The iPad Arrives
Last year a new technological development was released and no one could have imagined the impact it was going to have in the different aspects of our lives. The iPad over this past year has been sold in the millions and the iPad 2 is set to be released in mid-March. This tablet computer serves so many functions. The iPad is the new mobile computer that is the future because of the different ways it can benefit anybody in various situations.
iPad’s Background
The iPad is a very popular tablet computer produced by Apple that through December 2010 spawned about ten-billion dollars in revenue. The development of this product started before Apple’s iPhone (another famous innovation by the company), but was put on hold until the iPhone’s completion. The iPad has currently undergone an upgrade and has new key features. Besides coming in either the original black or new white color, it now has a dual-core A5 chip that doubles its processing power. Also, the new iPad is about one-third thinner than the original and only weights about 1.3 pounds. The prices remain the same between the ranges of $499 to $829 but it now has two cameras for face-time (also known as video-chatting) and photography. Apple also is offering a new Smart Cover that protects the iPad by connecting itself magnetically to the screen and rear (Helft, 2011). This tablet computer is clearly by sales the most popular form of this type of technology and with its new features can only seem to increase that margin.
iPad’s Turns Out Very Useful
The iPad isn’t just a form of entertainment like the iTouch and iPhone. Yes, it can provide you with music, games, Wi-Fi internet, and a larger screen to watch music videos, television shows, or movies but this new technology can assist with other more important areas of your life. The iPad can help in other fields beside personal entertainment; this includes social communication, business, and with an individual’s educational experience.
iPad Never Lets You Lose Touch
With the iPad, you never have to feel like your long-distance relationships with family and friends are “long-distance” at all. The iPad has an application called face-time that allows you to communicate by video-chat with anyone whether they’re down the street or across an ocean (Chatham, 2011). It’s really easy to you too, basically you find the person you wish to talk to. Find his/her name and tap the FaceTime option and an invite will appear on his/her iPad asking to join you. The new iPad takes this application to a new level with its two-camera feature because during the call you can swap views so the output can be you or the environment surrounding you. This iPad application can also help conduct business video conferences between executives at companies across different borders. It helps bring relationships closer without having to spend the airfare money to do it manually.
iPad’s Applications Help Businesses
Another field that the iPad has already had and will continue to have an effect on is the business world. A company (called Research and Markets) has already released 60-minute seminars for different professions (that include litigators, accountants, purchasing executives etc.) teaching individuals how to make the most out of their iPad according to their job. It includes step-by-step tips to improve different activities one must perform in their profession with the help of the iPad like: ways to store and access documents, social networking with clients, presentations with tables and charts, marking-up contracts and pleadings, and performing research on specific cases (Wood, 2011). The iPad is so broad in the many ways it can help you that it can assist in lessening the burden of your job work as well.
The iPad has been used in the medical field also, “according to an online survey of 341 U.S. healthcare professionals (HCPs) completed in February 2011, 79% would choose Apple’s iPad for professional use” (Business Wire, 2011). It serves many purposes for these healthcare professionals such as obtaining and evaluating patient information updates, as a helpful device during their standard practice, and to finish up paper-work.
The iPad is such a new technology that also helps the efficiency rate in the office that an assorted range of companies are adapting them into their offices and as of January 2011, 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies were testing or using it (Helft, 2011). As John Prusnick says, “It was a very natural extension to provide support for iPad because it runs on the same operating system [as a PC]” (Helft, 2011) so the transition was simple and easy. Some of the wide-variety of companies include General Electric, Wells Fargo, Life Technologies, and Medtronic. The flood of the iPad into the offices has to do with the many business applications it has available and the widespread manners in which their used. For example: General Electric has an application for its staff members to approve orders on the go and another that permits the monitoring of G.E. transformers. It’s clear the iPad has helped companies positively and as March Benioff, the chief executive of Sales force believes 2011 “the year of the tablet!”
iPad Makes Learning Amusing
Schools are always trying to find new ways to keep their students involved and content, while trying to get them to learn the curriculum as best as possible. At the same time in this century, kids and teens are all about the latest technology and with the iPad; Apple may have found a way to bond both. Apple has started a program that it’s promoting to middle schools were for $500 per child per year, it will provide each student with an iPad, the school with a wireless Internet system, all the books on the school system, all the upgrades, and all the teacher required training (Capek, 2011).
This seems like the right direction for schools to take for many different reasons. Economically it doesn’t’ make sense to spend millions on textbooks that would become out-of-date in a couple of years and that are heavy and a nuisance to carry. Yes, some would argue that iPads would pose a distraction and it’s possible as in the case of a student at Anna High School who was caught in class looking up non-related or appropriate material (Phelps, 2011). The answer is simple, that student now must suffer the legal consequences for looking at inappropriate material, but in a broader sense the school could have secured the internet use by grade level and filtered or blocked sites that are un-related to school learning. Another positive with the iPad-in-class phenomenon is that book publishing companies will look to make deals with Apple to expand their e-textbook offerings. Recently, major education publisher McGraw-Hill Co. signed a contract with Apple to make more of its titles available and Pearson PLC is in discussions as well (Kane, 2011). According to MBS Service Co.’s Xplana (a social-learning company), by 2012 e-textbook purchases are suppose to reach $308 million from about only $138 million this year.
All those factors point in the right direction towards the iPad in-school movement but the most important opinion is that of the students. Tarin Mock of Harmar, a student at Springdale Junior-Senior High School, puts it best by saying, “We love electronics.” And Toni Saul, a reading specialist in the Allegheny Valley School District, grasps that message. Saul comments, “This gives us another way to reach the students in a way that’s meaningful to them. They’re really engaged in this” (Aubele, 2011). The iPad is one of the best ways to reach the children of today and makes learning easier yet fun at the same time which is a rarity in today’s schools. Plus, it helps the students go at their pace with their own individual iPad in front of them and not go at the teacher’s set pace on the old chalkboard.
