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All 650 Members of Parliament in the UK will receive an iPad Air 2

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B

Blablurn

Member
Getting elected to British Parliament has an added bonus this year. According to The Telegraph, all 650 Members of Parliament (MP) in Great Britain will be given an iPad Air 2 and a laptop after the May election. The House of Commons Commission says the new hardware will cost around £200,000 ($300,000) over the next five years. Each MP will be given a 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad Air 2, which costs £499 ($744). Apple's tablet was chosen by the commission in part because it's already popular among MPs — 209 members in the House of Commons possess an iPad, including Prime Minister David Cameron.

Despite that, there are some MPs who aren't happy with the decision. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Chi Onwurah complained that MPs — like Nigel Mills who was caught playing Candy Crush — would use the tablet to play games and listen to music, and that "locking some of the most powerful people in the country into a platform that most of my constituents can't afford seems like a mistake." In response, Commission chairman John Thurso said, "Our requirements are for a secure, SIM-enabled tablet with a good life expectancy and [capability] of supporting future upgrades. The Apple iPad Air 2 meets these requirements and is competitively priced when compared with similar models."
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Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/25/8288625/house-of-commons-members-ipad-air-2
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
A laptop I can understand though I wonder why they cant buy it themselves with their salary.

But an iPad? I dont get for what they would need one.
 
M

Madness

Member
They'd be better off giving hose iPads to some kids who are smart or win spelling bees or something, but cannot afford them. What do these leeches need them for? As if they're not already living lives of luxury on the backs of the poor taxpayers.
 
B

Booshka

Member
Reminds me of the 1 Billion Dollar Los Angeles Unified School District iPad fiasco. That was an absolutely terrible idea too, on a much grander scale.
 
N

Noisepurge

Member
SuperSah said:
Can they not afford these things themselves?
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Haha, indeed, the tablet is like a convenient version of a laptop, a luxury product even.

And the "life expectancy and support" for the ipad air 2 will be dead in about 2 years after new iOS updates slow them to a crawl.

Securitywise we can expect some juicy leaks from iCloud!
 
D

Dennis

Banned
BigDes said:
People receiving laptops and ipads from work what a scandal
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image.php
 
G

GAMEPROFF

Banned
SuperSah said:
Can they not afford these things themselves?
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Would you want to buy your working PC by yourself?

Beside that, the devices will be have a special configuration to be be protected from outside access. Or want all of you who scream and raging that they should use private devices, that they store confidential data owned by the state on a private device? ;)
 
D

Dougald

Member
As much as I normally love to jump on the MP expenses hate train, having a laptop and tablet was getting pretty common at my last workplace for employees who had to travel a lot, so I can see the justification.

Would rather see them save taxpayers money by just handing out a single device that can do both, but eh. I'm finding it hard to care too much on this one.
 
G

GAMEPROFF

Banned
Chairmanchuck said:
Like I said. I understand that about Laptops, but not iPads. iPads arent made for working.
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They are good for accessing datas and reading.

Politicians dont work like we would. They dont write letters and documents. Their secretaries and offices do this for them.

Of course, they want a shiny device, thats why its an apple device, but tablets are fitting for how they are working.

Where I get this knowledge from? I am working as an IT specialist for a [EMAIL="german governmental body.].[/EMAIL]

You have to quote me to see who I am working for. Just in case.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
GAMEPROFF said:
They are good for accessing datas and reading.

Politicians dont work like we would. They dont write letters and documents. Their secretaries and offices do this for them.

Of course, they want a shiny device, thats why its an apple device, but tablets are fitting for how they are working.

Where I get this knowledge from? I am working as an IT specialist for a [EMAIL="german governmental body.].[/EMAIL]

You have to quote me to see who I am working for. Just in case.
Click to expand...

Oh. I didnt know that. Thanks for the clarification.
 
C

CyclopsRock

Member
Oh, and because it doesn't seem to be widely known, politicians in the UK don't set their own pay, it's done by an independent body. Which Imo is a travesty as it leaves the decisions on pay with no electoral accountability. If you don't like how much they're paid - be it too high or too low - it doesn't matter who you vote for because they can't change anything.
 
S

spoon!

Member
Could actually save a lot in printing costs.

Assuming they use actually use it for e-document purposes. Which is kinda weird when you've got a 16gb device.
 
G

GAMEPROFF

Banned
spoon! said:
Could actually save a lot in printing costs.

Assuming they use actually use it for e-document purposes. Which is kinda weird when you've got a 16gb device.
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The politicians I know fill the device just with the documents they need in the next meeting. They wont load all the data that is avaiable.
Also, a couple of special bussiness solutions for protected data and email access on iOS offer a filebrowser. The parliament room will likely get a WLAN access, so they could browse the network filesystem.
 
