“We fought hard for iPad,” a pilot working for the airline told AppleInsider. He described the Delta deal as being about money, travel contracts, and Delta’s Information Technology staff historically being “in bed” with Microsoft.
Why would Delta want to listen to the people actually using the devices at 30,000 feet in the air.
MS most likely gave them the hardware damned near for free and the support is part of the $$$ they’re paying to MS anyway.
Or the CIO said “I don’t give a damn what the pilots want. They’ll take what we give them.”
Most likely explanation IMHO is that it’s effectively a paid sponsorship by Microsoft. The announcement seemed to be timed to be good for Microsoft’s PR around the Surface 2 and it certainly seems like Delta needs the money (or at least free hardware).
11,000 new Casper Suite licenses vs. they already own Active Directory. Even if they paid full price for the Surface 2s, that’s a huge cost savings. That doesn’t even count the 17,000 Windows Phone devices they are rolling out.
Plus, you can’t run OS X Server in an actual server. So, the Surface lives nicely in their existing infrastructure and the don’t have to retrain or hire new administrators.
I hope for Apple and the long term of the iOS ecosystem, that they talk with Delta to find out why they lost the deal and improve their enterprise support beyond what’s useful for a few hundred devices. I say that both as an IT administrator and a Mac user.
A couple of pilot friends (not with Delta) actually commented this was a good idea because they could run their old Desktop PC flight management apps…
They were surprised to know that the regular Surface won’t run those apps, only new ones that haven’t even been developed yet. (e.g. Jeppensen charts only supports Windows XP and iPad)
Shows how people who have lives outside of tech are confused by the misleading product names that Microsoft used.
Who’s paying to certify the Surface for cockpit use? Something the iPad already is.
What about the at least 1 year delay in deployment this certification will cause? Doesn’t that have costs too?
Who knows? I would think Microsoft is probably involved in getting it certified by the FAA, since that would help it with all airlines.
The delay? Sure. But, Casper Suite licenses are renewable every year. There are ongoing costs involved. I’m just pointing out some reasons why the “obvious” choice might not have been made. A very large corporation has different needs than you or I do at home.
And, I’m not downplaying the possibility that Delta got a really, really, REALLY good price on these devices from Microsoft but as someone who has bought large numbers of iPads and the associate infrastructure to manage them, the cost of the device is actually the smallest line item in the entire equation.
Delta’s CTO is very happy with his new yacht.
Why this fixation with Casper? There many other management systems out there.
For example Boeing/Jeppensen electronic flight bag for the iPad plugs in to AirWatch MDM, a service that costs about $50/year per device – or less with a perpetual license.
What costs the most are the flight deck apps and subscription to the navigation charts, but those costs are the same regardless of being Windows or iOS.
Any administrator that can’t pick up the OS X server tools such as profile manager should be fired on the spot and taken to a hospital for emergency extraction of their head from Microsoft’s ass. The stuff literally takes 10 minutes to learn if you’re an admin worth the salt. I say this as a mac user that administers a windows network all damn day. Microsoft’s biggest disservice to IT Professionals was that their system (and certifications) doesn’t teach you the fundamentals of using computers, you just learn how fucked up windows is. Hit apply. Then OK. Yum, may I have another sir!
You are thinking about this clear-minded and logical which is not how Delta approached this payola deal. I further contend this wasn’t up to any deficit on the part of iOS. The CTO likely made his decision like most CTOs tend to do. He approved the Surface while on a nice all-expenses covered holiday Microsoft provided so he could review the press materials more thoroughly without distraction. OH, except that full-release massage room service is here. That distraction is OK right Delta? As a fellow administrator you should know as well as I that Microsoft will simply try to buy their way to legitimacy in a given market if they lack the skills to compete on even terrain- they’ve done this for 20+ years. I mean, look at how pathetic Win8 adoption is across the ecosystem and, especially, in environments such as ours. Microsoft saw the writing on the wall years ago when they started licensing activesync to everyone that wanted corporate syncing. Nah, this is just a desperate attempt they made at the expense of all the people that are forced USE the hardware and software. I really don’t want to fly Delta now. I’d imagine their pilots will like the surface just as my users have: not at all.
Yeah people keep crying casper and coming up with all these theoretical IT roadblocks that would swing Delta towards the Microsoft camp. I don’t see it however, this was a payola deal it won’t be in place after the deal concludes and delta will move to iPads like every other airline. But the execs that brokered the deal will have a little extra in their bonuses as miserable pilots fly overhead.
Microsoft: If we GIVE you a Surface will you use it.
Delta: no
Microsoft: If we GIVE you a Surface covered in cash, will you use it.
Delta: OKAY.
Expect cringe-worthy co-branding at gates and all over the in-flight magazines. Maybe they can co-brand a barf bag:
Barf by Surface.
Exactly, precisely this!
You have to laugh at some of these over up apple ass comments. I’ve used a surface for months now and the ipad is a distant un charged in the draw item. Finally it’s been found out for the un functional useless c**p it really is.
Why pick up server tools for os/x nobody has apple networks part from fanboy fools
and WHAT exactly is an Apple network other than a term you just invented/used to show your ignorance of this subject. Apple client computers /= an Apple network. And you’re seriously telling me that only fanboy fools use macs? I’d be willing to bet a beer that whole industries would beg to disagree with you (Sciences, Medical, Creative etc). Just because you haven’t the knowledge or prowess to understand and use such tools does not automagically make them the worthless domain of fanboys. Even someone that is predominantly working with windows clients would benefit from an OS X server instance for management and deployment of Apple gear. But it doesn’t sound like you’d rather work smart than hard so have at it without any help if you like. Me? I’ll take the smart road since it is MUCH less traveled.
ZOMG Did you know that macs can even talk to an active directory controller now?! Crazy times were living in huh Steve Ballmer?
All the execs would have signed off on it, but yes that is what would have happened. Given they’ll be running dedicated software for cockpit functions, the platform underneath is not that important in terms of functionality and usability.
OS X Server has exactly nothing to do with this, and you most certainly can support and manage iOS devices via an AD backend. That’s the entire concept behind MDM: while Apple does provide their own solution, you most certainly do not need OS X Server or Casper for it.
Your Surface isn’t correcting your spelling and grammar properly. The spacebar seems to be randomly inserting spaces. You better take it back and have it looked at.
Modifying AD schemas for an AD that probably has several hundred thousand objects in it is not a trivial task.