iPad Air 2 for Every Member Of The British House of Commons

[HardOCP News]

These guys should be ashamed of themselves. I can understand laptops, but an iPad Air 2 for everyone? At least our government doesn't waste money like that. Oh...wait.

All 650 members of the British House of Commons will receive Apple iPad Air 2s after the current elections. The legislative body announced it would update its hardware at a cost of around $300,000 a year, with supporters noting that the devices are already in widespread use in Parliament, the Telegraph reported.

 

[temujin987]

i wonder how many of them get "lost" or "stolen" so that their kids can have one for free. "management" everywhere does it all the time.

 

[CaptNumbNutz]

I think the question here is, does it help them do their jobs better or is it just another "me too" technology upgrade that will let them watch cat videos on youtube while they vote on legislation?

 

[heatlesssun]

It's a great tablet, probably the best consumption oriented tablet on the market and it is capable of doing a good amount of basic productivity functions.

 

[heatlesssun]

I think the question here is, does it help them do their jobs better or is it just another "me too" technology upgrade that will let them watch cat videos on youtube while they vote on legislation?

Depends on what you need. Basic communications, short bursts of text (longer with a physical keyboard). It could suffice for a lot of people as a primary computing device.

 

[dgz]

It's a great tablet, probably the best consumption oriented tablet on the market and it is capable of doing a good amount of basic productivity functions.

define basic productivity please. reading emails is productivity now?

 

[FiveFig]

define basic productivity please. reading emails is productivity now?

Fuck no, I expect them to tie a couple tin cans together with string...
seriously get a grip

From an IT perspective, having them all on one platform makes security a fuck ton easier to organize.

 

[Jon855]

It's a great tablet, probably the best consumption oriented tablet on the market and it is capable of doing a good amount of basic productivity functions.

I agree - iPad is pretty a great tablet, it's probably the best functional tablet out on the market.

I am not sure what sort of productivity tasks they do quite often and how would iPad benefit them in that manner. I'm keeping my thoughts open although - I'll admit that I would personally see a tablet with a stylus to be more "professional" and perhaps that's just the old-fashioned thinking I have.

 

[Ducman69]

These guys should be ashamed of themselves.

How many children do you have to molest to qualify for a free iPad?

(for those that hadn't heard, there's a big pedophile ring scandal going on in the UK government, with law enforcement at highest levels covering it up especially when royals are involved)

 

[amddragonpc]

They finally graduated from crayons.

 

[Biznatch]

Fuck no, I expect them to tie a couple tin cans together with string...
seriously get a grip

From an IT perspective, having them all on one platform makes security a fuck ton easier to organize.

Except that is the one thing apple/ipads are terrible at, enterprise management of the devices. Plus an ipad is a god damn media consumption toy, nothing else. Yes, it's possible to get some work done on it, but you are FAR less efficient. It's like hammering nails with a toy hammer....

It's going to be 650 john mcain's playing poker/games instead of focusing on their actual fucking jobs.

 

[nutzo]

Except that is the one thing apple/ipads are terrible at, enterprise management of the devices. Plus an ipad is a god damn media consumption toy, nothing else. Yes, it's possible to get some work done on it, but you are FAR less efficient. It's like hammering nails with a toy hammer....

Exactly this.
Other than email connectivity, IOS and android tablets are media consumption devices that lack any real enterprise security. Only real use I've seen for iPads in the office is for managers to read emails because their iPhone's screen is too small for their poor eyesight.

The most productive tablet I've used so far has been a Windows 8.1 tablet.
Has a quad core atom CPU that runs a real OS, can connect to printers, servers, and run any application we use in the office.

 

[CaptNumbNutz]

I am not sure what sort of productivity tasks they do quite often and how would iPad benefit them in that manner. I'm keeping my thoughts open although - I'll admit that I would personally see a tablet with a stylus to be more "professional" and perhaps that's just the old-fashioned thinking I have.

I've seen some interesting things our supervisors at my current employer use them for.

Since we all have mini desktops with no expansion capabilities, we are limited to 2 monitors. The supervisors use them as a 3rd monitor with special apps they use to monitor their employees and phone calls. They can also take them with them to meetings for email and chat while on the go. This way they don't have to have a bigger computer to do 3 monitors, and they don't have to have a laptops also when they only need it for a couple things.

 

[FiveFig]

Except that is the one thing apple/ipads are terrible at, enterprise management of the devices. Plus an ipad is a god damn media consumption toy, nothing else. Yes, it's possible to get some work done on it, but you are FAR less efficient. It's like hammering nails with a toy hammer....

It's going to be 650 john mcain's playing poker/games instead of focusing on their actual fucking jobs.

If that is a problem, it's easy as fuck to lock apple devices down to skin and bones, remove all games and prevent new apps from being installed.

don't be hating on the hardware just because the IT staff doesn't give a fuck about implementation

 

[Biznatch]

If that is a problem, it's easy as fuck to lock apple devices down to skin and bones, remove all games and prevent new apps from being installed.

don't be hating on the hardware just because the IT staff doesn't give a fuck about implementation

It's apple that doesn't give a fuck or they would develop a better solution for enterprise management....

