Centrelink "customers" love Apple?

gooterz said :

Any other platform you wouldnt have a licence fee for the software going to apple.

Someone is well informed. Apple takes a 30% cut of sales. The app is free. 30% of $0 is what Apple is getting. You do the math. The only fee they’re paying is a yearly subscription to the developer program, totalling ~ $100. It’s not the worst $100 a government has ever spent.

Henry82 said :

c_c said :

Apple has no control over the app..

Yes they do, they can block any app for any reason they like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_%28iOS%29#App_approval_process

Apple also has the ability to remotely remove apps from peoples phones (they have done it in the past)

Google also has this capability, and they too have used it.

http://www.securityweek.com/google-responds-remote-kill-remove-recent-swarm-malicious-android-apps

What’s your point?

c_c said :

gooterz said :

Any other platform you wouldnt have a licence fee for the software going to apple.
Apple is in complete control of the app.

It’s a free app, there is no licence fee paid to Apple.

Apple has no control over the app.

Google Play store and also the Microsoft store, also take cuts from apps sold. They all seem to charge $99 for a developer to access the store as well.

More similarities between the three than differences IMO.

Disclaimer: I’ve owned 2 android phones, an iPod and an iPad. I use both happily. I also want to point out I’m looking for a laptop right now and the only laptop with a screen resolution i need is a macbook pro. Not sure I’ll buy it based on the cost, but its the only option if i decide to value scrteen resolution over cost.

Deref said :

There is absolutely no excuse for these instrumentalities to be supporting any specific brand of IT or operating system. Another appalling example is the e-tax system. These applications can and should be developed to to be platform-agnostic. No excuses.

While you are right, its inherently easier to write and test apps for iOS than it is for android. Testing for android apps is horrendous. In theory the solution would be a mobile enabled website, but they can’t do everything an app does.

Mordd, I think you’ll find that wasting of money and unnecessary spending is classless. (But its so shiny and desirable!)

c_c said :

It’s a free app, there is no licence fee paid to Apple.

The company still has to pay a fee to apple every year to put an app in the itunes store, whether or not the app is free.

c_c said :

Apple has no control over the app..

Yes they do, they can block any app for any reason they like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_%28iOS%29#App_approval_process

Apple also has the ability to remotely remove apps from peoples phones (they have done it in the past)

c_c said :

Mordd said :

I don’t have a newer laptop / phone partly because in canberra 60% of my income goes in rent, even with a part time job, and yes ive been on waiting list for public housing for years. Regardless I do not think $500+ is something that most people on a centrelink income can easily justify as an expense, and if they can maybe they don’t need to be on a centrelink income then.

I checked – where is the support for Android? Not there! Why is it centrelink prioritised an app for Apple devices over Android? Free app? Yes. Dev fee paid to Appe? Most certainly, thats how the App Store works. Time & money spent developing the app – oh yeh and I bet they paid top rates as govt always does for IT stuff.

Also developing on Android is in a lot cases simpler than iOS, not harder, despite the lies spread by people like Grail there is not a fragmentation issue and making it compatible with Andriod 2.x and 3.x and 4.x is quite simple for NEW apps and there are automated tools to assist in making this easy.

You don’t know jack. Please do the right thing re government wasteful spending and hand your Austudy back.

Thankfully my right to study is something granted to all citizens, not just those you personally approve of, and considering I spent 12 years working full time and paying taxes before going back to full time study as an adult, no I won’t be handing back my Austudy payments, thanks for your bigotry though much appreciated.

Mordd said :

I don’t have a newer laptop / phone partly because in canberra 60% of my income goes in rent, even with a part time job, and yes ive been on waiting list for public housing for years. Regardless I do not think $500+ is something that most people on a centrelink income can easily justify as an expense, and if they can maybe they don’t need to be on a centrelink income then.

I checked – where is the support for Android? Not there! Why is it centrelink prioritised an app for Apple devices over Android? Free app? Yes. Dev fee paid to Appe? Most certainly, thats how the App Store works. Time & money spent developing the app – oh yeh and I bet they paid top rates as govt always does for IT stuff.

Also developing on Android is in a lot cases simpler than iOS, not harder, despite the lies spread by people like Grail there is not a fragmentation issue and making it compatible with Andriod 2.x and 3.x and 4.x is quite simple for NEW apps and there are automated tools to assist in making this easy.

You don’t know jack. Please do the right thing re government wasteful spending and hand your Austudy back.

I don’t have a newer laptop / phone partly because in canberra 60% of my income goes in rent, even with a part time job, and yes ive been on waiting list for public housing for years. Regardless I do not think $500+ is something that most people on a centrelink income can easily justify as an expense, and if they can maybe they don’t need to be on a centrelink income then.

I checked – where is the support for Android? Not there! Why is it centrelink prioritised an app for Apple devices over Android? Free app? Yes. Dev fee paid to Appe? Most certainly, thats how the App Store works. Time & money spent developing the app – oh yeh and I bet they paid top rates as govt always does for IT stuff.

Also developing on Android is in a lot cases simpler than iOS, not harder, despite the lies spread by people like Grail there is not a fragmentation issue and making it compatible with Andriod 2.x and 3.x and 4.x is quite simple for NEW apps and there are automated tools to assist in making this easy.

gooterz said :

Any other platform you wouldnt have a licence fee for the software going to apple.
Apple is in complete control of the app.

