I do wish people in this forum stop referring to 'the military' as though they were some sort of alien life-forms. 'The military' are people, and even if you happen to be in the oh-so-unique moral high ground of opposing war and violence from your comfortable desk, soldiers deserve the best kit we can afford to give them. Ditto for the returning veterans. And their families.
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U.S. Army Officials Visit Apple Campus as Agency Weighs Purchasing and Development Plans
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Steve doesn't own the company,the stock holders do.
Those"shock and awe merchants"are people who volunteered to risk their lives to defend their country.
Apple, mainly. They are extremely stubborn about what hardware their software runs on.
OS X officially does not run on non-Apple hardware.
Doesn't matter, Dell's (or whoever's) deal is going to be better. Not to mention by buying a Windows machine they don't have to provide additional tech support, buy any new software, or integrate it into existing networks. Plus Dell/Windows machine makers already have a well-established relationship with the military that goes back decades.
+1
Kind of sad,really.People being hated by the very people they are willing to die for.
*sigh*
I think Steve would take issue with that statement.
____
And don't get me started on whether those poor soldiers are defending their country or providing protection for oil company 'activities'. Under any circumstances, they do deserve gear that 'works'.
I support veterans and families, they risk their lives and the government screws them over, but I cannot condone the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
I nearly threw up when I heard General Jay Garner triumphantly announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're in the oil business," the day before he was replaced by a civilian administrator.
LOL nice one therehowever the army might be able to overlook water damage in dry areas like Afghanistan
Dust is an equally big problem. MBPs are just-about up to the task of day-to-day office use (we have 4-5 MBP at work) - logic board fail if they smell water near the keyboard. All HW ports are open. Al Cases prone to warpage...
But for all we know it's a tour to look at UI concepts for 'soldier of the future' type applications.
The U.S. Military has been using Apple Computers for years. I know for a fact they were crucial in the development of RFID tracking used in logistics. They were also more difficult to hack into and required less IT support to maintain them in the field.
I was more referring to mobile devices, but you're right. They're still not anywhere near as widespread as Windows machines (at least in the branches I interact with), but I guess that's the case pretty much everywhere.
I'm all for more agencies adopting Macs! Heck, one day we might be able to classify them as switchers
Nah... based on military policy we wouldn't even hear of them...
...you know... Switch But Don't Tell!
Apple has to at least match the toughbook for harsher climates and conditions:
http://www.panasonic.com/business/Toughbook/toughbook-products.asp
http://www.panasonic.com/business/Toughbook/toughbook-products.asp
In the 1980's my company won a $1 million contract to deliver networked 3D color graphic computers (100 computers on 10 LANs). The computers were used for war games and training at the Army College of Command and Control at Ft. Leavenworth, KS*... across the wide Missouri...
* Home of the famous Junior, Junior High School (officially, General George S. Patton, Jr. Junior High School)
This was before color Macs were available, so we used a 68000-based computer from another mfg..
These were used in officer training.
The computers and networks had no special security or "hardening" for the military... quite the opposite, the equipment was required to be available "off-the-shelf".
All of the stuff we struggled to do on computers costing $10,000 each (roughly $50,000 each in todays dollars), is easily within the capability of a $500 WiFi only iPad (Except the ability to run CoBOL programs).
The point is that if the Military can save taxpayer dollars, while improving their capabilities, without sacrificing security... they'd be remiss in their duty to this country.
*
Wearable Computing?
I wonder if this has anything to do with Apple's recent hire?
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/03/15/apple-hires-expert-in-wearable-computing/
For Example:
http://www.ikey.com/ProductsList/?productID=158
http://l3shop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=LSOS
hmmm... PA Semi's previous military contracts might have to do with this as well.
Any conspiracy theories? lol
I wonder if this has anything to do with Apple's recent hire?
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/03/15/apple-hires-expert-in-wearable-computing/
For Example:
http://www.ikey.com/ProductsList/?productID=158
http://l3shop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=LSOS
hmmm... PA Semi's previous military contracts might have to do with this as well.
Any conspiracy theories? lol
NONSENSE! As a recent active duty infantry Marine and now employed by the USMC I completely disagree! Do you work for SPAWAR or NMCI? You do contracts with the Navy everyday, eh? My father-in-law is a retired Naval Flight Officer, an electrical engineer, and works for SPAWAR in San Diego. He does not like Apple, he likes to do things the hardway and is stuck with windows, even though he concedes things like the iPhone have better technology than his Blackberry (The Blackberry's touch screen pushes down and triggers a touch vs. on an iPhone you just touch it, similar to putting a folder over your keyboard and calling it a touchkeyboard - keys are still being stroked).
