I'm starting to think its gonna be perfect for college users. I was about to buy a netbook but now i think i am gonna hold off for the ipad and the keyboard dock. The pages app is gonna be so much better for writing papers and stuff on since it sits vertical instead of horizontal. Plus the movie watching for trips is gonna be great. The only thing preventing me from buying it is can i manipulate the powerpoints my professors post online, like writing notes on the side of it or adding notes under it through typing. Plus the missing webcam is gonna suck, its how i talk to my friends not going to my same college, not being able to hook up my external hard drive, and the choice to go ATT exclusive since i live in colorado and 3g only works in denver, not when i go to aspen or anywhere else in the mountains. But at least i will be able to sell it for a high price on ebay next year and buy the verizon version with webcam and usb ports.
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iPad good for college students?
- Thread starter California King
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Stylus
I hope so. It will have a lot of uses if it has a stylus. both for students and business customers. There are third party styluses available though. But it is good to have something integrated that can be distiguished from finger touch by the device.
I hope so. It will have a lot of uses if it has a stylus. both for students and business customers. There are third party styluses available though. But it is good to have something integrated that can be distiguished from finger touch by the device.
Laptop all the way
You may see a few people using iPads in your classes during your first semester. You won't see them in your second semester (unless you fail the class too).
Who of you have actually been to college, seriously? Do you have visions of being on campus 12 hours per day? Do you think you are going to be carrying every text book around campus all day so you can do your math in the student union, U.S. History in the library, and Philosophy on the quad? Do you think you will be laboring over 4 classic books and an English textbook while you write your 10 page term paper at the library until midnight?
Wake up. You actually have a home. You will probably have a car. You don't need to set up camp at the library to write a paper. Believe it or not, professors tend not to have you follow along the textbook as they read it aloud to you. You don't need the book in class (if you do, register for a different section - you won't regret it). For the most part, you don't spend a large part of the day on campus without being in class. You have an hour or two between classes that is great for preparing for class but not very productive for actual studying.
You don't need to carry all your books on you. You will rarely need to carry any of them, and when you do, it will usually just be one in particular. Professors do not tell you to open to page 18 and follow along. They summarize and explain the material. You read the book later, which reinforces the lecture and provides more in-depth information.
What is all this nonsense about a netbook? You have a backpack for crying out loud! If you want to take your notes on a computer, buy a 13"-15" laptop that weighs 5 pounds. It's less massive than all those books you don't need to be carrying around. Your backpack will spend 80% of the time on the floor anyways. You can load up all those ePub textbooks that other people think make their iPads so fancy. You'll even be able to switch from textbook, to textbook, to internet, to whatever with a click of the mouse.
If you don't use a laptop for note taking (my recommendation), you will rarely even need to bring it with you. There are computer labs on campus. Save your files on a flash drive and you will have a place to work on them if you need to. You may even need a particular lab anyways for specific software you don't have. You will able to easily swap files with classmates too (except your iPad toting friends). For the occasions you want to bring it with you? Good news, you still have that backpack!
If you think you won't need anything but your iPad in class, you are in for a rude awakening, my friend.
Have fun hovering your hands over your iPad for 50 minutes while you hunt-and-peck the virtual keyboard that is laying flat on your desk. I hope you are comfortable leaning over your desk and staring directly down at the screen too.
You want to keep your notes in Pages?! You will spend more time correcting typing errors, formatting notes into something with any bit of organization, and shifting your attention between your desk and the board than you will spend time paying attention to the lecture! Heaven forbid you ever have to switch apps to your textbook, copy of the lecture slides, a different pages of notes, or a graphing calculator!
Suppose you are keeping notes and you need to reference material from a previous chapter (formula, concept, whatever). You can't flip between the two documents with a single mouse click (tap). You can't even open the two documents at once! You can't view them both on the screen at once. You can keep all your notes for a class in one, long document and scroll back and forth, I suppose. Good thing you have a scrollba... oh, wait
What if you want to copy/paste from a source into your notes? With a laptop, you switch programs with a mouse click, select with a single drag of the mouse, and copy and paste with two keystrokes. On the iPad? Close the first app, navigate to and launch the second app, possibly navigate to the source, double tap and hold to bring up the selection quotes, drag one handle to the end, drag the other handle to the beginning (hoping the "smart" selection actually grabs only what you are intending), wait for the balloon pop-up, tap copy, close the app, navigate to and re-launch your original app, tap the text field to bring up the keyboard, drag the cursor to the location you need it, tap the cursor for the balloon pop-up, and tap paste.
