U.S. Air Force planning to purchase up to 18,000 iPads - Polidicks

[QUOTE=sHiBaN;34684879]It's not all bad. My Marine friend who's an infantry serviceman told me about how their sniper/longshot troops used iPhones for range calculations and whatnot[/QUOTE] You realise he's joking right? The tactical iPhone mount was a joke. [editline]13th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Jsm;34684992]I have a dislike of Apple (yet I use their products..) and even I think this is a great idea. Anyone who doesn't has no idea what they are talking about and are allowing their judgement to be clouded by Apple hate. I [I]think[/I] there's some certification stuff that has to go on, I dunno how much that would effect the USAF but I know for a commercial carrier in the US to use an EFB it has to be certified (which I think the iPad is) which might explain their reasoning.[/QUOTE] Right up until Iran hacks them and all USAF drones mysteriously fall out of the sky. I can see the appeal of tablets (though TBH you're in multi-ton aircraft you can carry a few books), but iOS isn't secure enough, not when the Pentagon already has hardened Android ready to go. Of course the article could just be saying iPad because the journalist is a dumbfuck I don't know.

[QUOTE=BrainDeath;34685262] Right up until Iran hacks them and all USAF drones mysteriously fall out of the sky. I can see the appeal of tablets (though TBH you're in multi-ton aircraft you can carry a few books), but iOS isn't secure enough, not when the Pentagon already has hardened Android ready to go. Of course the article could just be saying iPad because the journalist is a dumbfuck I don't know.[/QUOTE] iOS doesn't need to be secure, these things more than likely wont be connected to the internet. Nor will they be doing anything that can be hacked, if the article is to be believed they are just going to be EFB's which is nothing more than a glorified set of ebooks and possibly moving maps. I get the feeling the main advantage will be the ability to search them and be kept up to date.

To be honest considering the use they plan it for, I'm surprised they're planning on Ipads as opposed to a larger Eink tablet device.

[QUOTE=God of Ashes;34683000]I use my iPad for my flights and it's so much easier than carrying around sectional charts all the time. All of my flight equipment goes from a bag to a tiny carrying case that does the same thing. Brilliant investment for any pilot. Good move on the airforce.[/QUOTE] The one pilot I know has said the same thing. And I don't think it would have to be ruggedized if it's in a cockpit all the time (as opposed to say, on the ground with a marine)

[QUOTE=BrainDeath;34685262]You realise he's joking right? The tactical iPhone mount was a joke.[/QUOTE] You know that you don't have to have a "tactical" mount to use an iPhone to calculate trajectory and shit right? You can just get an app, punch in numbers from various meters, use a range finding device, punch that in and boom. Trajectory calculation. Using a smartphone for that purpose makes a lot of sense actually. As it is multi-functional. Plus the GPS could do distance calculations for you if there was a way to mark a distant target in a manner the phone understands.

[QUOTE=Billy Maize;34684850]My entire school uses school-issued Ipads for schoolwork, and I'd have to say they're really helpful. Probably gonna help out the Air Force as well.[/QUOTE] I don't get why they would put the things in the Airforce instead of schools. They just seem way more useful to students then the military. I use mine to take notes and I actually quite truly enjoy taking notes now. I can type it all up in seconds then relax waiting for the next set of notes. There is the issue of dumbass kids breaking them, but then they could just charge them for new ones like with textbooks.

[QUOTE=Jsm;34684992]I have a dislike of Apple (yet I use their products..) and even I think this is a great idea. Anyone who doesn't has no idea what they are talking about and are allowing their judgement to be clouded by Apple hate. I [I]think[/I] there's some certification stuff that has to go on, I dunno how much that would effect the USAF but I know for a commercial carrier in the US to use an EFB it has to be certified (which I think the iPad is) which might explain their reasoning.[/QUOTE] Yeah, the ipad and a few other tablets are FAA approved for use as EFBs. Here's some information regarding certification and classification of applicable devices: [url]http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=C8109CA4848135BB8625755B006B4680[/url] (I've been cheating by not having a kneeboard for mine yet, but don't tell anyone shhhh)

[QUOTE=trotskygrad;34678766]new UI for ze drones [img]http://www.afblues.com/wordpress/comics/2011-06-25.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] "Pilot, the refueling aircraft has arrived, get into position!" "No, I'm doing so well on [del]Angry Birds[/del] Snabbo!"