And gov't tax dollars!!! Get out of town. My father-in-law has also submitted proposals to deliver millions in savings to the gov't by utilizing off-the-shelf components for USN,USCG, and USMC systems. He has been consistently squashed by higher-ups, some of them who are younger and maybe even Apple users, and they have virtually shut him up in favor of proprietary systems that utilize government contracts to make new systems that are COSTING THE TAXPAYERS MILLIONS. The simplified version is called waste, fraud, and abuse.
The Army is smart for working with Apple and I'm sure that DARPA does already (if not they should be). It sounds like you would rather sit back and see the good 'ol boy government system drown us in stagnation. It seems that BIG ARMY is maybe waking up. Then again, the equipment or chips will most likely be built in China where electronic spyware and backdoors could be put into play. And, do you think the Chinese military and foreign militaries around the world aren't reverse engingeering Apple products and modeling themselves after Apple's management and innovation processes? Welcome to the 21st century of warfare and espionage. You apparently abhor competetion, modernization, and warfighting superiority and would rather return to pre 1984.
Today, I work for the Marine Corps in remote CA. Wi-Fi is coming, as in it's not just a thought but a reality in the works. We have mobile equipment in Iraq/Afghanistan and all over the world and guess what... it's up to military standards but not particularly great and DEFINITELY NOT SUPERIOR TO APPLE PRODUCTS. I can go to amazon or a bix box store and by a better GPS unit than the military will provide and the same thing can be said about off-the-shelf Apple products and HOPEFULLY the Army believes this can be translated into military specific applications. Privates to Generals use Macs during war and they can be used on SIPRnet/NIPRnet. I know, I have done it. Tamper Proof silicon... you must be joking.
Still not sure if you are a Mac fan or a Mac hater. I do know that you don't know it all and I know that I too do not know it all. Yet, I do speak from operational experience.
I dunno, maybe they wanna hone there skills by playing cod4 on an ipad on a rest day!
that's great. now delta force can each carry 5 iphones - one for each task!! and 5 chargers for each phone after they last 10 minutes on the app - in addition to their 70lbs of gear.
NICE!
The kit for Navy SEALS would consist of divingshorts, sunglasses, hair gel, and an iPHONE holder (tactical iPHONE optional).
You're right, it's the stock holders calling the shots.
And sorry to sound churlish, but how exactly is invading a country thousands of miles from your own an act of defence?
Being a CEO doesn't mean you own the company.
Did you vote for Barack Obama? He supports the violence in Afghanistan, he even increased it.
But back on topic. I think it's smart for the military to review the kit they are deploying down to the soldiers on the ground. They should be doing that far more often than they do. But you can't read too much into it. The Army especially requires a lot of kit of the type that Apple currently doesn't sell (PCs in the category of the Panasonic Toughbooks for example).
As someone already pointed out, the Army currently uses iPods with translation programs in the field.
The advantage is that they're comparatively cheap, and young soldiers already know the basics of using them.
It's also been mentioned that the Army could use them to display videos of local leaders asking people to cooperate, etc. Plus remote control of robots, etc.
As for visiting Apple, who knows. Usually the military finds a third party company to modify units, but in this case they could be checking to see if Apple was willing to build a bunch for less.
The advantage is that they're comparatively cheap, and young soldiers already know the basics of using them.
It's also been mentioned that the Army could use them to display videos of local leaders asking people to cooperate, etc. Plus remote control of robots, etc.
As for visiting Apple, who knows. Usually the military finds a third party company to modify units, but in this case they could be checking to see if Apple was willing to build a bunch for less.
Most everyone is talking about the hardware, but what about the software that Apple develops? Gesture technology, 3D rendering, AI, all the graphic intensive stuff Apple has always been known for. There's a lot of potential for software application outside of the Apple hardware the military may be interested in too.
Now, a hardened Macbook Pro or iPhone would still be cool!
Now, a hardened Macbook Pro or iPhone would still be cool!
Great...
Well windows for killing is one thing, Microsoft are well known to be evil but mac for killing? Either way I don't care what the end use is if the US army take apple on i'll be put of buying Apple stuff. It's purely political!
Well windows for killing is one thing, Microsoft are well known to be evil but mac for killing? Either way I don't care what the end use is if the US army take apple on i'll be put of buying Apple stuff. It's purely political!