?

 

[alent1234]

looks like the OP hasn't dealt with some angels of IT like Oracle, IBM, Sun and others

 

[alent1234]

Doing what wrong?

ipad seems to be best for your job requirement. but because apple made you upset for some dumb reason you are going to stick your users with something that will make their lives harder

 

[zsdersw]

looks like the OP hasn't dealt with some angels of IT like Oracle, IBM, Sun and others

Working for a K12 school district, no, I haven't... as there is no need for their products at my level.

 

[zsdersw]

ipad seems to be best for your job requirement. but because apple made you upset for some dumb reason you are going to stick your users with something that will make their lives harder

We cannot afford iPads for the rest of our users, especially if the lowest unit price we can get is $479. The best product for one section of our users is the iPad... not necessarily the best for the other two.

 

[Genx87]

What is the specific need that only an iPad can fufill?

 

[zsdersw]

What is the specific need that only an iPad can fufill?

Education apps.

 

[snikt]

What is the specific need that only an iPad can fufill?

Sparkly icons and widgets that grade schoolers are drawn to like a moth to a flame?


I jest, I jest...

 

[Genx87]

Education apps.

No option on Android? I only ask because in big organizations some higher up wants an iPad and decides to fluff a reason why the entire organization should use them so they can get one.

 

[zsdersw]

No option on Android? I only ask because in big organizations some higher up wants an iPad and decides to fluff a reason why the entire organization should use them so they can get one.

Some options on Android, but far fewer... and many are of questionable educational value. I have to pick the device that does the most the best... and unfortunately for one level in the district that's the iPad.

 

[alent1234]

apple is about to have an event in NYC to unveil new software/content for the education market too

my 64GB ipad 2 has 25GB of apps on it, mostly educational. android is way behind in this. one of the reasons why i went back to iphone from android as well

 

[Patranus]

No option on Android? I only ask because in big organizations some higher up wants an iPad and decides to fluff a reason why the entire organization should use them so they can get one.

And that is their job.
It is your job to do what they want.
There is a reason why they are the boss and you are the peon.
Again, this attitude is why most people hate IT people.
Thinking you know whats best for the company when that isn't your job.

 

[zsdersw]

And that is their job.
It is your job to do what they want.
There is a reason why they are the boss and you are the peon.
Again, this attitude is why most people hate IT people.
Thinking you know whats best for the company when that isn't your job.

Trust me... in the K12 world, management (superintendent, school board, etc) know nothing about what's best for the school in terms of IT. Technology Coordinators do, which is why they put us in charge of those decisions.

 

[zsdersw]

apple is about to have an event in NYC to unveil new software/content for the education market too

my 64GB ipad 2 has 25GB of apps on it, mostly educational. android is way behind in this. one of the reasons why i went back to iphone from android as well

Thanks to Apple's ridiculous pricing/retailer rules, though, we won't be able to afford them for the rest of the district... hence the OP.

 

[Insomniator]

I would question why K12 needs Ipads or any kind of tablet for educational purposes. I don't remember anyone in my school actually learning anything on old IBM Pentium 1's so we were all upgraded to pretty good (at the time) P4's. You know what? Those computers turned out to be great for playing snes roms during class.

 

[Genx87]

And that is their job.
It is your job to do what they want.
There is a reason why they are the boss and you are the peon.
Again, this attitude is why most people hate IT people.
Thinking you know whats best for the company when that isn't your job.

I take it you have very little experience dealing with upper management who want IT to go in directions because they read an article, was taken to a nice dinner, or simply want something.

Their job from my perspective is to saddle us with expensive useless projects because they couldnt tell the difference from their ass and a hole in the ground.

And I disagree with you completely on the last sentence. IT is hired for exactly that reason. To find the best technology, implement it, and maintain it for the business. And why wouldnt we? We are the people who actually implement, understand, and maintain said systems. We are hired specifically for our talents. I wouldnt dream of running a company from a CEO position like I wouldnt expect a CEO to know how a network works.

 

[zsdersw]

I would question why K12 needs Ipads or any kind of tablet for educational purposes. I don't remember anyone in my school actually learning anything on old IBM Pentium 1's so we were all upgraded to pretty good (at the time) P4's. You know what? Those computers turned out to be great for playing snes roms during class.

We're moving toward 1-to-1 computing, where each student has a computing device that they can use both in and out of school.

We're also moving toward "the cloud" with Google Apps.

 

[alent1234]

I would question why K12 needs Ipads or any kind of tablet for educational purposes. I don't remember anyone in my school actually learning anything on old IBM Pentium 1's so we were all upgraded to pretty good (at the time) P4's. You know what? Those computers turned out to be great for playing snes roms during class.

there was no good software back then. app store has educational software that is useful

 

[alent1234]

Thanks to Apple's ridiculous pricing/retailer rules, though, we won't be able to afford them for the rest of the district... hence the OP.

at least last year the parts cost of a 16GB wifi ipad was around $250 so $499 is not a bad price.

 

[zsdersw]

at least last year the parts cost of a 16GB wifi ipad was around $250 so $499 is not a bad price.

Why not $450, $425, or $400? Why won't Apple let other retailers sell in quantity to my (or any other) K12 district so I can get the best price?

They're certainly taking advantage of their market position.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Buy refurbs for $419, full warranty, they're perfect.

 

[snikt]

I take it you have very little experience dealing with upper management who want IT to go in directions because they read an article, was taken to a nice dinner, or simply want something.

Their job from my perspective is to saddle us with expensive useless projects because they couldnt tell the difference from their ass and a hole in the ground.

And I disagree with you completely on the last sentence. IT is hired for exactly that reason. To find the best technology, implement it, and maintain it for the business. And why wouldnt we? We are the people who actually implement, understand, and maintain said systems. We are hired specifically for our talents. I wouldnt dream of running a company from a CEO position like I wouldnt expect a CEO to know how a network works.

I'll add that us IT folk are also to a certain extent, the police for our systems, networks, and workstations. We restrict what can and can't be installed on end user machines. We restrict who can log on to our systems, networks, and workstations. In that sense I can understand why end users wouldn't be so keen on us.

 

[zsdersw]

Buy refurbs for $419, full warranty, they're perfect.

Not available to K12 districts.