I almost regret having just graduated because now I won't be able to see how many weeks into the semester it takes before anyone with an iPad stops pulling it out of their bag.
You may see a few people using iPads in your classes during your first semester. You won't see them in your second semester (unless you fail the class too).
Who of you have actually been to college, seriously? Do you have visions of being on campus 12 hours per day? Do you think you are going to be carrying every text book around campus all day so you can do your math in the student union, U.S. History in the library, and Philosophy on the quad? Do you think you will be laboring over 4 classic books and an English textbook while you write your 10 page term paper at the library until midnight?
Wake up. You actually have a home. You will probably have a car. You don't need to set up camp at the library to write a paper. Believe it or not, professors tend not to have you follow along the textbook as they read it aloud to you. You don't need the book in class (if you do, register for a different section - you won't regret it). For the most part, you don't spend a large part of the day on campus without being in class. You have an hour or two between classes that is great for preparing for class but not very productive for actual studying.
You don't need to carry all your books on you. You will rarely need to carry any of them, and when you do, it will usually just be one in particular. Professors do not tell you to open to page 18 and follow along. They summarize and explain the material. You read the book later, which reinforces the lecture and provides more in-depth information.
What is all this nonsense about a netbook? You have a backpack for crying out loud! If you want to take your notes on a computer, buy a 13"-15" laptop that weighs 5 pounds. It's less massive than all those books you don't need to be carrying around. Your backpack will spend 80% of the time on the floor anyways. You can load up all those ePub textbooks that other people think make their iPads so fancy. You'll even be able to switch from textbook, to textbook, to internet, to whatever with a click of the mouse.
If you don't use a laptop for note taking (my recommendation), you will rarely even need to bring it with you. There are computer labs on campus. Save your files on a flash drive and you will have a place to work on them if you need to. You may even need a particular lab anyways for specific software you don't have. You will able to easily swap files with classmates too (except your iPad toting friends). For the occasions you want to bring it with you? Good news, you still have that backpack!
If you think you won't need anything but your iPad in class, you are in for a rude awakening, my friend.
Have fun hovering your hands over your iPad for 50 minutes while you hunt-and-peck the virtual keyboard that is laying flat on your desk. I hope you are comfortable leaning over your desk and staring directly down at the screen too.
You want to keep your notes in Pages?! You will spend more time correcting typing errors, formatting notes into something with any bit of organization, and shifting your attention between your desk and the board than you will spend time paying attention to the lecture! Heaven forbid you ever have to switch apps to your textbook, copy of the lecture slides, a different pages of notes, or a graphing calculator!
Suppose you are keeping notes and you need to reference material from a previous chapter (formula, concept, whatever). You can't flip between the two documents with a single mouse click (tap). You can't even open the two documents at once! You can't view them both on the screen at once. You can keep all your notes for a class in one, long document and scroll back and forth, I suppose. Good thing you have a scrollba... oh, wait
What if you want to copy/paste from a source into your notes? With a laptop, you switch programs with a mouse click, select with a single drag of the mouse, and copy and paste with two keystrokes. On the iPad? Close the first app, navigate to and launch the second app, possibly navigate to the source, double tap and hold to bring up the selection quotes, drag one handle to the end, drag the other handle to the beginning (hoping the "smart" selection actually grabs only what you are intending), wait for the balloon pop-up, tap copy, close the app, navigate to and re-launch your original app, tap the text field to bring up the keyboard, drag the cursor to the location you need it, tap the cursor for the balloon pop-up, and tap paste.
I almost regret having just graduated because now I won't be able to see how many weeks into the semester it takes before anyone with an iPad stops pulling it out of their bag.
