I spent last week in Chicago, on the invitation of Apple, to check out their new education offerings. The event took place at Lane Tech High School in the Windy City, and we got to see a new entry-level iPad with Pencil support, in addition to the new school-based ecosystem that Apple made to make put Apple back into the classroom again.
Cheaper Chromebooks have made inroads into school environments, so this was a needful move on Apple's part. Besides making the Apple Pencil available for non-Pro iPad users via the cheaper new iPad, the Apple Schoolkit and other school apps aimed to make life easier for teachers to manage their classes, issue handouts, manage grades, and mark scripts digitally.
I will leave it to Kim Huat to give you the overview of the event via this video:
And since iOS 11.3 also came out soon after, here are the four new Animojis on iPhone X:
I had a great time in my short stay in Chicago. The Apple Store at Michigan Avenue is lovely, and I got to partake of the city's deep dish pizza, tacos, and blues music.
I also visited Cloud Gate at Millennium Park, a.k.a. The Bean. And took all the touristy photos one usually takes here. See if you can find me in the first photo above.
I wish I had more time in Chicago. The last time I was here, it was 2012. I did stop by in 2016, on Great US Train Adventure from SF to NYC but that was only for a few hours.
It was cold here but I had the right clothes. 0ºC to 2ºC at night, and surprisingly, 8ºC-12ºC during the day on the days I was there. Which is warm by Chicago standards.
The kids have been asking me for a pen-based device to draw and create stuff on. The iPad Pro was too pricey to be given to the kids. And a Wacom tablet would mean being tethered to the iMac at home. This new entry-level iPad with Pencil support came at the right time.
Now if only I can get over the jet lag sooner. Shuttling between Singapore, Austin (for the Ready Player One premiere at SXSW), and Chicago in the space of three weeks really wore me out. I will share the Austin photos soon, but do go watch Ready Player One. It is a fun little movie by Steven Spielberg.
