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Original poster

To never voluntarily buy Apple again

177 replies

SisyphusDad · 23/06/2019 00:02

Sorry, just need to vent (in the same way that an active volcano needs to vent).

I've just had to buy an iPad today for DS2 because his school requires it. They came up with some bollocks about why it had to be an iPad.

We are an Android household. I've spent well over two hours doing basic setup to fit in (roughly) with the way I do things (I'm quite tech savvy and have a particular way of doing things for very good reasons). And there are several things to do with parental controls and access to the Apps store that I simply cannot do without a second Apple device and there is no fucking way I am spending several hundred pounds simply to be able to approve things that need to be done (install the apps the school wants, for one thing).

I am usually quite calm and reserved but this evening I used a large number of words (in his presence) that I'm sure my son thought that I didn't know. And he described me as jumping up and down like a monkey as I repeatedly stabbed an innocent cardboard box with a screwdriver to release the tension.

I will not be going to the Parents' evening where they deliver a patronising lecture on the dangers of the Internet partly because I will find it very hard not to disgrace myself and partly because I've somehow managed to bring my kids up in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.

I used to think that both Apple and Google had their place, and it was mainly a matter of choice but after today's experience I am now firmly in the camp of Apple haters.

OP posts:
LassOfFyvie · 23/06/2019 11:40

My personal devices are android, my work ones apple. I can't understand the apple love. I find android so much easier

Same here. I loathe my work iPhone for its weird combination of fiddlyness and being so limited compared to what my Android phone does. Previously work supplied us with Windows phones which were limited compared to Android but considerably less irritating than the iPhone.

DpWm · 23/06/2019 11:43

I hear ya.
YANBU

User7777 · 23/06/2019 11:43

@MAXnot73 most items use USB-b, from my battery charger to the PlayStation controller.
USB c is (I believe) slowly replacing USB b, it's being used by a growing number of companies.
Whereas apple ones are only used by apple products? Tbh I haven't used apple things since my frustrating short period with an iPhone and ipod classic. I loved how easy it was to use, but I hated how incompatible it was with everything else. That was a few years ago now, things might have changed....

donquixotedelamancha · 23/06/2019 11:58

The thing that confuses me most about iPads in schools is that few workplaces use Apple devices yet that's what children are being taught on.

This is precisely for the reasons many of us are moaning about apple:

  • Don't play nice with other systems.
  • Don't allow users to access many of the controls that android does.
  • Simple OS with no customisation, so you can learn specific steps rather than the 'play around' approach needed for android and windows.

What this means is a predictable, centrally controllable environment which is hard for a user to hack or screw up and easy to teach.

Propertyfaux · 23/06/2019 11:58

I have apple and android and have preferences for which I prefer but have never had any problems setting them up and protecting the apps. Cannot understand the anger. I actually prefer being asked about the app being installed rather than a message popping up on my phone.

mabelmylove · 23/06/2019 12:06

@sashh ‘She’ doesn’t sound unhinged? The OP is actually a man, which I think explains a lot…

adaline · 23/06/2019 12:12

The thing that confuses me most about iPads in schools is that few workplaces use Apple devices yet that's what children are being taught on

That's because Apple give schools and students a discount!

Frazzled2207 · 23/06/2019 12:13

Not the point but I am also Shock that you "have to" buy them all iPads. Is this a fee paying school? I can't imagine such a request going down well around here.

Sandybval · 23/06/2019 12:21

@adaline so does Microsoft, and Android tablets are largely cheaper than Apple. I don't think Apple is bad, just they seem to have such a monopoly on the education market, when many won't go on to use them in the workplace. However, in honesty tech will probably be completely different in a few years! Get them on the Raspberry Pi's, basic tech won't be enough in the future, and if they're used for maths etc then people did perfectly well learning prior to them. I guess I'm just a grump and stuck in the past though Grin

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 12:27

most items use USB-b, from my battery charger to the PlayStation controller.
USB c is (I believe) slowly replacing USB b, it's being used by a growing number of companies.
Whereas apple ones are only used by apple products?

That's great, but it wasn't my point. My comment was that even Samsung themselves use different chargers for different devices.

I don't quite understand the need for your phone charger to work in your PlayStation either, surely you get the wires when you buy the product, if not, the issue would be with PlayStation.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 12:27

That's because Apple give schools and students a discount!

Erm, so do all the other big names.

