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I think tablets would be great for specific tasks. Police could make reports in the field, picking and checking off orders in a warehouse or a waiter could take

by Puts 12y ago

I think tablets would be great for specific tasks. Police could make reports in the field, picking and checking off orders in a warehouse or a waiter could take orders on it. But as it is now, both Apples and Googles ecosystem are so tightly coupled with the owner of the device, it's hard to use them in an shared environment. And also as they function as multipurpose devices, the user have so many ways of screwing things up. There should be a manufacturer of generic tablets that are made to boot right into a single purpose application. There would be countless appliances for such a device!

roganp 12y ago
This. In my home, the tablet became a paperweight after I bought a acer chromebook. It is the best $200 I have spent to date on a piece of technology.
pjc50 12y ago
or a waiter could take orders on it Our company does exactly this: http://www.zonal.co.uk/news/2013/07/23/zonal-launches-iserve-the-till-in-your-pocket/ http://www.zonal.co.uk/news/2013/07/23/zonal-launches-iserve... although with restaurant-owned devices.
- collyw 12y ago
  What advantage does it give over pen and paper? I can see a number of downsides - expense, the need to keep it charged, possible crashes....
  - pjc50 12y ago
    It's a till. With the pen and paper system, you eventually need to key it in to the till anyway, so why not bring the till with you? If you have one of these: http://www.verifone.com/products/hardware/mobile/payware-mobile-e315/ http://www.verifone.com/products/hardware/mobile/payware-mob... you can take payments on it as well. It also sends the order through to the kitchen immediately, so the waiter is now free to serve other customers rather than going back and forth to the kitchen. A small time saving, but everything adds up if you're busy. Once an order is in the system, it can be retrieved by any staff or manager from any till or handheld. It's targeted more at the chain restaurant where the till is the tip of a large reporting and logistics iceberg, rather than mom-and-pop small restaurants.
pivo 12y ago
> both Apples and Googles ecosystem are so tightly coupled with the owner of the device, it's hard to use them in an shared environment I don't know about Google's devices but Apple's Configurator allows businesses to manage devices that are shared between multiple users. The iPad can be put into "kiosk mode" in which it boots to a single application. In this mode it's not possible for the user to exit the application or run any other application. I work on a point-of-sale iPad application for agents in stores and it's working out very well for our customers.

by Puts 12y ago

roganp 12y ago

This. In my home, the tablet became a paperweight after I bought a acer chromebook. It is the best $200 I have spent to date on a piece of technology.

pjc50 12y ago

or a waiter could take orders on it Our company does exactly this: http://www.zonal.co.uk/news/2013/07/23/zonal-launches-iserve-the-till-in-your-pocket/ http://www.zonal.co.uk/news/2013/07/23/zonal-launches-iserve... although with restaurant-owned devices.

collyw 12y ago
What advantage does it give over pen and paper? I can see a number of downsides - expense, the need to keep it charged, possible crashes....
- pjc50 12y ago
  It's a till. With the pen and paper system, you eventually need to key it in to the till anyway, so why not bring the till with you? If you have one of these: http://www.verifone.com/products/hardware/mobile/payware-mobile-e315/ http://www.verifone.com/products/hardware/mobile/payware-mob... you can take payments on it as well. It also sends the order through to the kitchen immediately, so the waiter is now free to serve other customers rather than going back and forth to the kitchen. A small time saving, but everything adds up if you're busy. Once an order is in the system, it can be retrieved by any staff or manager from any till or handheld. It's targeted more at the chain restaurant where the till is the tip of a large reporting and logistics iceberg, rather than mom-and-pop small restaurants.

pivo 12y ago

> both Apples and Googles ecosystem are so tightly coupled with the owner of the device, it's hard to use them in an shared environment I don't know about Google's devices but Apple's Configurator allows businesses to manage devices that are shared between multiple users. The iPad can be put into "kiosk mode" in which it boots to a single application. In this mode it's not possible for the user to exit the application or run any other application. I work on a point-of-sale iPad application for agents in stores and it's working out very well for our customers.