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<p>I have five screens at the office and four at home. I bought an Acer 21.5 inch 1920x1080 resolution screen from Newegg for $139 a few weeks ago - additional screens are much cheaper than tablets if your graphics adapter supports them.</p>
<p>About 90% of current college textbooks are available for the iPad. One company allows students to make notes within the text and share them online. Other students can use them and rate them. As the notes go through the rating process the useful ones emerge. There are other advantages being built into these application not available in regular textbooks. Further the online texts may be rented for the semester at a far cheaper price than current texts cost. </p>
<p>S1 has used an iPad as his primary mobile computer (desktop at his house) and found it quite adequate for taking classroom notes. He has even written papers on it (though he uses his Apple bluetooth keyboard for longer papers). He has an App that recorded the lecture as he took notes. By clicking on the note it takes him to the corresponding recorded place in the lecture. There are many other useful Apps as well. He loves his iPad and now only uses his desktop for video editing.</p>
<p>The MacBook Air is a fully capable notebook computer with current storage up to a 256 GB SSD. The standard SSD for the 13 inch, is 128 GB. That is likely enough storage for a college student, particularly since 1 TB external HDs are quite inexpensive these days. A new, even more powerful model will be introduced in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>Personally, I think Android tablets are the way to go, there is now a whole slew of new devices coming out in the next few months with the latest 3.0 platform designed for tablets. You have you choice of picking one for the size and features you desire. All will have access to thousands of apps just like the iPad. They serve as eReaders and there are many notetaking apps you can use. You can also view and edit, to a certain extent, word documents (the latter through a paid app). You may still need a full laptop, depending on what you need to do, but you may be able to get away with using school computers for the rare functions that a tablet can´t handle.</p>
<p>As far as storage goes, there are plenty of cloud services already for keeping all your files, no need to wait for iCloud (I personally use Sugarsync and it works great).</p>
<p>As mentioned by several folks, there is a choice between PC compatible vs. Apple devices. Which one did you pick and why?</p>
<p>I have been using a fujitsu tablet for about ten years, and it’s not the same as most current tablets. The fujitsu tablet is like a laptop pc,and can run all windows programs. Cost quite a bit more than an ipad, etc. A lot depends on what you want to use them for, but a kindle can’t replace a pc.</p>
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<p>I am in AWE!</p>
<p>I believe the claim of some providers is that “90% of core textbooks” are available using the Ipad.</p>
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<p>Excellent! Does one go through the publisher to get these downloads?</p>
<p>I am considering an android, but from what I can tell, they don’t yet have "thousands of apps just like the iPad. " If it’s mostly for apps, it makes sense to figure out which ones you are likely to want before choosing a platform. If it’s about flexibility, customizability, and “stickin’ it to the man”, I’d choose an android. I will post a recent review I’ve read.</p>
<p>I don’t think i am supposed to link blogs, but google “So You Want A Tablet?”, dated June 15th 2011.</p>
<p>@idad – Most students though are not going to be spending $1550 on the Macbook Air with 256 GB SSD. </p>
<p>It’s pointless, IMHO, for a student to spend $1200 on a Macbook Air to get 128 GB of memory and a 1.28 Gigahertz processor, when they can spend $850 on a Macbook or $1100 on a Macbook Pro and get twice the memory and speed, plus an optical drive. Students use a ton of memory, because their computers are not just for work, but are also their media centers, their social communication hubs, and their main forms of entertainment. </p>
<p>If you’re going to spend Apple prices for a computer, I just don’t see the point fo getting anything less than a full powered machine. iPads certainly are nice and you COULD use one as a college student and get lots of advantages, but frankly, considering the cost of the gadget vs. the benefit, I think it just makes sense for students to go with a laptop. Unless, like your son, they plan to have a second desktop and use the iPad for all of their mobile computing, in which case I guess it’s a wash, though I still think the iPad makes you a high theft target as well as a distraction.</p>
<p>Here is a cut and pasted rundown of some of the iPad Apps (some support Android as well).</p>
<p>CourseSmart
CourseSmart was launched in 2007 as a joint venture with five publishers, including McGraw-Hill and Pearson. The advantage of being backed by major textbook companies is that the site claims to offer “90% of the core textbooks in North American Higher Education as eTextbooks.”</p>
<p>The CourseSmart approach is pretty standard (as the products of huge companies tend to be). Students can choose between a downloadable and online format of their texts. In either version, searchable pages look identical to print copies. As with a print copy, readers can highlight and take notes in the books. Availability on Android, iPhone and iPad apps make the books even portable.</p>
<p>CafeScribe
<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;
<p>Follett-owned CafeScribe sells books with built-in study networks. Using the company’s software MyScribe, which it calls “iTunes for eBooks,” students can sort, highlight and take notes on the ebooks they buy. But the software also comes with less-standard social features.</p>
<p>Students can join groups to automatically pool their notes and make studying collaborative (professors can also create groups for their classes). Generous students can even make their notes available to everyone else through the platform. When ready to study for the exam, a quick button compiles a summary of selected note sets.