Sandybval · 23/06/2019 12:36

@MAXnot73 the point of interoperable chargers is that you don't have to fork out for a specific one. As they're readily available they're cheaper, and chances are you might already have one in the house. If you buy an Apple one, that is all you can use it for.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 12:37

the point of interoperable chargers is that you don't have to fork out for a specific one.

Great. Not sure what difference that makes to the fact that even Samsung have different chargers.

00100001 · 23/06/2019 12:44

Samsung doesn't have different chargers... Confused

Sandybval · 23/06/2019 12:51

@MAXnot73 we have some Samsung devices (phone and tablet) and the same charger works on all of them, plus on my partner's phone which is a different Android.

User7777 · 23/06/2019 12:58

@MAXnot73 they might be different from each other, but the chargers are used by most other household items too. So, little things like, if I need to get pictures off my device, chances are there'll be a lead I can use no matter where I am. Forgot my charger, there's loads of compatible chargers around. My mum visited with her ipad, forgot her charger, had to make a trip out to get one. Likewise, at work we use ipads and no one ever has a compatible lead (work in a school, everything breaks or disappears!). Minor inconveniences I know.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 12:58

Samsung doesn't have different chargers... Confused

Well they do. I posted screenshots from their own website. So Confused yourself.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 13:00

we have some Samsung devices (phone and tablet) and the same charger works on all of them, plus on my partner's phone which is a different Android.

That is wonderful. But obviously my post wasn't about you specifically.

I responded to the person who mentioned apple having different chargers. So do Samsung. It makes me laugh that people use the charger thing as a pro Samsung point when actually, they also have devices that use different chargers.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 13:01

@User7777

That I understand. But yes my post was about them having different chargers, which they do; not about what happens if you forget your wire.

PregnantSea · 23/06/2019 13:06

I'm surprised that you have to buy an iPad for school use. That would piss me off. Apple products are of similar quality to others, but they cost so much more and refuse to integrate with non apple products. So it's a lose-lose purchase as far as I'm concerned.

PantsyMcPantsface · 23/06/2019 13:06

USB c is (I believe) slowly replacing USB b, it's being used by a growing number of companies.

The 2018 iPad Pros use USB-C chargers, same as my Huawei P20 Pro does... the basic and air models still use the Apple Lightning cable but they do seem to be moving away from it. Not that it's a massive issue these days (unless you're looking for something to be upset about) - the bulk of our devices - a mix of Samsung, Lenovo, Amazon Fire Tablets, and iPads all just charge off a USB wall socket and we plug the required charger lead in.

For us it's the easiest solution to my daughter's needs with a rather disengaged teacher who won't go to any effort - presenting them with the solution of "she brings this in, can use it fully independently, can sort out saving and printing her work" rather than anything requiring the teacher to go get a laptop, set it up, the inevitable 20 points where they find a button that does something unexpected and everything - which was never going to happen with this teacher in question... and we got somewhere doing it. The kids also have access to a Windows Laptop and devices using Android - I've made sure they're not solely confident in one particular operating system - but the iPad causes substantially less headaches than any other device in this house (apart from when I dropped my beloved Pro one the other day...)

MissRhubarb · 23/06/2019 13:10

I understand where you're coming from and it's frustrating (I got stuck in a weird loop of needing to "approve" a new Apple device from another Apple device. Both devices where then stuck trying to approve each other - it was demented), but I think you'd already made your mind up it was going to be a pain and have made it worse for yourself. Just bow down and submit to the Apple machine like the rest of us trampled minions....

User7777 · 23/06/2019 13:15

@MAXnot73 it was me made that original comment
And my point was that they are different to the chargers used by other devices. Not that they are different to each other. I think that's where the confusion is coming from

LassOfFyvie · 23/06/2019 13:31

Samsung doesn't have different chargers...

All Android devices regardless of the manufacturer and the now largely obsolete Windows phones have, for some time now used the same time of charger.

Samsung 10, the latest phone, uses a different charger but Samsung include with it a specific charger and adapters so that any existing chargers and USB leads can be used. If I'm travelling with my new Samsung 10 and my old Samsung 6 I only need 1 charger and one adapter.

MAXnot73 · 23/06/2019 13:55

And my point was that they are different to the chargers used by other devices. Not that they are different to each other. I think that's where the confusion is coming from

Ah yes! Makes sense.