Unless you have been locked away in an underground bunker for the
last six months, you will have probably heard about the Apple
iPad. This new lightweight portable “slate computer” from
Steven Jobs, is viewed by many critics as just an over-sized
iPhone suffering from serious delusions of grandeur.

However, all kidding aside, is the iPad the ultimate or perfect
student laptop? A close examination of the iPad’s features could
answer this question. What the iPad has or doesn’t have, will
tell you if the iPad is a suitable device for students or not?

First, lets look at some of the iPad’s main selling points which
will bring out the student in all of us. It is lightweight and
extremely portable at around a half-inch thick and weighing in at
about 1½ pounds, so the iPad can be easily carried anywhere. You
won’t even notice you have it in your backpack or bookbag and
with over 10 hours of battery life the iPad will probably outlast
your longest school day.

Second, it has a 9.7 inch touch-screen color display which all
iPhone and iPod users have been properly weaned on. This
touch-screen will be very convenient especially in a quiet
classroom or lecture hall. The color display will also make
reading books and magazines much more enjoyable.

Third, the iPad is also handy for browsing the web, watching
videos and even playing games. But it is the book-reading
function which could possibly make the iPad a virtual
“replacement” for all textbooks. Just imagine, instead of
lugging 5 or 6 heavy textbooks to class every day, you have them
stored in your iPad – ready for access. But what about
highlighting all that important text with a big red marker -
there’s probably already an App for that.

Now lets examine some features the iPad doesn’t have that could
discourage some people from bringing this apple to school.
Probably, one of the major drawbacks has to be the lack of
multi-tasking. If there is anything a young student has learned,
it’s how to do multi-tasking. Some youngsters have even
perfected it into an artform. They know how to watch a video,
text a message, send an email, download a movie and browse the
web… all the while doing their homework.

Second, the iPad does not have a keyboard which could make it
difficult to type or take long notes. While this handicap will
mostly depend on the dexterity of the user, keep in mind, young
people are easy adapters of any new technology so using the
touch-screen keyboard might not be a major problem for them.

Third, the iPad also doesn’t have many common features that you
would see on a laptop or even a netbook. There is no Flash which
will make viewing webpages less enjoyable. There is no USB port
which will not please many people, but you can use a dock
connector. There is also no SD card slot, no HMDI out and no full
GPS. There’s no camera or webcam… which pretty much rules out
sexting, parents will be relieved but seriously, a truly portable
communication device should have included a webcam. Maybe future
models will sport them or maybe Apple gave some serious
consideration to privacy issues in the classroom and the school
environment. A cameraless device may be more welcomed by school
officials if the iPad does become the ultimate virtual textbook.

Furthermore, some techies have criticized the iPad for having a
4:3 ratio display which makes it relatively square; instead of a
16:9 ratio which would be more ideal for watching widescreen
movies. Since you probably want students reading textbooks,
rather than watching movies, this is not really a design flaw.

The last consideration for most students will be price. The iPad
is more expensive than a netbook but a little cheaper than most
laptops; of course that would depend on the size and brand of the
laptop in question. The prices for the iPad range from $499 to
$829. The more costly iPads will have more storage for all those
music and video files – although the storage is in the low range,
only offering 16, 32, or 64GB.

Overall, the iPad does have many good features which make it a
very suitable student laptop: it is extremely portable, it has
long battery life, it is small and lightweight and its
touch-screen color display makes reading books, textbook and
magazines a virtual pleasure. Plus, browsing the web, answering
emails, watching videos and even playing a few games on this
device makes it more of a “slate computer” than an ordinary
e-reader like the Amazon Kindle. While the negatives: no flash,
no multi-tasking, no camera, no USB, no full GPS and limited
storage of only 16, 32 or 64GB, which will leave some buyers
cold. Even so, the iPad will have many more takers, especially in
the student laptop market.

Copyright (c) 2010 Titus Hoskins
Bizware Magic
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/