Apple releases Configurator for managing iOS devices from a Mac

[Drew]

This might make my life easier! Managing my family's group of iDevices has become a problem.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/...a_mac.html

[Drew]

ARGH!!!

Just went to download it and I need Lion. Bummer.

[Markintosh]

Yeah, it would make my life a lot easier for sure with managing my 30 new iPads.

• I don't have Lion but could update this MBP (mid 2009).

• My district tech guy does not know about the VPP. We currently are using just the base apps plus four free apps and 3 paid apps that are installed under one license. My district tech guy is thinking we have to make a separate iTunes account for each iPad. I keep sending him links to the Volume Purchase Program.

Maybe next school year.....

[Grateful11]

That might be the single most useful thing introduced today.

[cbelt3]

Awesome. Various Corporate Enterprise software manufacturers have come up with similar products. Glad to see Apple finally recognizing that there's a lot of users in that Corporate world.

[guitarist]

That is way cool!

Too bad it's aimed at managing a whole fleet of them. With only two iPhones and one iPad in the house, it's too minor a thing for my setup, it's nearly effortless as it is. But if I had a few more devices, I'd beg for something like this.

[Ombligo]

My school district is evaluating tablets, this will help keep the ipad at the front of the pack. The biggest stumbling block is a Mac desktop is required. The district isn't crazy about buying Mac's just to manage the iPads.

I'm suggesting to just buy a couple MBP and let power users oversee everything. Like many school districts we are wedded to Dell (they really do offer a great pricepoint on the lease.. Apple doesn't come close)

[deckeda]

Ombligo wrote:
My school district is evaluating tablets, this will help keep the ipad at the front of the pack. The biggest stumbling block is a Mac desktop is required. The district isn't crazy about buying Mac's just to manage the iPads.

I'm suggesting to just buy a couple MBP and let power users oversee everything. Like many school districts we are wedded to Dell (they really do offer a great pricepoint on the lease.. Apple doesn't come close)

It's a weird workaround but consider telling them this, or something like it:

The new Configurator app works on a max of 30 iDevices at a time, so really, one copy of 'Configurator for each classroom.

Each classroom has a Dell on the teacher's desk; each Dell has a separate monitor.

If the District budgets 20 or so iPads per classroom (OK, probably not that many, but whatever), "all they have to do" is budget for "one more Apple" --- the cheapest Mac Mini. Toss in a KVM switch.

A more practical, less costly way would be to just buy one Mac and have someone at the school to push out common updates as fast as they can. In other words treat the Macintosh purchase as just another software license, not a leased piece of hardware. Funny how companies will sometimes spend like there's no tomorrow for software and nothing to run it on.

[decay]

Though his plans are frequently clueless at best and his doctorate was purchased off the internet, some of his inventions (almost always suffixed with "-inator") have been fairly impressive.