iPads On American Campuses? Maybe Next Year 177
Velcroman1 writes "Slashdotters have read extensively about the iPad pilot programs at colleges and universities: Australian schools are iPad crazy, we read yesterday, and thanks to the iPad's success, 2011 will be the year of the tablet. But on US college campuses almost half a year after the iPad's launch, it's a whole different story — at least so far this year. FoxNews.com reports that high-profile schools like Duke and Stanford are far more cautious about the device than has previously been reported. 'It definitely facilitates studying and recall because you don't get bogged down by all the paper,' noted first-year Stanford med student Ryan Flynn. But it's still a work in progress. 'The iPad isn't the best input device. Some people have gone back to paper and pencil.'"
Budget (Score:5, Insightful)
College students on a budget would also have a hard time justifying the cost of a laptop or high-end netbook, while having only half the functionality. Ditto for universities looking to purchase them for students.
With the way most colleges and college students are going nowadays (as far as finances are concerned), this shouldn't be much of a surprise...
They'll just ask for charity... (Score:4, Interesting)
I recently saw that that the a 'Restoring Truthiness' (Stephen Colbert rally) charity on DonorsChoose.org was requesting iPads.
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=439788&challengeid=39361 [donorschoose.org]
My students need iPads to assist them in English, Social details
Studies and Creative Writing!
Creating writing on iPads with one of the worst input methods among electronic devices? But it worked, they collected $10,000+. In some countries you can build a school with that instead of contributing to Apple's really fat margins.
Atleast with MS, you can run what you want, but with iPads? http://www.businessinsider.com/latest-app-store-rejection-outrage-apple-rejects-app-that-teaches-kids-to-program-2010-4 [businessinsider.com]
Sigh, the things that shiny baubles can get people to do....
Re: (Score:2)
"Atleast with MS, you can run what you want, but with iPads? http://www.businessinsider.com/latest-app-store-rejection-outrage-apple-rejects-app-that-teaches-kids-to-program-2010-4 [businessinsider.com] [businessinsider.com]"
The rules said they'd reject this type of app and they rejected it??!?!?1 I'm outraged!!!!1!!
Re:They'll just ask for charity... (Score:5, Insightful)
The point is that the rules suck and that a device that is being pushed as a educational tool by schools and universities is locked down stopping kids from learning how to program. Not enough people being distracted by 'Ooh shiny' know about this.
Not just that, the app store rules are ambiguously and capriciously enforced. For example, Lua for game scripting has been approved though it violates the rules. There's no way of telling what will and will not be approved.
Re:They'll just ask for charity... (Score:4, Insightful)
a device that is being pushed as a educational tool by schools and universities is locked down stopping kids from learning how to program.
It pisses me off to hell that schools are pushing the iPad when it lacks the one thing that made tablets a killer tool for education: a stylus. I did my undergraduate degree in physics and I used tablets throughout for note-taking. I started with a HP TC1100 and moved on to a Latitude XT, but I would not trade a tablet PC for a pen and paper ever.
Tablet PCs with a digitizer for stylus input have very good precision and ink reproduction for comfortable writing. Applications like Microsoft OneNote have amazing features like on the fly handwriting recognition, note indexing, searching, tagging, aggregating, and sharing. I used to keep wiki style class notes my friends and I would edit on our tablets. In Windows "Ink" is a datatype recognized across applications, so you can copy/paste and edit your notes in different apps.
The iPad eliminated all of this functionality. I've tried capacitive pens and they suck hard by comparison. The palm rejection algorithms suck, there's no handwriting recognition to speak of, and the applications are as robust as "put ink on canvas." If that's all I wanted to do, I would use paper.
The sad thing is that tablet PCs never really took off in education, and now that the latest generation of tablets (sans PC) lacks EVERYTHING that made them worth while, they're suddenly being adopted. This tells me one thing: It's not about how well iPads work as teaching tools; it's a marketing ploy. I can see the University Administration sitting around a table saying "The kids love these whiz bang things, lets give them away and maybe they'll come to our school!" They did it with iPods, they're doing it again with iPads.
Re: (Score:2)
"It pisses me off to hell that schools are pushing the iPad when it lacks the one thing that made tablets a killer tool for education: a stylus."
I couldn't disagree more. I can type far faster on a keyboard and even a virtual keyboard than I can write. Better, my notes can be better organized, spell checked, etc...
The use of a stylus is specifically what made me *not* get a tablet before the iPad. Also, you know what's faster than even typing on a keyboard for me? Simply recording the audio.
But input as
Re: (Score:2)
Not just that, the app store rules are ambiguously and capriciously enforced. For example, Lua for game scripting has been approved though it violates the rules. There's no way of telling what will and will not be approved.
