iPad review: Is the iPad a solution for 1:1 computing?

I have had my iPad for about 2 months now. I didn't get it on launch day, and I didn't wait until the 3g model was out so I wasn't an early adopter, but I was an early adopter. People ask me often, "So, do you like your iPad?" My response! This is simply the coolest thing I have ever owned.

When I was in high school, I carried a Franklin Planner. I loved that I could carry lists and papers and a calendar, and all sorts of others stuff. At first when I switched over to a Palm Pilot I loved it because it was so much smaller than my old planner. But, I soon found that it just wouldn't carry it all. It was great for what it was for, but I couldn't carry pictures, or other things. Later I moved up to the Dell Axim which for my money was the best device I had owned, until now. I got an iPod touch, but it wouldn't do everything my Dell Axim device with Windows Mobile would do. For instance and specifically. No creative features. My iPod Touch was a fantastic device for consuming media, but I could barely create notes. The stylus and shorthand I used for entering data on my Dell Axim was much more accurate than the tiny touchscreen keyboard, but the iPod Touch was good at lots of other things.

So now, what's a guy to do. With the launch of the iPad I have a quickly and easily portable device with amazing battery life that does just about everything I need. With the update of the iPhone OS this fall it really will have it all except....two cameras: one forward facing for video chat, and one rear facing for taking video (Are you listening Steve?)

So what's the problem? The problem is the question? Is the iPad really a solution for 1:1 computing for education? The answer is an echoing: Maybe‽‽‽ After a rousing discussion today at EduBlogCon I came away not as convinced that the iPad is really the solution for 1:1 computing. But wait a minute hold on. The question is: Is the iPad a solution for 1:1 computing. Well? Maybe‽‽‽ One theme that came out several times with people's comments was that the iPad does some things really really well and the coolness factor makes adoption as a 1:1 device very easy. Also, it does what about 90% of computing in the schools is: Word Processing and Web browsing. Now the fact that it will do more and that future versions will do even more (Steve, you still listening? how about them cameras‽) A couple of people were saying that if I have to compare two devices and one does this and this and this and the other does this and this and this plus that and that and that and costs less? Which should I adopt?

Well there was a concern I had about that. The problem with comparing NetBooks which do this and this and this and that and that and that with the iPad is that while it is true that the iPad may not be able to do that and that and that, it still does t'other and t'other and t'other. For the Graphically inclined:There is significant overlap. The challenge arises when you are looking at which of the things they can't do. If the netbook doesn't browse books easily and have a easy to share screen then maybe the iPad is better. If the iPad won't let you connect to a VGA projector and share web pages (Are you still listening Steve Jobs, get right on that one will you) Then maybe a NetBook is better. There needs to be a needs analysis done. Pick the right tool. Some argued that the iPad is like a pocketknife compared to a Swiss Army knife Netbook, but compared to the Kindle the iPad is the Swiss army knife.

Personally, I valued two things highly from the discussion: What is the need? How much control do we want students to have? The iPad does have a drawback in that area. It tethers you to Apple. You can't do high level computing on it, not of any kind. It is designed as a peripheral device, a device to supplement a computer not replace it. But it does a great job of supplementing. And just wait to see what the future holds.

Imagine iPads that can send to each other over bluetooth. Pictures, sounds, videos, and more. Imagine being able to watch every iPad in my room from my iPad and wirelessly share any individual iPad screen with every other student while one student showcases his work. Imagine being able to pass an iPad around the table or lay it in front of a group who are analyzing the graph of their latest lab results. With the iPad we don't have the device that will change the game, but the seed has been planted.