We found the kindle 8.9 to be very useful and use it often to access the internet. We could take photographs and video with it.
Ours was only $150 which was very reasonable for a tablet/e reader.
If you get a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard, it is easy to type and have the information put on any tablet device OR cell phone, your preference. Carrying smaller and lighter tends to be preferred by the folks I know, including teens/young adults and us oldsters. We used to travel with our laptop, and then with the kindles and iPad mini and surface but these days we have stopped lugging the laptops and just go with the kindles and iPad mini and sometimes the surface. Weight and size add up.
I get traveling with an iPad if you are consuming media (surfing the web, watching netflix, etc). I don’t see how it replaces it if you need to create something (a spreadsheet, taking notes, writing documents longer than a brief email).
@Pizzagirl. Since I last posted and mentioned my son has a Kindle, you asked twice why the Kindle is necessary, or more important than a smartphone, and why someone (me I guess) would be “fretting” (I guess you mean “asking”) about getting a smartphone if a Kindle was already in possession.
The Kindle is not necessary. It was not purchased for college. It was a gift from his aunt, because my son reads a lot. The Kindle does not replace or trump the smartphone.
I hope that answers your question. Go in peace Pizzagirl.
I use the iPad mini with Bluetooth keyboard to take notes. It works great. Have not needed to create a spreadsheet while taking notes. I mostly use my mini to create, not consume.
@nycparent12 Just one piece of advice- when you purchase a smartphone for him, make sure it is one that uses the android or apple (iTunes) marketplace. If you get him a windows phone (this especially applies to the older ones that cannot be upgraded to support new apps), then many of the popular apps that kids use in college (such as the washing machine one, the class reminders, the one where you can see your schedule, etc.) may not be available to him. And since the main advantage to a smartphone (at least in his case) are the apps, i would make sure to at least consider which marketplace the phone will be using. Windows phones’ marketplaces are still okay, but not near as good (and by good i mean more choices) as the android and apple ones.
^Ouch. I was going to defend Windows phones (and the entire Windows 10 ecosystem) for being intuitive, fluid and beautiful to behold. It’s true that we suffer from a paucity of apps (washing machine?!), but the ones we have get the job done.
Goskid has app on his iphone that identifies stars/planets when pointed at sky (we were looking at Venus & Jupiter). It’s a very cool app that shows all the constellations and has lots of fascinating info.
App was requirement of astronomy class. Not sure what those who don’t have smart phones would have done…
^That is a travesty. Learning how to identify and how to locate is an integral part of astronomy. If all you have to do is look at a dot in the sky and point a phone at it, you don’t need to observe, describe, navigate, map, or any other knowledge and processing. You learn a dot has a name–then you can read about the dot, no need for actual observation.
That’s fine if that’s all you want to know, but for an astronomy class? I’d be livid. Why even bother looking up if you’re not going to actually use your senses?
garland, that’s what I thought initially. But goskid has amazed me with his knowledge of the stars/planets/constellations/why Jupiter & Venus were so close together/where planets are in relation to different stars at different times of the year and why, etc…and then will pull out the app and confirm what he just told me. So I have no doubt he learned something in that elective class…with or without the app. And if the app continues his fascination with astronomy two years later, I’m glad it was required and that he has it…
No. Ds1 is a year out of college without a smartphone. He did acquire his dad’s old iTouch at some point.
I think smartphones are very useful to many students.
It will be a disadvange for students majoring in CS/digital media if they do not have smartphones.
Gosmom–we’re all astronomy buffs in my family, so interest about it is great! 
I guess my question is, can he identify and locate things in the sky without the app? that just seems so integral to astronomy as an experience, vs reading about it and knowing facts (which is also cool.)
A necessity? No, of course not. Extremely convenient? Yes. Having the internet at my fingertips regardless of where I am and whether or not I have the wifi my computer needs to connect to the internet has saved my behind a number of times.