Since Follett runs bookstores on more than 850 campuses in the United States, CafeScribe has some notable advantages in the marketplace. Four hundred campuses use the system in at least one course, according to RWW. They claim over 8,000 titles</p>
<p>VitalSource
VitalSource is a combination between CourseSmart and CafeScribe. Like CourseSmart, it provides access to textbooks online, in a downloadable format, and from mobile iOS apps. Like CafeScribe, students can choose to share their notes and highlights with just friends or with anyone else who uses the same book.</p>
<p>The platform also has support for videos, web resources and multimedia that are embedded within a limited number of ebooks.</p>
<p>Inkling
[YouTube</a> - Inkling - Hole’s Human Anatomy and Physiology, 12/e](<a href=“Inkling - Hole's Human Anatomy and Physiology, 12/e - YouTube”>Inkling - Hole's Human Anatomy and Physiology, 12/e - YouTube)
Inkling’s iPad textbooks are more than mere print copies. The company packs its titles with quizzes, interactive infographics and tappable key terms. Like CafeScribe, readers can follow each others’ notes, but on the iPad those notes pop up in real time — which means your buddy might answer a question that you have before class actually ends. It also allows students to purchase books by chapter.</p>
<p>“We have a very sophisticated set of software tools that help us gently disassemble a textbook and then reconstruct it from the ground up to make something that really makes sense on an iPad,” Inkling founder and CEO Matt MacInnis told All Things Digital in March.</p>
<p>For other than College there is also an emerging market:</p>
<p>HMH Fuse, for example, is targeting the K-12 market. </p>
<p>They are focusing on middle school and high school algebra and geometry at present. They sell to both schools and to home uses. The Algebra I text sells for about $50 per student and each download is tied to an iPad. More students using more iPads mean more purchases. Upgrade an iPad now requires a new purchase. I believe this will change. Application is much more interactive than most other offerings, but still relies on automating current teaching practices and videos. </p>
<p>Here is an interesting analysis to date: [Sybase</a> - Top 50 iPad Rollouts by Enterprises & Schools | UberMobile](<a href=“http://blogs.sybase.com/ubermobile/2011/06/top-50-ipad-rollouts-by-enterprises-schools/]Sybase”>http://blogs.sybase.com/ubermobile/2011/06/top-50-ipad-rollouts-by-enterprises-schools/)</p>
<p>Also, for whatever reason, Android tablets are not gaining traction. Acer announced today a cut back by 60% of their sales estimates to about 2.5 million for the year. In comparison iPad is now chugging along at about 4 million per month.</p>
<p>Is the iPad a technological marvel? Is it useful for a college student? Not one iota more than a smartphone. The iPad is a great TOY and its greatest attribute is that it offers a great way to WASTE time. It is great to look up scores online, look at “some” videos, look at a few resources, or play a few games, but as far as taking notes and doing anything that resembles to meaningful work, you better look in other direction.</p>
<p>In addition there are several limitations that fans of everything Apple like to "ignore.’ The iPad has a wonderful screen, but it is a royal pain to transfer photos. It would be nice for somone to show pictures from a USB stick, but some genius at Apple decided that it would be better to mess with the hyper-annoying Itunes. Create Word documents (or whatever preK version is available for the Ipad? What a joke! The same for the spreadsheet! Best of luck with that! </p>
<p>I am in the middle of a month long trip throughout North America and Europe. I am thrilled I carried my 7 lbs computer in addition to the Apple jewels. I have used my iPhone whenever wifi is available. The only use of the iPad to date has been to follow the successful campaign of the Mavs, and perhaps a few websites. Despite the low cost of purchasing a 3G microsim, I have not found any reason to spend the 10 or 15 dollars for a month access. One redeeming quality is that it is lightweight. However, I am thrilled that I did not make the mistake to believe I could have done anything meaningful or productive on the iPad. </p>
<p>Oh, one last thing. Both the iPhone and the iPad present multiple difficulties in connecting to open and closed wifi. This, of course, does not even account for sites that simply do not work on Apple products. Otoh, the laptop connects without any hesitation. </p>