The iPad helps people of all ages learn including assisting those with autism. Autism usually affects a person’s ability to communicate with people and focus for a certain time-span to complete a task. Recently studies have shown that autistic patients, who have a history of trouble learning in the more customary manners, are more capable of focusing on an iPad application that turns mathematics and literature into fun games (Van Valkenburg, 2011). A heart-warming story is that of the Hess family, were Nicole Hess has two autistic children in 12-year-old Jacob and 14-year-old Sydney. Jacob enjoys reading his books and using the math applications while Sydney, who cannot speak, communicates through the effective iPad and let’s her requests be known. Both children are on the reward system were 20 minutes of homework equals 20 minutes of iPad entertainment (Van Valkenburg, 2011). The iPad assistance in the educational world is tremendous and seems to benefit everyone. It’s only a matter of time for more schools to jump on the bandwagon but for now it’s making a difference one child at a time.
With All Good There’s Somewhat Bad
With everything positive in this world there’s always a negative somewhere. The iPad doesn’t have any major ones except for one exception, jail-breaking. It’s so simple to accomplish, that for Apple it’s almost impossible to prevent. Basically you sync your iPad to update it to the latest version and then you download the Spirit jailbreak application. The instructions will take you from there. By jail-breaking your iPad, the user can download content not authorized by Apple but at the cost of your iPad’s warranty (Gawker Media, 2010). Users can also download apps for free from the Application Store, this is technically considered stealing because you are not paying for the content and getting it for free. Most jail-breakers take it a step further and download pirated applications through unofficial installers such as Cydia. Considering all the things the iPad is already capable of, the jail-breaking option seems to come out of greed. It’s a crime if used incorrectly and usually it is, plus it’s not worth your warranty because if an accident happens to ruin your iPad then you have no safety net. Jail-breaking is bound to happen but it’s better to remember the iPad can be used for more important purposes than a few extra perks.
In the End iPad Cannot Be Touched
For being such a delicate and fragile appliance, the iPad can serve use in many different environments. There’s the simple, it’s a large iPod to hold music and watch movies on a larger screen on-the-go or a way to have portable internet in one’s pocket. Then it can be used as a communication device to never lose touch with loved ones that are far away or conduct business meetings across borders. Its applications help expand company’s abilities and speed up proficiency at work. When it’s been tested in an educational setting, students have enjoyed the tablet computer and have shown working with an iPad makes learning pleasurable. The iPad has given autistic children an easier way to study and deal with their difficulty communicating. As the iPad receives more upgrades its uses will only expand. The iPad is the present, but it seems to be the future for a while to come too.
Works Cited
Erika Capek. (8 February). Schools consider replacing books. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2260160821).
A source used to show that some schools have begun incorporating iPads into their teaching regimen or are at least contemplating it. Has some good points and facts to add to that argument.
Giselle Phelps. (23 February). iPad Porn in Class: Anna Student Caught with Images, Could Face Charges. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2275502951).
Wasn’t a major source used but just a quick example of the distraction an iPad can cause. Also the illegal materials that students can access if schools don’t monitor their internet.
iPads Are the Tablet of Choice Among U.S. Physicians. (2 March). Business Wire. Retrieved March 2, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2280032281).
The source was useful to see that the iPad is used in the medical field as well. There are some statistics there that provided us too. Talks about its expanding use and how if possible most healthcare experts would use it.
Michael Aubele. (17 February). Springdale students iPad their grades. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2269063711).
A good source to show how students enjoy their iPads yet uses them for the right purposes. It’s a good way to learn and relates to the students of today. Have some good quotes by some individuals as well.
Miguel Helft. (2011, March 3). Steve Jobs Returns to Introduce Updated iPads :[Business/Financial Desk]. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. B.1. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from Banking Information Source. (Document ID: 2281030781).
This talks about the updates that the iPad has undergone to become the iPad 2. Talks about all its new features and describes the tablet computer pretty well in detail.
Nancy Van Valkenburg. (18 February). iPads help autistic kids learn, communicate. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2269773881).
The article about how autistic kids use the iPad as a way of learning effectively. Also how they communicate through them. Source has two real life examples to draw emotion from as well.
The Next iPad Will Likely Have Camera, FaceTime, and PhotoBooth Apps Ipad]. (24 January). Gizmodo [Gizmodo - Blog]. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from Career and Technical Education. (Document ID: 2246793781).
This was my basis source for the FaceTime part of my paper. The new iPad will include two cameras so it was essential that I added this because now it helps communicate visually with people located in other areas than you.
Research and Markets: iPad Tips, Tricks & Apps for Litigators - Everything You Need to Know in 60-Minutes to Get the Most Out of Your iPad. (8 February). Business Wire. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2260802281).
Research and Markets: iPad Tips, Tricks & Apps for Accountants - Everything You Need to Know in 60-Minutes to Get the Most out of Your iPad. (25 January). Business Wire. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Dateline. (Document ID: 2247495881).
Both the sources above were used to show how the iPad can be used for different manners and various occupations. Has some examples as to the purpose an iPad can have for a litigator or an accountant.
Yukari Iwatani Kane. (2011, February 25). Digital Media: Publishers Expand E-Textbook Offerings for Classroom. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. B.5. Retrieved February 29, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2275678931).
A source to show that e-textbooks availability is expanding rapidly with the expansion of the iPad reaches. Companies are making deals to have their works available through more outlets. Strengthens the argument of iPads in school.