Note that the "rules" have apparently since been changed so that things like Lua scripting are officially OK -- the new rule is something like "scripting languages are allowed, as long as no scripts are downloaded from the net."
That's a good change, of course, as the "old rule" was insane, but while it shows that Apple does occasionally listen to reason, it also emphasizes how capricious they can be, and that should make iphone/ipad/etc devs nervous.
[Not that any of my starry-eyed, just-discarded-all-thei
Re: (Score:2)
Strawman. I was talking about some simple programming ON it, not FOR it. Apple explicitly bans any and all programs on the iPad that *may* be construed as being programming tools(even if they're not).
See http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/08/30/0027210/iPhone-App-In-App-Store-Limbo-Open-Sourced [slashdot.org]
http://www.businessinsider.com/latest-app-store-rejection-outrage-apple-rejects-app-that-teaches-kids-to-program-2010-4 [businessinsider.com]
Oops, not $10,000 (Score:2)
Edit: Looks like 10k was asked, not given, and the school is classified as a high poverty school...
More charity iPads... (Score:2)
Here's another school requesting $50,000 to buy 81 iPads [refresheverything.com] on Pepsi's "Refresh Everything" site. And so far there's a good chance they might get it. What a waste.
Re: (Score:2)
Umm, your outrage is out of date. The relevant limit on what types of apps can be done has been removed, e.g. even the "convert Flash to native app" is back to being worked on by Adobe.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on how it all works out. If somehow the cost of the iPad plus digital textbooks was at all comparable to the cost of all the print textbooks, then It could work out.
Of course, that's unlikely because the ridiculous cost of print textbooks has nothing to do with the cost of printing.
Re: (Score:2)
Authors in academia are only rarely given a significant upfront advance, unless the author is famous and/or notorious and/or appears on TV, Star Trek or The Economist.
The intro textbooks may actually carry an advance, but the low-volume specialist works either won't, or will carry a tiny advance, as in a few hundred dollars. General interest technical books make more, as in maybe 5-10k.
People write academic stuff for tenure, not for cash in hand. Only about three hundred people will ever care enough about s
Tablet cost offset by digital textbooks. (Score:2)
Also there is the potential for the cost of a tablet to be offset by saving from going to digital textbooks.
As for half the functionality, add a blue
Re:Budget (Score:5, Informative)
No Flash, which imposes a restriction on quite a few websites that utilize it.
Crippled ability to print anything -- you can buy the $30 Apple Camera Adapter to get some USB support, and/or simply email whatever you need to print to a computer, but what a pain.
Limited ability to copy files to and from an iPad -- media files, the limited number Apple sanctions can be transferred via iTunes. VLC has surprisingly been allowed into the tightly-controlled iOS app world but since there's no USB ports, no ethernet, and no user accessible file structure to even copy files back and forth you're limited to Apple approved apps for everything. Want to transfer a .doc file? Well you need to buy iWorks to work with it. There's no home directory, no 'My Documents', nothing except Apple apps to manipulate files.
iPads are touted as being great ebook viewers (and they actually are). But in the matter of reading a book on your iPad and also composing a paper means being able to have at least two apps open, something to view with and something to write with (well, at least three because a web browser is almost invaluable now). Being able to switch between them or view both side by side on a computer, that's not a problem, on an iPad that's another matter.
Usage of Skype means you need a webcam. Most laptops have them built in now, and even on a computer without one you can buy a USB external webcam. Remember, no USB on an iPad (outside of the adapter kit option, which gives you limited USB options).
iPads have a lot of pluses like the interface, battery life, instant-on, etc. but there are a lot of limitations too.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Because it IS STILL AN ISSUE. Apple will fix problems IN THE FUTURE. Which HASN'T HAPPENED YET.
Re: (Score:2)
There are existing apps that print. I printed (wirelessly of course) from my iPhone months ago (from a coupon app)
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
There's functionality and there's ease of use. Let's discuss this.
What functionality does a regular laptop have that an iPad+Keyboard doesnt?
For one, a mouse. Sure, you can tap, but that's clumsy if you need to reach, or if you are trying to remote into a computer.
For another, multitasking. I'm not just talking about the iPad doing two things at once, I'm talking about the user being able to do two things at once. With a notebook, I can easily arrange my screen so that I have a reference (such as a webp
iPad != computer replacement (Score:5, Insightful)
Naysayers keep missing a critical point about the iPad: the iPad is NOT a computer/notebook/netbook replacement. It augments.
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that. While it may spend most of its time unconnected, it still relies on a host computer.