Eso i dont think you realize not everone is a math major. And yeah, i do expect to stay on campus for 12 hours. I have classes everyday from 8-10, and i stay longer for meetings and such. Your kidding yourself if you honestly think an ipad isnt gonna be good for classes. Everything in one device. The case will be fine to hold up the ipad while you type and if you really dont feel like messing with it put it on the keyboard dock. Not everyone wants an advanced computer, i dont even use mine besides for music, the internet, making word documents, powerpoints, and PDFs. I honestly dont care about using photoshop or imove creator and all the other stuff you can get on a mac. I want a tablet because its so much more natural to use a touchscreen and the possibilities are endless. I want the ipad because its made simple and will be a great multi function device, compared to the windows tablet which is gonna be using windows 7. i hate having to worry about viruses, and i want my tablet to be simple. It's way touch friendly, plus i think people forgot about shortcuts you can put on the desktop as an easy way of getting around. But the app store is just too good to turn away from.
I'm a university professor. There are several seperate colleges at my university with several departments within them. There are art majors, architecture majors, business majors, etc. I'm sure a subset of all the students at any university will find the ipad fine for use there. Some things to consider first:
-Will it support printing? Most professors will expect homework to be turned in on paper. We aren't all ready for that "My assignment got lost in email" excuse yet.
- How are the ergonomics for typing? The case/stand looks great for movie watching, but might cause wrist strain if you try typing very much on it. The screen, either way, is narrower than most real keyboards. Be sure you can type confortably on it. Don't just assume you'll be able to.
- Will it be a distraction in class? The screen tech used may actually be LESS private than a conventional LCD. Do you mind everyone around being able to read your screen?
- Is it durable? The notebooks and netbooks I see look pretty scratched up after a month or two. You should consider a no-questions replacement warranty, and perhaps some theft insurance. Can it be locked to something less movable?
- Does it work on the University network? On my campus ipods can use the Wifi, but can't access university servers that require Windows professional or better.
- Is it capable of opening and editing the file formats your professors will use?
- Will it run the software your professor requires for that class?
Just some food for thought.
-Will it support printing? Most professors will expect homework to be turned in on paper. We aren't all ready for that "My assignment got lost in email" excuse yet.
- How are the ergonomics for typing? The case/stand looks great for movie watching, but might cause wrist strain if you try typing very much on it. The screen, either way, is narrower than most real keyboards. Be sure you can type confortably on it. Don't just assume you'll be able to.
- Will it be a distraction in class? The screen tech used may actually be LESS private than a conventional LCD. Do you mind everyone around being able to read your screen?
- Is it durable? The notebooks and netbooks I see look pretty scratched up after a month or two. You should consider a no-questions replacement warranty, and perhaps some theft insurance. Can it be locked to something less movable?
- Does it work on the University network? On my campus ipods can use the Wifi, but can't access university servers that require Windows professional or better.
- Is it capable of opening and editing the file formats your professors will use?
- Will it run the software your professor requires for that class?
Just some food for thought
.I have to agree with a lot of Eso's points. In the current format/software of the iPad, it's not going to be such an amazing classroom device. 95% of my lectures are 80 minutes long. I can not imagine typing on a touchscreen for that long. For those who say they will bring the dock and keyboard, why wouldn't you just bring your MacBook(Pro) at that point?
I've said it numerous times, but multi-tasking is crucial if the iPad is to be successful in academia. Eso has mentioned this, too. You need to be able to have Pages and Keynote open at the same time. I would even say you need to be able to open multiple documents of each application. In one of my lectures today the professor referenced two PowerPoint presentations and one Word document. With my MBP it was really easy to follow along and grab whatever text/images I needed. I wondered how I would have accomplished that with an iPad.
I am not against the iPad, nor do I want it to fail. I see myself buying one in the future. However, I really would like Apple to make some breakthrough to enable the iPad to work wonders for college students.
I agree with you for the most part, but it doesn't apply to every students. IT (SysAdmins/Network type, not web development) students do far more content consumption than creation and iPad would make an excellent companion to do our research projects with.
We spent most of our time in labs, not classes and we spend most of the time researching references/manuals and so on. We do bring references/manuals to lab in order to do our projects, iPad would kill the need for that. As part of security, most of the lab computers are not allowed to go on the Internet due to the security projects that we do, so we often have to bring our laptops but we often don't do a lot of writing on the laptops itself. That's what we do at home. We often spend 4-6 times more in lab than in class. We're talking about 4 hours of class per week to 16-24 hours in lab alone and that's just one or two classes with lab. If three of four, forget it, we live our lives in the lab. In fact, some of our lab projects are not even in the same lab, but around the campus. I rather take iPad to write down Wi-Fi hotspots information than my laptop for wireless security project labs.