And stating a fact is not 'hating on teh hardwarez'. An ipad is a media consumption device, period. I've owned one and tried to force myself to use it for productivity. And that's exactly what you are doing, forcing yourself to use it to be *less* productive.

 

[OldM3ta]

I don't see a problem here.

 

[/usr/sbin]

From an IT perspective, having them all on one platform makes security a fuck ton easier to organize.

IT is there to support the users, not the other way around. If something is challenging for IT, but makes business sense then that's what you need to do.

 

[westrock2000]

The most productive tablet I've used so far has been a Windows 8.1 tablet.
Has a quad core atom CPU that runs a real OS, can connect to printers, servers, and run any application we use in the office.

I will agree with you that it CAN do a lot more stuff, but during the light usage all that overhead gets in the way. Granted I just have a Microcenter tablet, so it's not OMG specs, but it's not nearly as "enjoyable" to use as something like an iPad when using it for the purposes an iPad was made to be used for. Responsiveness is quite a bit lower.

Plus, I don't see how from an IT perspective that giving someone a full blow Windows operating system (and letting them take advantage of said feature) is easier that using something that is walled in from the get go. And I'm sure IT can lock out the app store or only allow certain apps. That would seem like way less of a cluster fuck that having to deal with someone like me who has a work computer that's been mod'ed to hell by myself.

 

[WBurchnall]

I don't see a problem here.

Windows 8.1 Tablets or Surfaces would provide better enterprise security and more productivity. This is like the equivalent of a parliament deciding everyone needs a 'Hummer' or 'Hemi Jeep' for transportation to and from Parliament and the home along public, well-paved roads and telling the public the decision was all about 'productivity' and not 'fun'.

 

[Tak Ne]

From an IT perspective, having them all on one platform makes security a fuck ton easier to organize.

I doubt a single MP is any more tech savvy than Jennifer Lawrence. I bet most will be configured with basic authentication. Passwords will be the name of a spouse, pet or child.

 

[heatlesssun]

I am not sure what sort of productivity tasks they do quite often and how would iPad benefit them in that manner. I'm keeping my thoughts open although - I'll admit that I would personally see a tablet with a stylus to be more "professional" and perhaps that's just the old-fashioned thinking I have.

A digital pen may not be something most people would need or use with a tablet but it's an invaluable tool for those that have use or need for it that can't be replaced with touch and even a keyboard and mouse.

I will agree with you that it CAN do a lot more stuff, but during the light usage all that overhead gets in the way. Granted I just have a Microcenter tablet, so it's not OMG specs, but it's not nearly as "enjoyable" to use as something like an iPad when using it for the purposes an iPad was made to be used for. Responsiveness is quite a bit lower.

The range of price and performance for Windows tablets is rather, much more so than iPads or even Android tablets. Something like an $80 HP Stream 7 is functional but it's not going to win too many performance benchmarks. Something like an i7 Surface Pro 3 costs a lot of money for a tablet but crushes iPads and Android devices performance wise.

 

[nutzo]

If that is a problem, it's easy as fuck to lock apple devices down to skin and bones, remove all games and prevent new apps from being installed.

don't be hating on the hardware just because the IT staff doesn't give a fuck about implementation

And out here in LA they signed a contract to give every school kid in the district an iPad. The latest and greatest state of the art tech. Even though they would have be obsolete by the time the last school received them.
The first ones that where rolled out where hacked and the kids where surfing the web and loading apps the next day. There was such an uproar they eventually canceled the whole contract. Last I heard they still hadn't received all of them back.

That doesn't even get into the fact that the district doesn't have enough money for books or smaller class sizes, and that they used money that was meant for maintaining/fixing the schools.

 

[Uvaman]

I guess since they don't write laws anymore (I'm betting its the same as US) why the hell have a keyboard at all.
The PCs with keyboards are at the companies writing the laws.
With the ipad air they can just scroll around the document sent by the elite, pretend to read it, and get back to their cat videos faster.

 

[FiveFig]

And out here in LA they signed a contract to give every school kid in the district an iPad. The latest and greatest state of the art tech. Even though they would have be obsolete by the time the last school received them.
The first ones that where rolled out where hacked and the kids where surfing the web and loading apps the next day. There was such an uproar they eventually canceled the whole contract. Last I heard they still hadn't received all of them back.

That doesn't even get into the fact that the district doesn't have enough money for books or smaller class sizes, and that they used money that was meant for maintaining/fixing the schools.

So you honestly believe the members of the house of commons are as tech savvy as high schoolers, especially in LA.... rofl

 

[Deleted member 108676]

Except that is the one thing apple/ipads are terrible at, enterprise management of the devices. Plus an ipad is a god damn media consumption toy, nothing else. Yes, it's possible to get some work done on it, but you are FAR less efficient. It's like hammering nails with a toy hammer....

It's going to be 650 john mcain's playing poker/games instead of focusing on their actual fucking jobs.

Someone is upset that their beloved Android OS didn't get picked.

 

[OlIv0rIolI]

politicians will always be politicians, extremely generous people when it comes to taxpayer money.