Some 20% of what you do with a computer (YMMV) is hardcore computing requiring full keyboard, nuanced/specialized input device, big/multiple screens, mass storage unto terabytes, etc. - stuff which either requires an all-out desktop computer or severe compromises for a notebook. The remaining 80% is lightweight stuff which can be done, and you want to do, anywhere anytime in a superlight package - THAT is what the iPad is for. By breaking out the 80% from the 20%, you no longer have to compromise the 100% into a tiny under-capacity notebook.
Put your textbooks, email, browsing, and suitable lightweight apps on the iPad so you can take info & access everywhere easily. Use the iPad's microphone (! hey naysayers, ya didn't know it had one, eh?) to record the lectures while you focus thereon and Dragon Dictate (or some such) them into editable/searchable text later. Work on assignments whenever/wherever you find a few minutes to. ...and when you need to do "real work", go home, sync up, and do the work on a real computer. [insert notebook-vs-desktop type parody of naysayer rhetoric here]
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't.
If a product doesn't do everything you want, then - brainstorm! - maybe it's not for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would I want something to augment a netbook when I can just take a netbook? From my cursory search most netbooks seem to less than 2.5 pounds. So for one additional pound of wight you have something with much more functionality. Yeah the ipad augments a netbook all right. Just like an appendix augments your large intestines.
Re: (Score:2)
Not buying it.
Students need a personal computer to do school work. Tyipcally students today get laptops because of the portability, cost, and the need to do work on campus. So it's not a hard assumption to say that the students will already have a laptop, so why the hell do they also need a proprietary, sole source ipad??? Ah, I got it, all students have an extra $800 sitting around burning a hole in their pocket and are dying to give it to Jobs.
A tablet is useful for receiving information, reading books
Re: (Score:2)
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that.
I was answering the question posed. And we are talking about replacement, as in "Should a college student buy an iPad or a laptop" (paraphrasing of an earlier post.)
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't.
I wasn't. If you think I was, you might want to check for sand in your nether regions--you're being oversensitive.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes! Buy two devices that cost as much as a laptop to get the functionality of a tablet pc!
I could buy an apple machine, and a computer, or I could go buy a lenovo x-series machine for half the cost and do all of what you just mentioned with one device.
Dragon Dictate? Sadly, no... (Score:2)
Dragon isn't exactly cheap
Cheap/free alternatives suck
Dragon itself isn't that great
To make Dragon effective, you need to train it to your voice. Good luck getting your professor to spend an hour training your ipad. Although it would probably be possible for him to do it once and then share the resultant file with other users. If Dragon ran on the iPad, which I doubt.
Re:iPad != computer replacement (Score:4, Funny)
Increase your perceived pretentiousness by a factor of 10. How else will people know that I'm a free thinking non-conformist unless I have an apple device?
Re: (Score:2)
Notebooks are cumbersome; but a netbook is nice. I don't even consider my laptop as being portable anymore. I had a classmate in discrete math with the asus t101 tablet/net book and that device was slick. I think that's the perfect balance between ease of use, functionality and cost. Yeah it's a little bigger than an Ipad but it overcomes all the shortcomings of the iPad/e-readers.
Re: (Score:2)
I consider netbooks to be a subset of notebooks. There's really a fairly fine distinction between them. Frankly, a 13" notebook is just fine for me for portability. It's would also be nice to avoid dealing with the Atom processors--they're fine for a lot of things, but my computer really bogs down occasionally. I tried doing some work with Postgresql on my Mini10, and it was flat out unusable. Tried on a full-fledged laptop (with the same drive) and it was fine.
My perfect machine would have a Core2Duo
Re: (Score:2)
Your question is, literally, "What functionally would the average college student be lacking after buying accessories to compensate for the lost functionality of the ipad?"
Well, if you buy separate devices for everything you don't have then all of a sudden, you have everything. Of course, it's clunky as hell and costs twice as much. You can't call something "portable" if it's not portable. The ipad is not
Re: (Score:2)
I guess the concept of a decent thin client escaped you ... I don't know enough about the state of thin client software for the iPad ... I could be horribly wrong
If you don't know what you're talking about, you might try not being such a dick.
Anyway, the kind of software our university requires in my department is the kind iPad sucks for: Matlab/Mathematica, Auto CAD, Office. By the time you set up a keyboard, mouse, and monitor (who wants to do CAD on a 10" screen?), you start to wonder why in the world you're using an iPad in the first place. A lesson I learned early was to use the right tool for the right job. iPad is not the right tool for everything.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You mean, like Citrix?
http://community.citrix.com/display/xa/Citrix+Receiver+for+iPad [citrix.com]
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=2302968 [citrix.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
But let's assume you're correct and do the math.
