I have to admit I found the blog provided by Fred to be a breath of fresh a=
ir. Imagine that I was once a techno-geek, who read equipment specs before =
product applications. As I read your blog, I tried to imagine that post bei=
ng a conversation with Steve Jobs, and how he would respond. First of all, =
he would say this is Version 1 of the iPad, and thus it is only a first ste=
p at addressing a new platform for the "consumer" marketplace. Second, he w=
ould point out you repeatedly use the word "computer" to describe this new =
device. I think Steve would say it is not a computer; it is an iPad. He has=
already gone on record saying that Netbooks are "crap" so we know what he =
thinks about that segment of the market. As we read in the MacWorld post, t=
here is a certain elegance to a device that can do one thing at a time very=
well. Since none of us has an iPad yet, it is premature to conclude that i=
t does anything very well, but I suspect that the display of images and vid=
eo will be outstanding. I do have some criticisms of the iPad, the greatest=
one being a technical issue, but driven by an educational issue. The iPad =
browser does not support Flash, the source of much of our rich web content.=
As I have been intrigued by the Concord Consortium's Deeply Digital Text p=
roject, I had thought the iPad would be the ideal tool for an eTextbook rea=
der that supported embedded rich media within the text. Alas, that will not=
be a possibility unless some changes are made in future versions of the iP=
ad. Bottom line: I think the iPad does what it was designed to do, and I th=
ink consumers will be waiting on long lines at Apple Stores when this thing=
appears in March. I'm just disappointed that it is not better suited for t=
he educational applications of the future, at least in its first incarnatio=
n.
Joel
--=20
Joel Backon
Director of Academic Technology / History
Choate Rosemary Hall
333 Christian St.
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-697-2514
On Jan 30, 2010, at 2:30 PM, Bigenho, Chris wrote:
> I have documented my thoughts about the new iPad at http://bigenhoc.wordp=
ress.com/2010/01/30/ipad-brilliant-marketing%E2%80%A6huge-miss/
>=20
> What are yout thoughts?
>=20
> Chris Bigenho
>=20
> [ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=3D1288=
74 ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,=
non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
[ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=3D128874 ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=3DISED-L
