A man's a man for a' that! - Robert Burns
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Trolleys and bin lorries will get Apple Ipads
THE TABLET continues to eek its way into more of our lives as Bury Council announced its bin lorries will get Ipads and Sainsburys launched Ipad compatible trolleys.
Bury Council had announced that its 22 strong fleet of bin lorries will each get an Ipad 2 mounted on the dashboard. The bill of £8,778 for the cheapest version of the tablet is justified because paperwork gets wet or lost.
The device will be used to guide the driver round new routes and collate information about residents who don't recycle or need help putting bins out, according to The Telegraph. This will apparently improve collection rates and customer service and increase recycling.
We can understand how an electronic device might help in this situation but we don't see why it must be an Ipad. Most delivery firms, for example, use simple handheld PDAs that are significantly cheaper. If the council is so set on getting tablets then it should have jumped at the chance of getting HP Touchpads for £89 a pop last week.
What's more, Sainsburys is trialling shopping trolleys that have an adjustable Ipad mounting - Ipad not included - with speakers. The high tech trolleys have been made by Sky in an effort to advertise its Sky Go TV on the move service.
In an effort to avoid chaos, a front mounted sensor will let off a warning beep like a parking sensor on a car if the trolley gets too close to an obstacle. An onboard battery will charge the Ipad and a solar panel will be the energy source for the battery.
The supermarket is testing the trolleys in its Cromwell Road branch in Kensington. So head on down if you want to have a laugh at customers trying to use an Ipad whilst shopping and getting beeped for getting too close to the foreign cheese section. If the trial is successful, which we highly doubt, the trolleys could go UK wide, according to The Telegraph.
Bury Council has told The INQUIRER that the issue is due to be debated tonight by the council's Internal Scrutiny Committee. µ
Tags: Hardware
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Think this could be the best place for the IPAD in a lorry ready to be chucked in the landfill lol. Does annoy me thou how much money is wasted on stupid projects like these. And I agree there are many cheaper better alternatives than an over expensive gimmick. There are many other better products than Apple people don’t be conned by the black and white swirls.
Don't you know that being anti-Apple is cool?
you say they bought the cheapest ipad. Why would they go for one without a GPS I wonder? Surely a GPS would be critical for any software that relates to giving information dependent on location - like when you reach a house that the person needs assistance. I suspect they did not go with the cheapest, but the cheapest with 3G.
Your attitude in any articles about the ipad is almost childish. Even if this was a good use you would still go on about how stupid the ipad is. The fact (in most people's eyes) remains that the ipad is the best tablet out there just now and your childishness around being anti-ipad instead of reporting impartially is particularly irritating on an otherwise Ok news site (no, I'm not an apple fanboy - waiting eagerly for my HP TouchPad to arrive and the android port to become usable).
Granted the idea of buying tablets for this purpose is stupid, but if you make the decision to do it you can't just take the cheapest option. Though I have to wonder, if paperwork is a problem because its gets wet, isn't that an even bigger problem for electronic gear??
Sure, the HP touchpad sounds like a great option, but what happens in a year when you buy three more trucks, or a couple of the tablets get broken? You have to be able to replace them. You can't just buy a different brand to replace them at that point, assuming you have written apps for WebOS, since they won't run on Android or iPad.
That's also the problem with the current Android offerings, you don't know which ones will be around for the long haul. Maybe that's less important since it seems a near certainty that SOME sort of Android tablet will be around. If Android tablets cost half as much maybe that'd be a valid argument, but given the current small difference in price its easy to justify going for the market leader who you know will still be selling tablets five years from now.
OK, OK, I know everyone at the Inq loves to hate Apple, but in this case it makes sense (again, assuming you have already make the stupid decision to buy any sort of tablet for this)
These will effectively be an embedded role - embedded in the bin lorry. What software updates are needed? new email client? better access to games?
They're donig a single pre-planned job, any modifications will be to the bespoke software DOING that job, which would be done inhouse/under contract, and have to be done irrespective of the platform.
Plus, having it NOT be an ipad might make it last a bit longer too.
First off all, this is a stupid idea. Bin Lorries do not need Ipads, neither do the drivers, they have pre-defined routes they go on!? Just thought I would get that out the way.
Secondly, the figure of £8778 for 22 Ipads seems incorrect. I hardly doubt the council would go out and buy RETAIL copies of the cheapest Ipad costing £399 by my calculations. I happen to know that you can buy an Ipad 2 on a government contract for £165, and that’s the 3G 16GB Wi-Fi model......I know, as I’ve bought one! So it would be more like under £4000 to get all the Ipads. IF the council is going out and buying retail copies, then LOL I will face palm.
FFS there are a lot cheaper Android alternatives.
I wonder if the council muppets thought through just how long an iPad will last in the hands of a bin man.
Why would any company / organisation choose to invest in the now defunct HP TouchPad, with no chance of future software updates. That would be £89 in the bin!