This is a key comment, in that this should result in textbooks becoming half as expensive (as they should but…) OR in their becoming so much more effective and efficient because of the ability for graphics, links, sound, etc. not to mention easy updates/corrections. Think of music courses with this ability, as just one of an infinite number of examples! That really only applies to tablets for the most part, but still is a great example of how the technology holds the potential to both increase quality by a lot while lowering costs (potentially) at the same time. Even if the prices stay high (and I have a sneaking suspicion that they will), I have no doubt that for that price students will get a much better product.
As far as the astronomy issue, I have seen over and over that when an innovation like this is introduced, people that learned the “old way” are quick to go to the “I walked 10 miles uphill both ways through 3 feet of snow” complaint. Guilty myself more than once. But what seems to actually happen far more often than not is that not only do the students learn the same material as their predecessors, they are freed up by the technology to actually learn more within those same 16 week semesters. JMHO (O=opinion or observation in this case).
Okay, I’ll try to explain what I meant–it’s not about how you learn, it’s about what you learn. The other day, I was taking a walk and saw a fairlly large turtle crossing the path. A woman came the other way, held her phone up to it, and an app told her it was a 'red slider". So now she “knows” what it is. But if you ask her what makes it a red slider, she wouldn’t “know.” She’d know the name, but she didn’t experience, with her senses, the turtle. Didn’t need to look at shape, or markings, or size, or how it moved, or anything about it. But she knew it’s name, and seemed satisfied. So, is that really learning?
I don’t think that that question is as simple as a “walked ten miles in the snow” dismissive answer.
The links show what types of apps are available for college students. I like the “build your own flashcards”.
http://www.collegechoice.net/posts/top-15-study-apps-for-college-students/
Oh for goodness sake, @garland. I meant that in a lighthearted way. I thought that was clear by admitting I did it too. Sorry you took it offensively.
However, I don’t think comparing a random exposure to a turtle by a (presumably) non-student person is at all the same as students who are in fact studying a very specific topic. Besides, #1) You have no idea if that woman went back later and looked at that picture she took (as she might have, you don’t know) to study it more later. Or even if no picture, if she looked up that particular species of turtle later to learn more, now that she knew the name. But without the phone and app, short of picking up the turtle and taking it home, how in the world was she ever even going to have the opportunity to learn more? She is supposed to stop her whole day to study a turtle on the spot based on a random event?
I think, in fact, you have proved the very opposite of what you intended. Without the phone and technology, that woman looks at the turtle and says “isn’t that interesting” without ever learning a thing about it. Assuming she did take the time to learn more later (and if her curiosity wasn’t piqued to that degree this is all moot anyway, because then it is more about her than the technology), which is more valuable? Her taking 10 minutes at that moment to “appreciate” the turtle (which sounds more artsy than scientific, not that there is anything wrong that), or her learning much more in depth at a later time all about that turtle, which she can only do because she knows what type it is? Based on your comments, you agree with me that it is the latter.
2) I thought your whole point was that the old way you had to memorize a bunch of star names and locations and their relative positions to each other. That's all nice, but first, I am not sure they are not still learning that, but second, even if not I would much rather they spend time learning about the deeper concepts of astronomy if the technology is there to allow them to take care of the superficial and mundane aspects of things. In this era of modern navigation, should we still be teaching people to steer their boat by compass and the North Star, despite the enormously long odds against both their navigational and communication equipment failing?
Garland, he can totally identify and point out stars/constellations without the app and have in depth explanations as well. Will stand on our deck and star gaze for hours. Frankly, he’s pulled out the app after he has pointed out things to me in the sky–and he can tell I have no idea what/where to look.
BTW…app/iphone was not allowed in exams…so he had to show the knowledge sans app. So it was one of many tools for that class. The class really piqued his interest and fascination–and he really liked the instructor, which I think made it easy for him to really delve into the who/what/where/when/why/how of astronomy. He’s still using/enjoying that app even though class was two years ago. He probably wishes his family was a bit more astronomy inclined like yours!
Crazy all the things one can use smartphone for…stargazing? Never would have thought to use smartphone instead of telescope.