<p>All in all, the iPad is a beautiful toy, but it is nothing else than a glorified iPod/iPhone. I truly feel sorry for the thousands of students who will be forced to use an iPad in K-16.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud: One can get a MacBook for $949, but though it is cheaper it is not faster. The SSD user experience makes the MacBook Air the fastest “feeling” MacBook of all. The price of the current MacBook Air is $1249 for the 128 GB 13 inch with a 1.86 GHz Dual Core processor. But, in a couple of weeks the new ones, which will likely provide more of everything for the same price will be available very soon. All the MacBooks are nice, however. S2 has the 13 inch MacBook Pro and loves it.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, while it is true that not all of the tens of thousands of Android 2.2 apps are yet adapted to the 3.0 platform for tablets (I think mostly a screen resolution issue), there is an easily downloadable fix, not officially sanctioned, that allows you to get those apps on a tablet. You can bet that all of the popular apps will be upgraded fairly quickly so they may be downloaded directly from the market to 3.0.</p>
<p>The beauty of the Marketing strategy by Jobs is to utilize existing technology and build a toy that many folks want (not necessarily need), and willing to shell out their money for it. From pure marketing perspective, iPad is a great product. It fulfills a market need. It is a different story when it comes to the value proposition for an average practical user.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s totally fair. I think the iPad is a great device, and I think that it has a lot of uses that an iPhone doesn’t have. I think it also has a lot of great apps that could be useful to a college student and to students in general. </p>
<p>Having recently been a college student however, when it comes to a hierarchy of what you actually need as a student, a computer remains king. Now if you have the money to burn and can afford to have both a nice computer and $500 gadget, then hey, it’s your money. But the iPad is not necessary. Yet. It’s nice, it’s fun, it can in certain circumstances make some things easier (still not sold that it’s worth it just to get e-textbooks as long as the paper textbook remains king, if a classroom uses a traditional textbook at all). Is it necessary though? No. If you have to choose between computer and iPad which is the better choice? Computer.</p>
<p>@idad – Maybe. If the Sandy Bridge Airs actually make an appearance, which they haven’t yet. And the SSD might feel faster, but the simple point is that 1.84 Ghz is not as many Ghz as 2.3. And the Macbooks and Macbook pros start at 2.3. And they come with twice as much memory, for less cost. Plus they have an optical drive, which, if a student isn’t planning on buying a TV and a DVD player, is a plus. </p>
<p>I think the Air is a great machine. I think for college students it doesn’t really make sense when you compare speed, memory size, and price.</p>
<p>With the classroom changing from paper-centric to computer-centric, and with the introduction of Cloud-computing, iPad will replace desktop and even laptop. However, it will take a few more years befoire it happens. Still remember the days of Mac IIsi? It was a nice typewriter back in the 80’s.</p>
<p>xiggi: We each have our own experience. I have traveled the world with only my iPad and found no problem connecting to WiFi or 3G networks. One can buy an adapter that allows one to transfer photos from an SD card, but with the upcoming free iCloud that will be unnecessary. Apple has Pages (reads and writes word files), Keynote (for presentations, far superior to PowerPoint, though it reads and writes PPT files), and Numbers for spreadsheets. It is fully compatible with DropBox and with the coming of iCloud anything created on your Mac (and much of what is created on a WinTel PC) will be instantly available on an iPad. Further, there will be no need to sync it with a cable to iTunes, it will be a fully stand-alone device with everything backed-up via iCloud.</p>
<p>I am on several boards and over the past 12 months have seen the widespread adoption of the iPad as a business tool. Almost all the directors now use them, with one board providing them for all directors. It is the future of computing. There will still be a need for desktops and more powerful notebooks for some years to come, but they will be playing a decreasing role in everyday life. As Steve Jobs I think correctly pointed out, the iPad will be the car and the desktop/notebook computer will be the truck. More will drive cars.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud: Actually the MacBook Pros feature the Sandybridge processors now, so they are much much faster than an Air (or MacBook for that matter). Still, folks in the office who work on both swear the Air is faster, even though we know it is not. :)</p>