An iPad for note taking is a distracting waste of time. Stick to paper and pen like how people have always done it as if I caught you recording me in a meeting then you'd get thrown out.
This is not true at all and probably one of the stupidest things I've heard.
By meeting's I'm going to assume you mean lectures or seminars or even labs.
In fact, I've had teachers strongly recommend that we record his lecture because he/she goes through the material so quick that its impossible to write down everything and understand.
Also, each teacher give out a syllabus which will have info about what you can/cannot do. Each university actually has a policy about this as well.
Also, if you need extra things to facilitate learning because of whatever reason (notetaker, recording lesson, digital access, etc.) you will not get kicked out for wanting to learn but needing stuff to help.
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I just felt like responding to this with some thoughts,
1. I would think that a majority of majors still revolve around lectures and note-taking and the like, and I'm not sure how many require photoshop or software development, short of your own as far as the dev work goes... which makes sense where the iPP may not be the right fit. In my opinion, for whatever little that's really worth, I'd think it's a fantastic alternative in many instances to having a full computer. Having one device w/your books on it and notes and so on that's easily portable would've been great for me when I was in school as an accounting/finance major.
2. I don't think I totally understand this point. I would think the portability makes sense no matter where you are (see first point and the convergence of books and notes into one place). I'd expect that desktops are a dying breed on campuses everywhere as well - are you just talking about that combo not making sense vs. a laptop? As for laptops being cheap, the saying goes, you get what you pay for - and I've always found that to be true with computers. The OS may be good, but crappy hardware is crappy hardware - I'd rather have an iPad than a $500 laptop in a lot of instances personally (but that's just me). Short of a Chromebook, I think it's worth getting a good system that may cost more.
3. This problem would be just as significant for any laptop, large or small, they might not be as top heavy, but an insecure table isn't really going to help either of them. Additionally, and I think it was probably mentioned by somebody else, I would expect to see the iPP being used in note-taking mode in these situations, which would not be unlike simply having a notebook and writing in that - which would be a massive advantage to a laptop. I've never been able to take notes on a computer faster than I could write them by hand - so this would be ideal for me.
4. Digital textbooks - you have a good point there. They're a ripoff, just like physical books, except you can't avoid that by buying used at this point... that is a big problem, books are ridiculously priced and just a good way to take advantage of a captive audience with no good alternative. I would think (though I'm not in school anymore) that there are more lenient policies with regard to electronics than there were when I was in college. Laptops even then were quite plentiful, and aside from tests and quizzes and such - I don't know why they'd be limited in use. Distractions are certainly a problem, though in my case I spent the classes doing crosswords or sudoku so I don't think there'd have been an appreciable difference for me.
1. I guess that's fair and sort of my own bias. School I go to is heavily engineering and business related (60% majors). I guess what I'm saying its even the iPP can do much more things than a regular iPad Air/Mini, its still an iPad. I mentioned this, but a lot of people use iPads even in engineering/business. In fact, I have a friend who uses an iPad 4 another who uses a Surface Pro. Last year, they gave out new iPads to all business students who wanted them (for school purposes obviously until graduation).
But I can guarantee zero of those majors use just an iPad. You simply won't make it or its too much of hassle to go to the library/computer lab every time you need to take a quiz/do a project/etc because there's a ton of software that school/major specifically designed and won't run on iOS.
2. I'm saying that unless you have the luxury of commuting to school, you most likely won't own/have your desktop PC with you. OP mentioned that he/she could just use their desktop at home when if they needed. I'm saying for a lot of students, their laptops is their home PC because it can do anything a PC can (Office, Netflix, League of Legends, etc.)
I think your exaggerating a bit when you say hardware is crap. I know my MBA is pretty damn good. All ultrabooks have amazing specs now. If your using a 5 year old Toshiba laptop (not an ultrabook) then yes, its going to be crap.
As you said, you rather pay a little extra to get more which somewhat is the point I was making. I had to choose now, I would pay a little more and get a MacBook rather than an iPad Pro (better specs, more options, etc.) as you mentioned.
3. I still think a laptop would offer more comfortable alternative positions to use than the iPad. Take for example the small foldable lectures desks I mentioned. I never used them because they felt terrible so I just had my MBA on my lap. You could fit the size of Mini fine but I would be scared to have an iPP with smart keyboard on that or on my lap.
I'm actually the opposite. I almost never study off handbook notes. Say I'm in a lecture and teacher is going over something. Sometimes I'll be multitasking and searching up or highlighting stuff I may be interested/want to know more about. Can't imagine doing that on an iPad (a large portion has to do with Safari on iPad displaying mobile sites and taking longer to load for whatever reason).
4. Except for physical books you can keep it if you like, sell it back to school/online/to a friend, etc. For digital books, its impossible for some classes and highly frustrating in others (ends up you don't using that much, there's no way I can return/sell a eBook early and at least get some money back). Just rented a book this semester on Amazon for $12 for a semester. It costs $300 for both physical new and eBooks.
Laptops aren't limited in use. It just depends on what classes you take. I have classes where use of computers with special software is required. In some classes, teachers provide the all notes and don't want the class to be on their laptops taking bad notes/dicking around. Seems like a reasonable trade off. Follow along in class and write down a couple things/listen to teacher instead of scrambling to write a bunch of notes/chat with friends on Facebook.
Some teachers are super old school and don't like them. In that case, instead of typing, I write them, take a screenshot on my iPhone and AirDrop it to my Mac. Super easy, super clear (Folder/File system helps a lot which iOS does not have).
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When I read posts like this, it makes me super sad to see how educations is pretty much antiquated as hell in the US. I would change schools/majors to have to only own an iPP and be able everything with zero compromises (not really but it would be cool for like a day).
Its just not possible for many people.
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I think it really depends on your major and if this is going to work or not. I was an IT major and no way could I have ditched a computer completely for an IPP. I could definitely have used it for note taking in all of my classes and for textbooks, but as far as replacing a computer it would not have worked unless I wanted to spend all of my time in a computer lab on campus.
Had this came out 4 years ago when I was still in college I would have definitely thought about picking it up vs carrying around a 50lb book bag full of giant books and a laptop for note taking.
CS major here.
Can confirm computer labs are horrible on campus.
1. Dirty as hell because everyone is touching them.
2. Have to save work on USB/gmail yourself/etc.
3. Often tons of people there scrambling to print because they procrastinated way to much.