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Chromebooks Overtake iPads In US Education Market
SmartAboutThings writes In Q3 2014, IDC notes that Google shipped 715,500 Chromebooks to U.S. schools while Apple shipped 702,000 iPads. Thus, Apple's iPad has lost its lead over Google's line of Chromebook laptops in the U.S. education market as Google shipped more devices to schools last quarter. While analysts say [registration required] that this advantage for Google's Chromebooks can be attributed to their low cost, the presence of a physical keyboard has also been seen as an important factor.
Right out of the gate, Chromebooks are easier to administer at an "enterprise" level. Yes, the school district needs to "sell its soul to get the management console (domain control and device management.) Google has been helpful with support for any needs we have. Getting in touch with and help from apple for issues is near impossible.
Chromebooks come with some good tools for using existing infrastructure without too much of a learning curve. Getting teachers to open and use a spreadsheet on an ipad is a lot more tricky than opening the same file on a chromebook.
Bottom line, if you are dealing with more than 5 devices, chromebooks save a ton of time and energy.
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"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
Can parents opt out their children of these big brother data gathering devices?
Sure, homeschool. It's legal in all 50 states, to varying degrees.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
On the flip side, I'm really seeing a move towards Google Apps for my middle schooler. Virtually all his projects are done as part of a group, and they work from online documents. He doesn't need the high end features of Word or Excel: he needs a way to have multiple people work on something over two weeks. It's easy for the teacher as well- just send them the link and you're done, no papers to lose.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
The Chromebooks aren't going to last more than a few months. Ever try any of these pieces of junk at BestBuy?
No, I haven't. But I did buy a Samsung Chromebook and I have been carrying it around and using it.
It seems no more fragile than my old Atom-based laptop, which is still in perfect working order.
They are equipped with dim TN LED-lit panels, low resolution, and the keyboards are the most uncomfortable things ever.
Huh, which model in particular are you thinking about? Because IMHO my Samsung Chromebook is kind of like a Mac laptop, only less expensive. Both use similar "chiclet" keyboards, both have multi-touch touchpads (and both *use* the multitouch gestures). The Chromebook costs less, weighs less, and has long battery life; and it is adequate for the things I usually want to do when I'm out and about.
The screen doesn't have a "wow" factor but neither am I suffering when I use it. The 1366x768 resolution is pretty common for a device that size.
You make it sound horrible, but so far I love the thing. It's far better than my old Atom-based laptop (which struggles even to play a YouTube video).
But I digress, I've always hated the "chiclet keyboard" that all the laptop vendors have switched to.
You can thank Apple for that one. They did it first and then everyone else followed.
It does allow for a thinner laptop but I wish there were more laptops still made that have more ergonomic keys.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely