On 19 December 2014 at 11:26, Adam Bolte <abolte@systemsaviour.com> wrote:
You both seem to be talking about two different things. Ben was saying that you can run whatever app store you want - you are not forced to use Google. This is absolutely true. On my Sony Xperia Z1 Ultra "phablet" running Android, I had no trouble at all disabling all the Google Play apps and installing F-Droid. No firmware hacking or rooting, etc. The Humble Bundle also have their own "store" on Android for apps you have purchased, completely outside of Google's ecosystem, for example.
I think the main part of my argument was that there is vendor lock in on any platform. Google has less, but it's more of a technicality in the frame of the larger argument which was tablets in school environments. Because it's a technicality, you have to assess either platform on their merits in an educational environment.. I'm not saying we shouldn't embrace app stores like F-droid, they are great, I was more just responding to the individual needs of a school, which aren't really met by f-droid's 30 or so total educational apps... Hopefully the situation improves over time. On 19 December 2014 at 11:45, Ben Sturmfels <ben@stumbles.id.au> wrote:
This sounds like a fantastic topic for our Feb meet up! Noah could we pencil you in to talk a little about your experiences? Doesn't need to be anything formal, but you have the very valuable perspective from inside a school. I'm sure we'll have a few parents with school aged kids (or soon to be) too.
Maybe.. I'd have to think about that one a bit. It's kinda like doing a talk on vi vs emacs :P Can we ban tomato's from the meet and make sure no-one brings a stockade?