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The issue with each of these examples is that hardware advancements barely matter. $200 Android tablet with a simple enough design works just as well. Apple do

by flixic 7y ago

The issue with each of these examples is that hardware advancements barely matter. $200 Android tablet with a simple enough design works just as well. Apple doesn't want to participate in such markets. That's why they try to push creativity narrative, "what's a computer" and so on. iPad can only succeed as a premium enough product, and that requires software differentiation.

Slartie 7y ago
I get that, but after all it's not really Apple's choice what their buyers do with their devices. If they overwhelmingly decide the iPad is a nice base for this kind of application, Apple can either embrace that decision and cater to these customers (of which a good part are obviously ready to at least pay more than those $200 for the cheap Android tablet option, probably because of better update support as suggested by that other comment alongside this one) or try to make the device appealing to other target markets that they'd like to be in. But when those other markets don't really take the bait, at some point it might be a good idea to accept that there is a market, but in a somewhat different place than originally anticipated.
Nextgrid 7y ago
iPad succeeds in these examples because it's a consistent environment with updates. The problem with the cheap Android tablet is that unless the entire world standardises on a single model of tablet for these purposes you'd have all kinds of quirks around hardware, etc. Updates are also another issue even on premium-priced Android devices, so the cheap one is a lost cause.
- flixic 7y ago
  Updates themselves are an assumption. I imagine a large percentage of cafe checkout and meeting room booking tablets are never updated once installed. The distinction here is Appliance vs Computing Platform. And so far many tablets are seen as appliances, not computers.
  - samatman 7y ago
    If they're iPads, this is unlikely. All one has to do is leave them connected to power and WiFi overnight. It's more likely that the typical cafe checkout iPad is silently updated on a regular basis, after close of business, and the staff don't notice at all; since they're going to be password protected, they just punch in in the morning, as usual.
  - Mindwipe 7y ago
    I doubt it's so much doing updates as it is about support. If they have a vendor app (like Square on a tablet to take payments) and that abandons older OS versions to lower technical debt or for security reasons then at least they can update. On Android you'd sadly find the lack of kernel compatibility with the chipset means that ever happens.
- zozbot234 7y ago
  Updates can be provided by the community in many cases. Buy cheap LineageOS-supported tablet, unlock the bootloader and put LineageOS on, you're done. (Then once pmOS gets good enough for your use case, your device will be software-supported for the entirety of its useful life, by a mainstream, desktop-like OS. You don't get anything like that on the iPad - the best you can do is reuse it as an additional screen for a Mac via Sidecar.)
  - Nextgrid 7y ago
    The community is not an acceptable answer for a business deploying thousands of these. With an iPad you are guaranteed X years of updates. With the community, you may or may not get an update, it might have quirks and installing it might be non-trivial.
    - zozbot234 7y ago
      If you're deploying "thousands" of these devices, you can standardize on a single model and even get custom support. The iPad might still be a good choice then, but it's definitely not the only one.
      - adamsea 7y ago
        Yeah but you have to think about it. I feel like for many businesses thought/effort/time — even only a little - is more valuable than money. [edit] and you also need to have someone whose aware of those options to begin with which is less common outside prigramming enthusiasts imho. Because Apple has amazing marketing discovering an iPad solution is easy.
        lukifer 7y ago
        "No one ever got fired for buying iPads" is the new "No one ever got fired for choosing IBM".
OnuRC 7y ago
This reminds me time (2013) where I had to choice new Nexus 7 or Ipad Mini 2. They were close in the price, in my country and they were both new. In few years , Nexus stopped getting updated and support but that Ipad mini got even ios 12 and still works well. For me Apple hardware is consistent and reliable that it can work well even more than 5 years.
rsynnott 7y ago
> . $200 Android tablet with a simple enough design works just as well. I mean, the normal (and I assume best selling) iPad is about 300, and will likely be supported for a lot longer than the Android one (my Air 2 is getting on for 6 years old).
- chungus_khan 7y ago
  Having serviced many kiosk-type iPad devices, expecting the operator to update is incredibly wishful thinking.

by flixic 7y ago

Slartie 7y ago

I get that, but after all it's not really Apple's choice what their buyers do with their devices. If they overwhelmingly decide the iPad is a nice base for this kind of application, Apple can either embrace that decision and cater to these customers (of which a good part are obviously ready to at least pay more than those $200 for the cheap Android tablet option, probably because of better update support as suggested by that other comment alongside this one) or try to make the device appealing to other target markets that they'd like to be in. But when those other markets don't really take the bait, at some point it might be a good idea to accept that there is a market, but in a somewhat different place than originally anticipated.

Nextgrid 7y ago

iPad succeeds in these examples because it's a consistent environment with updates. The problem with the cheap Android tablet is that unless the entire world standardises on a single model of tablet for these purposes you'd have all kinds of quirks around hardware, etc. Updates are also another issue even on premium-priced Android devices, so the cheap one is a lost cause.

flixic 7y ago
Updates themselves are an assumption. I imagine a large percentage of cafe checkout and meeting room booking tablets are never updated once installed. The distinction here is Appliance vs Computing Platform. And so far many tablets are seen as appliances, not computers.
- samatman 7y ago
  If they're iPads, this is unlikely. All one has to do is leave them connected to power and WiFi overnight. It's more likely that the typical cafe checkout iPad is silently updated on a regular basis, after close of business, and the staff don't notice at all; since they're going to be password protected, they just punch in in the morning, as usual.
- Mindwipe 7y ago
  I doubt it's so much doing updates as it is about support. If they have a vendor app (like Square on a tablet to take payments) and that abandons older OS versions to lower technical debt or for security reasons then at least they can update. On Android you'd sadly find the lack of kernel compatibility with the chipset means that ever happens.
zozbot234 7y ago
Updates can be provided by the community in many cases. Buy cheap LineageOS-supported tablet, unlock the bootloader and put LineageOS on, you're done. (Then once pmOS gets good enough for your use case, your device will be software-supported for the entirety of its useful life, by a mainstream, desktop-like OS. You don't get anything like that on the iPad - the best you can do is reuse it as an additional screen for a Mac via Sidecar.)
- Nextgrid 7y ago
  The community is not an acceptable answer for a business deploying thousands of these. With an iPad you are guaranteed X years of updates. With the community, you may or may not get an update, it might have quirks and installing it might be non-trivial.
  - zozbot234 7y ago
    If you're deploying "thousands" of these devices, you can standardize on a single model and even get custom support. The iPad might still be a good choice then, but it's definitely not the only one.
    - adamsea 7y ago
      Yeah but you have to think about it. I feel like for many businesses thought/effort/time — even only a little - is more valuable than money. [edit] and you also need to have someone whose aware of those options to begin with which is less common outside prigramming enthusiasts imho. Because Apple has amazing marketing discovering an iPad solution is easy.
      - lukifer 7y ago
        "No one ever got fired for buying iPads" is the new "No one ever got fired for choosing IBM".

OnuRC 7y ago

This reminds me time (2013) where I had to choice new Nexus 7 or Ipad Mini 2. They were close in the price, in my country and they were both new. In few years , Nexus stopped getting updated and support but that Ipad mini got even ios 12 and still works well. For me Apple hardware is consistent and reliable that it can work well even more than 5 years.

rsynnott 7y ago

> . $200 Android tablet with a simple enough design works just as well. I mean, the normal (and I assume best selling) iPad is about 300, and will likely be supported for a lot longer than the Android one (my Air 2 is getting on for 6 years old).

chungus_khan 7y ago
Having serviced many kiosk-type iPad devices, expecting the operator to update is incredibly wishful thinking.