Using laptops, you're out:
1. Cost of software licensing
2. Cost of laptops.
With ipads, you're out:
1. Cost of ipads (equivalent to that of a decent laptop)
2. Cost of software licensing
3. COST OF THE ENTIRE FUCKING BACKEND
You can't ju
Re: (Score:2)
And do you think the cost of those books comes from the trees that are cut down to make the pages? If you move the books to an ipad/computer, the only way you save any money is if you factor in pirating. The vast majority of the costs of those books is in paying the publisher and in paying the author. So you will still end up paying 80% or 90% of what you do now (assuming the publishers give you ANY discount for an electronic version) AND you won't be able to sell your books when you're done with them!
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think so (Score:3, Insightful)
Most people my age (I'm going back to school in the spring, at 24), are pretty tech savy. They're also pretty broke. Buying an Ipad means that they can't hook up their laptops to a TV to watch the legions of entertainment that netflix on demand/thepiratebay offers. not to mention the ubiquitous use of USB flash drives that people wouldn't be able to use.
If there was a tablet that offered the functionality of a laptop, I'd say sure. but college kids, as much as we love the newest gadget, will more often than not chose functionality over form when it boils down to what saves money.
Re:I don't think so (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
iPad can already watch videos downloaded from TPB
How do you get them onto the iPad? Do you have to have a computer in order to do that?
Can you watch them on the TV? An App must specifically authorize use of the VGA-out dongle.
All this while still being cheaper then a laptop and having better battery life.
Better battery life? Probably. Cheaper? Not so much. The cheapest iPad is $500. I can go to my local Best Buy and get a laptop for less than that. I haven't seen US prices for Android tablets yet, but if they're similar to the prices we've been seeing for other countries, they won't be cheaper than the iPad.
Also most have 3G connectivity so there is no need to be stuck near a hotspot while working.
Most what have 3G?
Re: (Score:2)
iPad can already watch videos downloaded from TPB
If it's like the new Touch, you'll need to convert the videos first on a desktop or laptop, so it's not an either/or situation. Also, if it's like the new Touch (I just got one) you can't do anything until it's authorized through iTunes on a desktop or laptop. Mabe the iPads don't need this step, I don't know.
tablets will definitely become a fixture in school (Score:2, Interesting)
Just as a replacement for expensive heavy books at the very least. Laptops are too cumbersome, I'm sure teachers dislike staring out at just the tops of students' heads cresting from behind laptop screens. (think grade schoolers lol) I really do believe that the right tablet at the right price will be the biggest game changer for education we've seen in a long long time.
Apple is not interested? (Score:2)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369340,00.asp [pcmag.com]
Steve Jobs is busy selling too many of these to even bother about the education market.
Re: (Score:2)
Just as a replacement for expensive heavy books at the very least
You'd need both a VERY good reader software and for the textbooks to actually be available in ebook form.
The lockdown begins... (Score:5, Insightful)
I suppose it's a good thing to see a locked down system like the iPad slowly displace relatively unrestricted computers in college. Convince everyone as they go through school that restrictive, vendor controlled platforms are the way things should be, and you'll make them all the more amenable to heavy DRM.
Re:The lockdown begins... (Score:5, Insightful)
> Or, you know, give people a device that does what they need in a more convenient
> form factor and leave the politics of free software out of it and stop whining
> about the purchasing choices other people
We are way beyond "free software" here.
We have gotten past that to simple property rights.
Not really owning or controlling your own hardware has some serious practical implications that are more than just "politics".
The thing makes a great toy but falls down for real work or anything that requires manipulating your own data.
The iTunes approach to interacting with the device is main reason why.
Of course those of us with a clue are going to sound the warning bells. People like you want to swindle them.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
One major weakness of the cloud you're espousing... it dies without a constant network connection. And why not have the best of both the worlds? It's not as if allowing native data storage is going to make the cloud go away.
These things are vastly easier to administer than a a laptop, and high school students by and large, don't need to know how to program a computer.
Do you have a clue about what you are writing? Everyone is trying to get people interested in programming at younger ages and you're here saying that high school students don't need to how to program? And this is supposedly because people can screw up the device? Pray, tell me how approv
Re: (Score:2)
Keep the piece of hardware in the user's hands simple and non configurable so they can't screw it up. An appliance instead of a tempermental, albeit flexible computer.
Is this really how we want to deal with students?
But with the added capability of being a standalone ebook reader, media consumption device and web browser.
Again, is this a good thing? Don't students "consume" enough media already?
Re: (Score:2)
Not really owning or controlling your own hardware has some serious practical implications that are more than just "politics".