My point is that there are certain majors that iPad would make far more sense to have but no major that requires iPad specifically.
A agree, why screw around with a external keyboard and that when you could just use a more compact, easy to use MacBook (Pro). The point of the iPad is using it as a small portable device, not using it with an external keyboard!
A agree, why screw around with a external keyboard and that when you could just use a more compact, easy to use MacBook (Pro). The point of the iPad is using it as a small portable device, not using it with an external keyboard!
Can you imagine someone pulling out the keyboard in the middle of a lecture hall or small class? It seems more of a hassle than anything.
It seems to me that it may be hard for a lecture type of environment trying to keep up with the typing. Not having tested one yet, I'll hold off on judgement.
Ugh, I don't know why Apple bother making keyboards that work with the iPad. You may as well use a MacBook (Pro) or a Netbook if your going to add a keyboard to it!
Perhaps, the textbook reader has a noter taker as a part of the app. Just like some e-book readers have that option. Hopefully, the 4.0 os would allow some multi-tasking.
Hardly.
1.) Any textbook or reference material you can have on an iPad you can have on a laptop.
2.) A 3 pound weight difference is irrelevant when you carry around a backpack (especially when 16-24 lab hours equates to 16-24 hours you are not carrying the extra weight).
3.) You can open multiple references in a variety of formats (eBook, web, PDF, MS Word) simultaneously and switch between them with a single mouse click. On the iPad you can only have one open at a time and switching requires navigating the UI.
3.) You can view the screen without handling a laptop. If you are working on one computer with reference material on another, you just have to look over. Scrolling down a document or switching to another window only requires reaching over with one hand. On the iPad, you have to hold the device up to see the screen. If you prop it up, you won't be able to scroll or switch documents without stabilizing it with another hand.
4.) Being an IT student, although you may never use a laptop for network administration, it does have the capability and tools to do it. The iPad doesn't.
i think you guys are selling the developers short. There will be a handwriting app for taking notes, and with the apple case it will be just like writing on a piece of paper. except you wont have to buy new paper every semester. This can be huge for the environment. Also, most people wont carry the keyboard. i only would for classes that are note intensive. not every class is like that. but its not like it will be a huge inconvienence. why would you take your laptop with you when the ipad would be the best way to view everything and pass time between classes. i bet i could just easily get away with only using the on screen keyboard because i have no problem with touch screen keyboards. even though i have yet to use one on a device as big as the ipad. i guess its just your preference. i would much rather take the ipad, with all the apps and the best use of the internet over a laptop.
I agree. The distribution channel that developers get in the App store is going to drive even more people to code for the iPad.
Except most adults don't write with their fingers anymore. Make sure to buy a capacitance stylus. And any time you want to race me at note taking, I'll take a paper tablet over an iPad. Your advantage? The screen will be lit even when the room is darkened. Might spoil the slide show though.
of course you would buy a stylus with it, why would you even try to write notes with your finger? taking notes wouldnt really be about how fast you can do it, its all about summarizing what your professor says. and i never thought about the screen brightness, i hope there is a option to turn the screen brightness way down. but i still see the ability to cut out paper way more important than how fast i can get the notes down.
That'll come in handy for all those classes that force you to stand up the whole time, or that don't provide you with some kind of desk/writing surface.
Because it's pretty hard to type a diagram.
I'm not so convinced that e-book textbooks are all that either. First of all, everyone knows they will still be too expensive than they should be, and then you have no resell option. I bet publishers would love this as they can charge 80% the price of the textbook and the buyer would have no way to re-sell it, forcing the next generation of students to buy more e-textbooks!
Next, I think it is going to be very hard to find things in the textbook. Unless you know exactly the word or phrase you're looking for, I think it will be faster and easier to search through a physical textbook vs. an electronic one. You'll have to finger scroll through a ton of pages vs. just flipping through a real book. I often remembered where things in my textbooks were according to what was around them. For example, I know a paragraph I want to find. I see a diagram in the text and know the paragraph was after that. Flip some more, see another diagram- oops too far. I think this process flows a lot more naturally and more quickly with a physical book than an e-book. Plus you can scan two entire pages of text at the same time. The iPad does not have sufficient resolution or screen area to do this effectively.
