And what I think it means for the iPad.
At the Digital Media Center we are here to help people learn to use technology, and support their use for research and teaching. One thing we like to do with technologies that might impact our practice in higher education is offer equipment loans so our faculty and staff can try them in a meaningful way. We let them borrow these new devices for a couple days so they can determine their usefulness for teaching and research. For some devices, it expands to how these technologies will fit into the broader scope of their lives.
One of the kinds of devices that may have an impact across a broad swath of peoples' lives has just hit the market. Maybe you saw a little press about it, it's called the iPad. It's not quite a full computer, not quite a netbook (in good and bad ways), and not quite smart phone (but you can make calls). So what is it? If you look you will find the complete range opinions from it's one of the worst thing to happen to technology (see also Nicholas Carr's essay on iPad luddites with its interesting comment stream) all the way to how it will be the future of computing. Interestingly, many of these polemics appear to have been formed before the device was released (see the iPad Death Watch). Many others have reacted to the hype that Apple is capable of generating with a similar range of opinions. Most of these reactions appear to be centered on what the originator of the opinion wanted the device to be rather than a reaction to what it is.
So, what do I want? I had a slate form tablet pc years ago, I largely hated it, but for one thing. It was fantastic for reading. I had a three inch stack of printed journal articles, that I was carrying around that I could read just as well, but it was heavy (3+ lbs), required a stylus, and the handwriting recognition was atrocious. It did give me one of my screen names from how it translated my RL name. So, I gave it up. I have been waiting for a device that was thin and light enough to carry along side my laptop as a reader. One that allowed multimedia and light internet use so I might not need to carry laptop all the time. My iPhone is close, and I have read books and other things on it, but not comfortably. I have tried the wifi iPad for a few days, and I liked it, but I'm waiting to see what the 3G version do with its more sophisticated geolocation features. I'm watching with interest Cole Camplese's experiment using an iPad as his primarily portable. I know that I will be getting some sort of slate, soon. Likely an iPad, but I have 5 laptops, 2 desktops, 2 iPhones (one locked down, one jail broken), I don't think I will only have one slate.
But here is what I really want people to think about. Despite my cut-me-and-I-bleed-six-colors nature, people need to step back. Apple has people focusing and debating their product. I'm sure many of you paid attention to CES this year. There are a lot of slate devices about to hit the market with a range of features. Interesting, with Apple's introduction of the iPad, some manufacturers, namely Acer may have bowed out, while others like Toshiba have announced products among many others. There have been some small start up companies have entered the market (Joo Joo, WePad, Notion Ink) running a variety of operating systems including Android, custom Linux flavors, and Windows. My hypothesis is that this class of device will have an impact on how we access and, yes, create content personally and professionally.
I did buy a set of iPads that we are loaning to people on campus to try, but with two specific goals. First, we wanted to allow people to really try the device in a considered way before they purchased one with either personal or institutional funds, and we have a exit survey find out more about how they used the device and what worked and what did not. We will also add other slate devices as they come to market with these same goals. I have my hypothesis, but I want to test it. What do you think?