Look, I'll probably never buy an iPad because I prefer more open devices I can hack on easily. That said, how do people "not own or control" their iPad? Is there anything stopping you from installing your favorite Linux/Android OS on it? Is there anything stopping you from jailbreaking it and installing any apps you care to? What Apple is controlling is the Apple supplied service for buying/downloading/and installing applications. That's pretty much it.
If you don't like Apple's approach, by all means feel
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
At my institution, a student who jailbreaks an iPad would be in violation of university policies, and could face disciplinary action
I assume you mean an iPad provided by the institution, as I don't see how they would have the authority to dictate what a student does with his/her own device.
In This case, it is not the student's device, it is the institution. So your example just shows that the institution is able to do have control over their own device. The same would hold for any other device. If the University supplies a laptop running Windows 7 with Office and Adobe Creative Suite, a student would probably be disciplined if they eras
Re:The lockdown begins... (Score:4, Insightful)
Jesus man, lighten the fuck up. Not everything with a computer chip in it has to be a full-fledged Linux server.
You've decided it's a toy, that's great, let's agree it's a toy. Now explain for us why you care what anybody else does with their toys?
Do you get this pissed off when you see a child using a LeapPad? After all, it's a toy. With a computer chip in it.
Did the Speak 'n Spell fill you with incoherent rage when you were a child? Another toy, with a computer chip in it!
I wish you'd make up your mind: either it's a serious threat to "your" freedoms because it's likely to become the dominant model for everybody's computing devices in the future, or it's a toy and it doesn't really fucking matter, because it will always be a toy that less-computer-literate people use for browsing the web and sending a few emails and watching a video or two, while you continue working on your netbooks, laptops, and big servers, secure in the knowledge that you are a hip, happening, with-it guy who knows all about computers.
And while you're dicking around with autoconf, we'll be watching something from Netflix, or maybe getting a blowjob because we weren't sitting at a fucking desk all evening ignoring our family because we had to get "real work" done, and "manipulate our own data."
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, we've determined it's a toy, Jedidiah has already declared it as such. So why does a toy need to have USB, or any of the other million features he declares would make it "not a toy"? Why does it have to be *anything* but whatever it is? A baseball bat isn't a screwdriver, and a Barbie Dream House isn't a washing machine... why is *this* 'toy,' specifically, attracting so much ire as "not a real machine for getting WORK done"? *Why does it HAVE to be a 'real' machine for getting WORK done*?
And why w
Re: (Score:2)
*laugh* Or, like a pioneer who by buying a product that I want ... I am enabling the flood of copycat products to reach the market which will allow you to tinker and have more choice.
I'm actually increasing your freedoms by making the market realize that people want touch screen tablets now dammit. Some of those will be open products that you can tweak as you fit. Someone will likely port Linux to it, eve
Even laptops aren't good enough to input... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you want to write your thesis, fine, use either one. But if you study science or any other topic where notes are not only pure text, it's bound to be very limited.
Re: (Score:2)
What about something like the new Dell tablet/netbook hybrid then?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/14/dell-inspiron-duo-tablet-netbook-hybrid-unveiled-with-rotating/ [engadget.com] (watch the video).
You can both draw diagrams when needed(dunno the precision with capacitative screen, type properly when needed with the full physical keyboard. Oh, and most importantly, you can run what you want on it and not be restricted to Apple's whims and fancies.
Re: (Score:2)
Or you could look at the guys that did it first: http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/index.htm [alwaysinnovating.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I like LaTeX, but I don't know if I can type fast enough to includes diagrams while an instructor is lecturing.
I would not like to be 'forced' to use one (Score:2, Flamebait)
I loathe anything forced onto me and as such, I'd not like to be forced to use the iPad. If anything, I would like to use one of the many Android devices or even Google's Chrome OS. Let's urge these many OEMs not to cede the educational market to Apple and its control freaks.
Hm (Score:3, Interesting)
I was in university about 6 years ago, right during the shift when students were just starting to bring laptops (at least, where I went). I never had one, and I liked the fact that with notepaper I wasn't limited in any way: I can write, draw, colour, do whatever since a pen has no restrictions.
That said, the amount of paper I had to lug around sucked, so definitely an iPad or similar device would help. If I went back to school now, I can honestly say I would definitely try an electronic solution first, but if I felt any slower or that I couldn't get all the notes down, I would switch back.
One thing I never got is the students who recorded the whole hour lecture. I could barely even sit through them once... ah, who am I kidding, I often didn't :).