Not trying to add to the Apple hate but I reckon they'll go with something other than iPad because of software limitations/restrictions

[QUOTE=hexpunK;34686719]You know that you don't have to have a "tactical" mount to use an iPhone to calculate trajectory and shit right? You can just get an app, punch in numbers from various meters, use a range finding device, punch that in and boom. Trajectory calculation. Using a smartphone for that purpose makes a lot of sense actually. As it is multi-functional. Plus the GPS could do distance calculations for you if there was a way to mark a distant target in a manner the phone understands.[/QUOTE] yup, it's better than carrying around paper ballistics charts

[QUOTE=Pelican;34677129]you might, however, get the humo[I]u[/I]r[/QUOTE] I can't tell if you're trying to be witty and acting as if 'humour' is the only proper spelling or you're just an idiot.

[QUOTE=Jon27;34678365]So now when the plane gets hit by an EMP not only is it falling out of the sky but the pilot has fuck all idea where he's falling into. Woo! I still think that nothing will beat a pilot with a map, otherwise why would it have worked so well for the best part of a century? Always, [i]always[/i] carry paper and pen systems alongside all your electronics. Paper doesn't short out, crash or just generally fuck up.[/QUOTE] It really isn't, there's a reason we're still digging up aircraft with mummified crews that got lost and ran out of fuel 5000 miles from where they were supposed to be.

[QUOTE=mscmn;34687399]Yeah, the ipad and a few other tablets are FAA approved for use as EFBs. Here's some information regarding certification and classification of applicable devices: [url]http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=C8109CA4848135BB8625755B006B4680[/url] (I've been cheating by not having a kneeboard for mine yet, but don't tell anyone shhhh)[/QUOTE] I keep forgetting to get that damn knee board too. I just clip on to the one I've already got and it's worked well enough for me

The Kindle would be more cost efficient and do what they wanted the Ipad's for.

As an Air Force maintainer who works directly with the laptops these are supposed to replace.. this is a needed change. Our laptops cost 1500-2000 dollars. They're slow, and our job requires us to go step by step in maintenance. Remove 4 screws *click next, wait a minute* Are the screws removed? *click yes, wait a minute*, Remove ____ *1 more minute goes by*. It's absolutely horrible. Go faster then the laptop (when you obviously know what's next) and you can get in BIG trouble. I'm quite excited to see the change.. although sad they didn't choose Android.

[QUOTE=reevezy67;34690893]The Kindle would be more cost efficient and do what they wanted the Ipad's for.[/QUOTE] however the kindle storage is mainly cloud based, and internet is extremely unreliable in a combat environment. Kindle has 4 GB of storage max iPad has 64 GB of storage max big difference there.

[QUOTE=JeffAndersen;34691005]As an Air Force maintainer who works directly with the laptops these are supposed to replace.. this is a needed change. Our laptops cost 1500-2000 dollars. They're slow, and our job requires us to go step by step in maintenance. Remove 4 screws *click next, wait a minute* Are the screws removed? *click yes, wait a minute*, Remove ____ *1 more minute goes by*. It's absolutely horrible. Go faster then the laptop (when you obviously know what's next) and you can get in BIG trouble. I'm quite excited to see the change.. although sad they didn't choose Android.[/QUOTE] I never knew that before, but since it's required that's understandable...you don't want some guy fucking something up because he was relying on his memory instead of the given instructions.

[QUOTE=God of Ashes;34683000]I use my iPad for my flights and it's so much easier than carrying around sectional charts all the time. All of my flight equipment goes from a bag to a tiny carrying case that does the same thing. Brilliant investment for any pilot. Good move on the airforce.[/QUOTE] My Father uses his Galaxy SII for a car GPS, Boat Charts/GPS, and Flight Charts. Beats having a cabin cluttered with charts. Gave most of the boat charts to a neighbor, he used them as wallpaper. :v:

[QUOTE=trotskygrad;34680423]soldiers might like Apple's UI more, so they would use the device more. [/QUOTE] MIUI Yeah, that's a wannabe Apple UI on Android Pair that up with SEAndroid And they're in business.

Why don't they just get actual tablets instead of wasting our tax dollars on oversized iPhones?

[QUOTE=Ninja Duck;34699182]I never knew that before, but since it's required that's understandable...you don't want some guy fucking something up because he was relying on his memory instead of the given instructions.[/QUOTE] That's why this is great. It's cheaper, instructions can be in PDF format (instead of connecting to itself through internet explorer) and it's faster. If we can do maintenance quicker, the overall mission is greatly effected. And by that I mean instead of us doing it by memory we'll be less likely to get in trouble.