It’s a free app, there is no licence fee paid to Apple.

Apple has no control over the app.

gooterz said :

The problem with Android users is they have a religious affection for Android products and think that everyone else who doesnt use them just hasnt seen the light.

This works too. Wankers are wankers regardless of platform. Yawn…

Any other platform you wouldnt have a licence fee for the software going to apple.

Apple is in complete control of the app.. Its not something a government department should do. Makes it much much much harder to fix or upgrade the software.

If anything it should be a website designed for tablet/ mobile.

Apple are now going to get a % more centrelink customers because of this. Makes you wonder what centrelink get out of it.

The problem with apple users is they have a religious affection for apple products and think that everyone else who doesnt use them just hasnt seen the light. Apple products are inferior and more expensive, so consumers aren’t getting value for money.

There is absolutely no excuse for these instrumentalities to be supporting any specific brand of IT or operating system. Another appalling example is the e-tax system. These applications can and should be developed to to be platform-agnostic. No excuses.

Writing an iOS App: build the app, test on three phones, two iPads, release, get somewhere in the order of 1% of the users having issues.

Writing an Android app: build the app, test on two dozen phones, tablets, laptops that think they are tablets, phones that think they are tablets, Froyo, Ice Cream Sandwich, half a dozen vendor modified versions of the same, release, get somewhere in the order of 1% of the users for whom the app works as expected.

Now go to the web site and read all the text about which platforms are supported. Yes, that is right, yet another RiotACT article written by a hysterical chicken little who either failed to read the source material, or a povo Android luser with a chip on their shoulder about Samsung continually failing to follow through with promises of next version upgrades for their handsets.

Heaven forbid the notion that Centrelink might have aimed for this platform because, oh, I don’t know… maybe they actually did some research and found that a lot of their target audience had access to it, despite one of them not being you?

Just because they’re a gubby agency doesn’t mean everything they do is ill-conceived.

Hate to break it to you, but students are not the only people who access Centrelink. There are many families accessing child care benefits, family tax benefits etc. Centrelink are simply giving options to their clients, nothing wrong with that. Go back to your study.

The joke is that people are spending their Centrelink money of overpriced electrical devices.

Food stamps anyone?

An ignorant and ridiculous post. I am a Centrelink customer because I receive the Child Care Rebate. To be crystal clear – I have a job, and I pay someone to look after my child. The Child Care Rebate is available to anyone who has a child in care because they are working, studying or training.

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of Centrelink customers, kindly mind your own business about what gadgets we own or how we choose to access our services.

WiFi and hardware comes out of a different budget allocation to wages for staff. Perhaps Centrelink hopes that the unemployed are sending off resumes to potential employers while waiting in the queue to hand in their dole form?

Now personally I am on Austudy, and making do with a 6yr old Dell laptop running XP and a Nokia of almost the same age for my music/calendar/etc…. From what I have seen on campus at CIT Reid at least this seems pretty common for most students, certainly don’t seem to remember many toting around iPod Touch or iPads (apart from a couple of the teachers anyway).

Interesting, that’s quite different to my observations at the ANU. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an artsy hipster type without an Iphone, Ipad and Macbook in tow.

Last I checked this isn’t exactly the most common accessory among the unemployed either, I am curious, where is the “huge demand” for access to centrelink services come from that enabling it on the most expensive Tablet / Music Player devices on the market is a priority

Assuming that Centrelink customers are poor is a big mistake. Thanks to the glorious middle class welfare state fostered by successive governments as well as a lack of means testing, there are plenty of cashed up people receiving benefits.

This is a ridiculous post.

The app replicates some of the functions already available through the Centrelink online services website, available on any mobile device and on the hundreds of computers with high speed internet, provided free to you at the tax payer’s expense on campus and in public libraries.

You’re not being deprived of anything, so stop whinging.

The reason most app developers release for iOS first is because it’s the best platform to test a new app on. Less fragmentation, a more assured user experience. There’s also security issues, where Apple does have a stronger lead, hence many banking apps also came out first on iOS.

As for your 6yr old laptop, maybe you should do what Paul Keating suggested and get a job. Earn some cash and buy a new device, like the rest of us do. The folks I know with iPads and smart phones on campus all work, so they can afford those nice things, in addition to paying rent and so on.

Several things, not all centrelink benefits are for the unemployed or students. Some schools,uni’s etc have ipads available for students to use.
It’s conceivable that if you are part time employed you might have access to one through a workplace. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there are some in a public library somewhere for people to use.
Lastly, with the rate apple upgrades the ipads, and the how the fanbase have to upgrade to the latest and greatest there should be a lot of older model ipads floating around that students and unemployed could pick up cheap.

I see a lot of ANU students with them, funnily enough they’re nearly always in the Law School area.

But you know the youth these days, if it’s a choice between eating for a month or buying an iPad, they’ll buy the iPad and then complain to mummy and daddy they can’t afford to eat, who then bail out their little princes/ses.

The arsehats at the University of Adelaide gave out free iPads to first year Science students last year, whilst neglecting other faculties.