Re: (Score:2)
After 15 years in the software industry, the old-fashioned black lab-book is still my preferred method of taking notes. I literally have a stack of them going back to the mid 90's, and occasionally dig out some
Re: (Score:2)
Nope. I do try to keep the stack chronological though. And, I wouldn't do it with roman numerals anyway -- just date ranges. :-P
But, for me having the notes to refer back to is actually helpful. Again, YMMV on how you track such stuff -- I like the notes to jog my memory or record decisions.
Re: (Score:2)
He probably has them organized in some fashion that is not supported or acknowledged by Apple's tools.
That's a problem with Apple desktop software, never mind their tablet stuff.
Ah, the old Return on Investment argument (Score:3, Insightful)
The writing is on the wall for Samsung (Score:2)
Yes, the writing is on the wall for companies like Samsung. This video [crunchgear.com] shows much of what Samsung's tablet can do. Personally, I am impressed by it and joyous that I did not get 'infected' with heard mentality by buying the iPad when it was released.
Re:The writing is on the wall for Samsung (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Very serious, honest question here:
What does an Android Tablet offer you that an iPad doesn't, in terms of *functionality*? I understand the "it's free" and open principle. But there's still... a touchscreen. With an on-screen keyboard. How much "real work" will you get done with that model, if the iPad form factor is unsuitable for your needs?
Will the Android tablets be "just the toy" that the iPad is being dubbed here? If not, what extra stuff do you expect to do with an Android tablet that you canno
Re: (Score:2)
Neither of those things answer the question of what you're going to use it for though... the Samsung tablet is the exact same form factor - a tablet, minimal buttons. What can you connect to it with a USB cable that's going to make it suddenly so much more powerful?
The >1 manufacturer argument is irrelevant to the discussion of what you're going to do with it. Pick any tablet - they all appear to be work-alikes and look-alikes of the iPad... so what do you envision them adding that's suddenly going to
Paper and pencil (Score:5, Interesting)
As a law student, at first I used a laptop to take notes in class. I had a 14-inch laptop and it wasn't light, especially when you factor in the power cord. I got tired of lugging the thing around.
This was years ago, so light laptops were quite expensive and there were no netbooks. One guy had a Palm and a fold-up keyboard. I thought of getting this but I couldn't justify the expense.
Then I realized I was making this way too complicated. I got a bunch of $2 spiral notebooks and started taking those to class instead. I could write a lot faster on a laptop, but I realized that having page after page of class notes was not really helpful anyway. Without the laptop and all the distractions it brought, I could focus better in class. In the end I was glad I had stopped using the laptop. My bag was a lot lighter too.
I think computers in the classroom could perhaps be helpful, but only if the professor actually takes steps to integrate them--maybe by teaching from materials that are online. Law school instructional methods do nothing to take advantage of laptops, so they just end up being a burden. An iPad is even less functional than a laptop, so I doubt it would be useful in most classrooms. I don't see how medical school would differ from law school in this regard.
Palm + Keyboard (Score:5, Informative)
One guy had a Palm and a fold-up keyboard. I thought of getting this but I couldn't justify the expense.
Got through both my studies in Medicine and in Bioinformatics using such setups.
It really, really helped me because, unlike plain paper, Memos on Palm are searchable.
I could write a lot faster on a laptop, but I realized that having page after page of class notes was not really helpful anyway. Without the laptop and all the distractions it brought, I could focus better in class.
Well it all depends on how you take notes : if you're the "write down absolutely everything down", "hands directly wired to the ears, skipping the brain" type of notes, a laptop, a Palm or whatever won't help much more than a voice recorder sitting and recording passively the lecture.
If you take notes, i.e.: take time to digest the content of the lecture, extract key points and write down a few keyword a few sentences that you reworded to your liking, to help you remember the most important stuff - then no matter the support, notes are going to be much more helpful.
Paper notepads helped you because, apparently, you don't scribble as fast as you type. And thus you *have* to write down a condensed version of the lecture material, and thus have you brain active during the process.
Myself, I got used to re-word what's being said from secondary level, and the move to Palm for university wasn't much a change. Except perhaps that quickly drawing figures isn't that easy on a Palm and therefor I had to do even more reprocessing of the information before writing it.
I don't see how medical school would differ from law school in this regard.
There's a huge amount of available applications for PDAs, some dating back as far as the Palm era, with lots of useful information for med students : Drugs databases like "Epocrates", or e-books like "5min Clinical Consults". Carrying arround said information in paper form would require much more pocket space than available on the average trouser.
Also, I don't know how lectures are organised in your law faculty, but the problem-oriented teaching in our med faculty made rather useful to be able to perform a quick keyword search to exatract some notes you took one and a half year ago at another lecture or while reading scientific literature.