I too think Eso's got it (mostly) right. Once you actually think more about getting work done effectively (something that should be top priority for a student), and less about minimizing your carry-load (I think you guys need to invest money in some quality backpacks!) or looking cool, you quickly realize that the iPad (or any such device) really just doesn't cut the mustard. I think it can be useful when combined with other technologies, but the thought of going to college armed with nothing but an iPad is a recipe for disaster.
Ruahrc
while I won't be going back to school anytime soon, I can say that I am very tempted to get an iPad as a replacement for all the stupid technical books I have to have as reference for work and for studying for certification exams. And with the ability to ssh and vnc into other computers it will make a great remote client (I hate netbooks).
I'm a college student at the moment (BMET major). If a stylus was made that worked with the iPad, and had the ability to take notes while having a textbook page open on screen, and perhaps easy/quick access to the web and what not, then I think the iPad would be pretty decent for in class use for a good amount of people. A student would still probably want a regular computer though for other things.
As a college student, I think it would be impossible/possible-but-awful to go through college with just an iPad. I also think textbook manufacturers will go out of their way to force students to continue buying physical textbooks. The idea is great, but I worry the actual reality will be far different.
An iPad in addition to a fully fledged laptop? Well that sounds awesome! I use a 15' MBP (and a 19' external monitor at home, great for research papers) and a Dell Mini 9 hacked with OSX on it in class. I also have an iPhone. I have everything I need to open word documents and powerpoints (a lot of professors rely heavily on PowerPoint).
I installed Windows 7 and Office 2007 on my MBP and havent used either yet, as Openoffice works like a charm. I even have iWork 09 and dont use that either. Between Google Docs and Openoffice, I get everything done fine. I may use Office 2007 later this semester for one project in particular, but even that is only a possibility. (Redundancy is better then not being prepared, but I wish I skipped out on iWork 09)
Dropbox keeps both MBP partitions synced with my Dell mini 9. It's almost too easy. All of the stuff on my Dropbox is also viewable on the iPhone via the Dropbox app! I throw everything into my Dropbox. My notes from class, all documents and powerpoints the professors throw at us, as well as anything that can be useful. Dropbox even has a folder system, keeping everything organized by class is a breeze.
However, I can't see an iPad replacing a laptop. Even with a few cool apps to cover a few basics, it will likely leave a lot to be desired and the worst thing would to be unprepared for whatever comes your way (like find out 2 weeks in the iPad won't cut it and be left with no options but to use the computer lab in school).
Being there right now, I just can't picture using just an iPad. In theory these ideas seem nice, but in reality a MBP just can't be replaced (at least not yet).
MBP >>>> iPad
An iPad in addition to a fully fledged laptop? Well that sounds awesome! I use a 15' MBP (and a 19' external monitor at home, great for research papers) and a Dell Mini 9 hacked with OSX on it in class. I also have an iPhone. I have everything I need to open word documents and powerpoints (a lot of professors rely heavily on PowerPoint).
I installed Windows 7 and Office 2007 on my MBP and havent used either yet, as Openoffice works like a charm. I even have iWork 09 and dont use that either. Between Google Docs and Openoffice, I get everything done fine. I may use Office 2007 later this semester for one project in particular, but even that is only a possibility. (Redundancy is better then not being prepared, but I wish I skipped out on iWork 09)
Dropbox keeps both MBP partitions synced with my Dell mini 9. It's almost too easy. All of the stuff on my Dropbox is also viewable on the iPhone via the Dropbox app! I throw everything into my Dropbox. My notes from class, all documents and powerpoints the professors throw at us, as well as anything that can be useful. Dropbox even has a folder system, keeping everything organized by class is a breeze.
However, I can't see an iPad replacing a laptop. Even with a few cool apps to cover a few basics, it will likely leave a lot to be desired and the worst thing would to be unprepared for whatever comes your way (like find out 2 weeks in the iPad won't cut it and be left with no options but to use the computer lab in school).
Being there right now, I just can't picture using just an iPad. In theory these ideas seem nice, but in reality a MBP just can't be replaced (at least not yet).
MBP >>>> iPad
Do you stand in front of that, like Minority Report? I would have trouble getting that in the house (would have to take a window out, and cut the ceiling and/or floor to make it stand up straight).
Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Reminded me of the 18 inch trilithons for Spinal Tap's Stonehenge performance.