K

kmag

Member
Protome said:
Most if them would expense it anyway, may as well be up front with it.
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The issue with this is that they can double dip. There's no need to centrally provide IT to someone who can charge the taxpayer for everything from paperclips to microwave ovens.
 
G

GAMEPROFF

Banned
QuicheFontaine said:
They say they're competitively priced, but aren't Windows tablets way cheaper?

Edit: just googled "windows tablet" and http://www.staples.co.uk/tablets/cbs/428201.html?price=incvat&cm_mmc=SEM_PLA-_-google-_-serp-pla&gclid=Cj0KEQjw3M6oBRDnnIywo5i287ABEiQAXRm7S6ara7gdwi0quaGNcTzj1dd_vV9kDd-NNtVfaZQnOs8aAlHb8P8HAQthis top result is only £79.98
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Yeah... You get 80£ quality then.
This is really not a matter of the price. We have a couple of +1000€ Windows 8.1 Tablets and they suck. They are heavy, loud as hell and are shitty manufactured.
iOS is way easier to manage and to administrate. I know, this sounds silly since these tablets run Windows, but with iOS, you have just to redownload the app, make a call to get a new access pin and the work is most the time done.

kmag said:
The issue with this is that they can double dip. There's no need to centrally provide IT to someone who can charge the taxpayer for everything from paperclips to microwave ovens.
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Why should there be no need?
 
Jezbollah

Jezbollah

Member
650 ipads for MPs are nothing

You should see what councils all around the country shell out for their Councillors. The figures dwarf this cost and are eyewatering.

However, because it's MPs it's an emotive subject and I can see why it's a big deal to some.
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
CyclopsRock said:
Oh, and because it doesn't seem to be widely known, politicians in the UK don't set their own pay, it's done by an independent body. Which Imo is a travesty as it leaves the decisions on pay with no electoral accountability. If you don't like how much they're paid - be it too high or too low - it doesn't matter who you vote for because they can't change anything.
Click to expand...

The days when MPs decided that stuff led to the expense scandals, they didn't want to be seen voting for pay hikes and a culture of using expenses to bump their income developed.

It would need a grown up press and public for it to work. Giving the power to outside bodies is a strange British habit that I agree is unhealthy.
 
K

kmag

Member
GAMEPROFF said:
Yeah... You get 80£ quality then.
This is really not a matter of the price. We have a couple of +1000€ Windows 8.1 Tablets and they suck. They are heavy, loud as hell and are shitty manufactured.
iOS is way easier to manage and to administrate. I know, this sounds silly since these tablets run Windows, but with iOS, you have just to redownload the app, make a call to get a new access pin and the work is most the time done.



Why should there be no need?
Click to expand...

Because they're essentially independent contractors who can charge the company for anything including the upkeep of their own offices. I don't see the need to centrally provide something when they can walk out buy say an 256gb IPAD with 4G and charge it straight back to the company.

Half the fuckers wouldn't know a computer if came up to them with some suspenders and a tangerine.
 
Q

QuicheFontaine

Member
GAMEPROFF said:
Yeah... You get 80£ quality then.
This is really not a matter of the price. We have a couple of +1000€ Windows 8.1 Tablets and they suck. They are heavy, loud as hell and are shitty manufactured.
iOS is way easier to manage and to administrate. I know, this sounds silly since these tablets run Windows, but with iOS, you have just to redownload the app, make a call to get a new access pin and the work is most the time done.
Click to expand...

Well, I just don't know what they'd be doing with them that requires more than £80 quality. I thought it would be mainly email, twitter, facebook and browsing the internet. Surely a cheap Windows tablet would be sufficient for that?
 
R

Randam

Member
Will they be paying the normal price?
I think they'll get discounts because of the huge number.
And maybe apple had the best offer!?
 
T

TheLegendOfMart

Banned
Disgusting.

We are expected to eat shit and take cuts to public services while these supposed elite of british society get richer, do nothing and now get free tablets and laptops?

How about free tablets and laptops for schools or poor families?
 
I

industrian

will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Dan27 said:
650 ipads for MPs are nothing

You should see what councils all around the country shell out for their Councillors. The figures dwarf this cost and are eyewatering.

However, because it's MPs it's an emotive subject and I can see why it's a big deal to some.
Click to expand...

When I worked in local government around ten years ago, our Head of IT went to a big conference with IT companies and other IT guys from other local governments across the region. When he attempted to network he got dismissed and even laughed at by some attendees because he had some dinky PDA and some other tech considered to be a chisel and slate in the Era of Blackberry.

As soon as he got back to the office he essentially went into a rage and shouted down everyone around him until an emergency finance request was granted to get him the best possible Blackberry, laptop, and other peripherals with the quickest delivery possible.

And then taxpayers wonder why said government ran up a £6 million debt.
 
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