Not everyone around me back in med school was doing note-taking directly on the palm as I did, but none the less, lots of them used palm to carry around reference material in a practical form factor.
Re:Palm + Keyboard (Score:5, Interesting)
Well it all depends on how you take notes : if you're the "write down absolutely everything down", "hands directly wired to the ears, skipping the brain" type of notes, a laptop, a Palm or whatever won't help much more than a voice recorder sitting and recording passively the lecture.
That always seemed terribly ineffective to me. If you spend all your time simply typing down what is said instead of actually listening to it, then you missed the entire lecture. All you have to show for it are some poorly transcribed notes -- you might as well have just read a book on the subject.
For me it's the same thing with photography. I used to take tons of pictures when vacationing, until I realized that I was worrying so much about photographing everything that I wasn't actually LOOKING at anything. Now people complain that I don't have enough pictures, but at least I can remember what I did on vacation now.
Re: (Score:2)
If you take notes, i.e.: take time to digest the content of the lecture, extract key points and write down a few keyword a few sentences that you reworded to your liking, to help you remember the most important stuff - then no matter the support, notes are going to be much more helpful. Paper notepads helped you because, apparently, you don't scribble as fast as you type. And thus you *have* to write down a condensed version of the lecture material, and thus have you brain active during the process. Myself, I got used to re-word what's being said from secondary level, and the move to Palm for university wasn't much a change. Except perhaps that quickly drawing figures isn't that easy on a Palm and therefor I had to do even more reprocessing of the information before writing it.
Very true. I guess I find it ironic however that I have seen 3 ipads in 3 of my classes, (3/17 individuals) between the math classes and the computer science classes)
Although by far the best "hack" (yes he had to manipulate it to make it do this) was Maple on an iPad. Because our classroom has a wifi input for the display, the teacher already has toggled to his iPad screen a few times. Granted the resolution is a little weird and I have no idea how he accomplished it, but I just thought it was interes
Re: (Score:2)
As a law student, at first I used a laptop to take notes in class. I had a 14-inch laptop
Well, at least it was legal sized.
Re: (Score:2)
Not unless they're 100% accessible to the blind... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-crt-030.html [justice.gov]
"WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore., regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX, a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book.
Under the agreements reached today, the universities generally will not purchase, recommend or promote use of the Kindle DX, or any other dedicated electronic book reader, unless the devices are fully accessible to students who are blind and have low vision. The universities agree that if they use dedicated electronic book readers, they will ensure that students with vision disabilities are able to access and acquire the same materials and information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students with substantially equivalent ease of use. The agreements that the Justice Department reached with these universities extend beyond the Kindle DX to any dedicated electronic reading device."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Accessibility accommodations for all those materials are well known and currently in use.
Really? So, how exactly does a blind person read the handwritten scrawl in my notebook? Half the time, I can't even read my own handwriting, so I'm not sure how somebody else, sighted or not, would be able to.
I'm Working On A Feasibility Report (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
> As of right now, the iPad is more secure in terms of malware and viruses
It's no more secure than Linux or MacOS.
The problem with the PC approach is Microsoft software, not the PC approach.
Re:I'm Working On A Feasibility Report (Score:5, Informative)
As of right now, the iPad is more secure in terms of malware and viruses
It's no more secure than Linux or MacOS.
It's no more secure than Linux or OS X (both of which are fairly secure) except it has to be those OS's being run in a specialized environment where security policies forbid unsigned and un-sandboxed end user applications and all applications have some vetting process. Since that eliminates 99% of all installations of either OS, I'm going to have to disagree with you and say the iPad is more secure than most desktop Linux or OS X installs in use today.
The problem with the PC approach is Microsoft software, not the PC approach.
I don't know what you mean by "the PC approach" but locked down distribution of applications has been used by many organizations worried about security. It can be done in a way that is less restrictive than Apple's approach while still providing the same level of security, but so far no one has stepped up and implemented such a system on a mainstream consumer offering.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
What if you somehow took notes or something and want to put it on another computer? A USB port is rather useful for that sort of thing... basically, any attempt to move data off your iPad to work with it on another platform, how does that work?
Why would you use USB for that? You have your wireless internet connection. Even for PC's you can use wireless or ethernet to transfer data more efficiently. And if you don't, Firewire is a crap-ton faster than USB for moving data.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not all campus networks allow you to easily network two computers on the public campus network.
Really? In what way do they prohibit computers from easily networking? I'm really trying to picture it. Maybe requirement use of a VPN that filters DNS-SD for some unknown reason? Even so that won't stop an ad hoc network connection between the two.
What I'm trying to figure out now is: do you just use gear with really, really crappy networking controls, or if your campus network engineers are brilliant and evil. Care to tell me what campus network you're talking about?
