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Comment by meibo | Hacker News Reader

Absolutely. Some smart person at my local school district decided that all rooms be fitted with Apple TVs(a great budget decision, especially since they're used exclusively as cast targets and have no accounts), which now only about 30% of students and about 70% of teachers can use because you need Apple clients to use them. This is in Europe, so Android has a relatively large userbase, especially for students.

The same smart person worked out a great deal during Covid that lets "disadvantaged" families buy an iPad for only 500€ so they can participate in online schooling.

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I don't know what country specifically or how iPads are priced there, but just picking Germany at random the iPad's list price starts at 379€. Quite a deal they've got going...

PCs with a javascript console, GCC and Word-Excel (if not LibreOffice or just a browser) also start at 350€.

It’s for pupils. People who will make tomorrow’s world. We don’t want to give them a read-only world.

> We don’t want to give them a read-only world

One pan make many valid arguments about iPads vs PCs, and open vs walled gardens, but calling an iPad a 'read-only' device is NOT one of them.

My brilliant 12 year old daughter is an artist (both 2 and 3d, depending on her whims), and uses an iPad as a creative device that literally has no peer from other, more open ecosystems.

My 14 year old son learned the basics of coding on an iPad, and can use his for writing, math homework, and an incredible level of creative output programming various robotics devices he has.

An iPad does live in a walled garden, but it is far from a read-only device.

Tangent: Do you see any downsides of your kids using this technology vs writing/painting on paper?

No, I really don't. The kinda of things my daughter does on an iPad aren't possible on paper, and use a part of her brain that she doesn't trigger when she uses pen or paint and paper. Also, she does both.

Can you recommend any creation apps? I'm trying to make my iPad more useful to me than the browser and video watching device it currently is, but have had a hard time finding good apps for art and coding.

There are literally hundreds of great art apps - it really depends what you're in to. Procreate is perhaps the most popular, but there are options for animation and 3d art as well. Like any area of software, different tools fit different uses.

Setting aside the very necessary questions around the pros and cons of ed tech, from a strictly IT-management standpoint the support costs for iPads will be vastly lower than for PCs, especially a 350€ PC.

(Assuming they're well-insured and/or the children don't abuse them, etc.)

This sounds like words of a programmer. And I agree with your point to some degree, I would never consider an iPad for my work as a developer.

But this point is unfair to other knowledge workers. For example, my SO would get much better workflow from an iPad, especially with the pencil. The workflow includes a lot of research and note taking, including annotating images, and a mouse/trackpad is just too clumsy for this. The iPad seems perfect for that. I plan to get her one, currently waiting to see if they will refresh the iPad pro lineup in March.

Mind you that a 350€ laptop PC does not come with nearly as much longevity (due to bad build quality), performance and user satisfaction as the similarly priced iPad.

I believe iPad is a great force multiplier of the good 'ol pen and paper. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I bet the kids pick it up in a heartbeat.

For the more advanced endeavors, a 350€ PC as a second device. Not that expensive for a hobby, I think this is in reach of most parents.

Why not use iPad plus Raspberry Pi? - the combination would seem to cover a very wide spectrum of computing and learning.

That's also the list price. There's an education discount and annual back-to-school sales offered in Germany and a bunch of other countries.

That is insane.

I love my iPad and have used them in research for over 10 years. But I also have kids. It should be illegal to purchase glass tablets for education.

If Apple wants the education business, they should release a plastic touch screen version with a plastic backing (kids throw things, they can cut people in fights).

It’s sad when wealthy parents with too much time on their hands join these decision making committees and end up fighting for large corporations; and in this case, hurting the poor.

Schools almost always have decent cases on the iPads, and the backs are metal, so there isnt any issue with that breaking. With a decent case, there is a pretty low chance of the screens cracking at all. We rolled them out in an elementary school and had zero issues with screens cracking or general durability of the actual iPad.

Also, there is almost no other option. If you think there is a competitor with similar usability, support, specs, and is the same price, you should let some school IT people know, because Im sure they'd appreciate it.

Also if kids are cutting themselves because they are throwing iPads at each other while fighting, you have serious other issues going on.

Decent cases are on the order of $100. If iPads + essentials are ~$500, it’s no surprise chromebooks are doing so well.

Cases are less than 100$ for a good one. The iPad itself is only 300 for schools, so even if youre spending 100$ on a case, you're still only 400$ all in, and this is assuming you didnt get a grant from Apple that provides a significant discount beyond that.

Chromebooks have seen some impressive growth, but I dont think its going to sustain itself. The quality of the 300-500$ chromebooks is atrocious. They have to be replaced at least yearly, and the usability of this is very poor.

Parent of students with school issued iPads, here.

I hate iPads now, but I liked them before the schools standardized on them. The bluetooth keyboard clamshell case they issued was balls. The restrictive app and network policy enforced by the district was balls. The litany of apps students were required to use beyond instructional materials was boggling. They essentially assumed students would be great petty bureaucrats and they were wrong.

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