Re: (Score:2)
By "easily" I mean for the average random person on campus. Most college students aren't computer science students, and aren't adept at networking, and probably would not know how to setup an ad-hoc network.
Not being able to "see" another computer on the network in something like "Network Neighborhood" will keep a lot of people "out" of other computers. Or simply not knowing how to turn on "share files and folders" in Windows on both computers, etc.
Plus, depending on what you're transferring, wireless con
Re: (Score:2)
So with easy storage devices and networking availability, we're going to move stuff between two computers that are sitting right next to each other by e-mailing it. That doesn't sound very smart.
Especially if the mail server has attachment size limits.
Re: (Score:2)
So with easy storage devices and networking availability, we're going to move stuff between two computers that are sitting right next to each other by e-mailing it. That doesn't sound very smart.
Nope... but it still beats Sharepoint :)
In all seriousness, many, many people do use e-mail for just that purpose because file transfer software tends to suck for usability. As for server size limitations, doesn't everyone have a Gmail account by now?
Re: (Score:2)
Welcome to the Apple approach, where easier is harder.
Without any meaningful networking capability or a USB port, you're stuck using apps and iTunes. iTunes is absolutely HORRID at data management, so you're left with apps. Things like dropbox are a good solution, but you're still uploading to dropbox serves, and downloading to your computer. This gets very cumbersome for large files. You're also stuck with a 2gb limit on.
It turns out that e-mail is one of the easier methods of file transfer on the iPad bec
Re: (Score:2)
Shouldn't you be looking to see if there is some sort of usage by the students first?
I can't help but think that putting laptops and ipads in the classroom is just going to lead to distractions. You can't take notes on Ipads. Even on laptops and using one note, there is just a flexibility to a piece of paper that you can't currently get on a laptop. And for science/math classes, drawing graphs is key and software really sucks at drawing diagrams and graphs. I had a hard enough time staying focused on the pr
Re: (Score:2)
You missed some rather large disadvantages that are unique to the iPad:
All content on the device is controlled by a single corporate entity.
A single manufacture controls all aspects of the device. If they switch to a new model, you may be forced to upgrade every device or miss out on important updates, new capabilities, etc. If you find you need some feature not included, you have no option.
A single hardware form factor may not work well for every student.
Such a report would be incomplete without conside
Same story, different spin (Score:5, Insightful)
Ergonomic nightmare (Score:2)
But when 'typing' on one there are only two choices (natively): hold it in one hand while finger typing with the other, or lay it down flat and attempt to type while looking at the screen at a 90 degree angle. Either way, a person will eventually develop pain and/or numbness from such awkward movements or positions.
It would work for quick notes, but trying to write a thesis or take de
Re: (Score:2)
Hint: It's the OS (Score:4, Insightful)
I think a lot of folks miss the point of what makes the iPad attractive for organizations. Bottom line; there's little-to-no need for IT support. It is nearly impossible to corrupt or otherwise screw up the OS. If a user gets lost, there's a single button on the faceplate that takes them back 'home'. The functions of the iPad could be replicated by any number of competitors, but as of right now the most compelling aspect of iOS is in its simplicity. Which is a little ironic because most /. readers are going to consider the limited functionality of the OS to be the iPads biggest drawback.
Re: (Score:2)
I think that's right: orgs like the perceived (and maybe real, TBD) low support costs relative to all the other platforms available. The novel form factor is just candy. It suggests that a netbook-format ipad/netbook mashup running iOS might be pretty f'ing popular too.
Already Happened (Score:2, Informative)
Restricted content: added bonus (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Anyone who thinks this is a good idea has been smoking too much of the Apple kool-aid.
Well, that person must be some kind of genius. Smoking Kool-Aid would be pretty difficult, as it's kind of wet.
Waste of money. (Score:2, Flamebait)
Let's face facts. Most college kids are going to use these iPads to dick around. The college where I taught a course a couple of years back had given MacBooks to all their students. If I wasn't standing over their shoulders they'd be happily chatting away with friends or wasting time on some other site. It was routine to be going over something with them and have a chat window pop up. What was especially ridiculous was that the classroom, like many others around the campus, was equipped with desktops so the
We already have them here (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm not quite sure why you seem to think we don't.
We have many iPads at the UW. We also have Kindles and netbooks.
They all work. They're all in use in classes.
"The iPad isn't the best input device" (Score:2)
Really? So this might be a case where, say, a resistive screen option with, you know, pressure sensitivity levels and an accurate stylus might actually be a good thing and not the Work of the Devil as Steve Jobs and his acolytes have painted it.