A 2.5 year olds review of the iPad

[True_Avery]

http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10006827/what-my-25-year-olds-first-encounter-with-an-ipad-can-teach-the-tech-industry/

 

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"As you can see, my kid took right to it. She uses my iPhone a lot, so she was already familiar with the basic elements of the interface. But she also mastered the new aspects of the iPad instantly — including figuring out how to 2x enlarge some of her favorite iPhone-legacy apps to display full-size on the iPad screen. If you’re good at understanding kid-speak, you’ll also notice that she immediately saw its potential as a video-display device. And echoing an often-heard gripe about the iPad, it took her exactly 20 seconds to lament the lack of a camera. She also wondered about its potential for playing games.

 

But the experience wasn’t perfect: My daughter had the same frustration as many adults, where touching the screen-edge with your thumb while holding the iPad blocks input to all home screen icons. Notice also that she was confused by the splash page for FirstWords Animals, her favorite spelling game: Because the start button looked like a graphic, rather than a conventional button, she couldn’t figure out how to start the game."

 

I never liked the iPad for a few reasons, and don't need one to go about my daily life, but this review has sold me to the idea. As the review says, she has been growing up with touch-pad computers since she was born and actually finds mice and so on to be annoying, and continuously tried to control computers with the monitor.

 

She has been using his iPhone, but she picks up on the iPad very quickly, and also does a great job of outlining its flaws. Its screens can be very unintuitive at times, your thumb can cancel out all input, and the screen can switch at random, as well as, by the end of the video, get absolutely covered in finger oil.

 

But, as a babies first computer I'm sold. If you're kid can learn to be delicate enough with it, I would actually recommend the iPad to anyone here who has kids.

 

Thought this was a really stupid piece of technology before I remembered that this could easily be a kids learning device. I mean, I practically taught myself to read with the gameboy.

 

Thoughts?

[Jae Onasi]

My kids are growing up with computers, and I have them in a tech charter school since I think tech is where it's at for the future. My 3rd grader put together a brochure on Maine (for a book report on a state) using Word last night--it came out looking pretty darn good. I wouldn't mind getting an iPad myself, but my kids, being older, are already needing the higher graphics/cpu speed on a conventional computer for gaming and such. They're also a bit to rough on things for me to trust with an iPad at this point. If Apple can figure out how to make it not break if a 3rd grader accidentally drops it, I might be sold on it, however.

[urluckyday]

Make it cost effective and then it's a feasible "learning device." That's something I don't think Apple will ever accomplish (either by choice or design).

 

Books, along with parent-assisted computers, are still the best way for a child to learn outside (or even inside) the classroom.

[Jae Onasi]

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

 

I was a bit worried about my son's penmanship, which is as bad as mine, but one of his teachers pointed out we're going to be using computers so much more in the future, it probably isn't going to matter as much. At this point, learning keyboarding is far more useful than cursive.

[urluckyday]

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

 

I was a bit worried about my son's penmanship, which is as bad as mine, but one of his teachers pointed out we're going to be using computers so much more in the future, it probably isn't going to matter as much. At this point, learning keyboarding is far more useful than cursive.

 

Much agreed. But it's like that transition phase between VHS and DVD where everyone is wary at first, and it takes time and more money to use the new format...when prices come down (just not on Apple products) and the technology evolves further, readers will be everywhere.

[Trench]

I don't care what the kid says. It's no good until they put OSX on it.

 

My mom's got an iPad, and although it's cool, meh.

If it was just a tad bit larger and ran the Mac OS it would be a lot better.

 

Until then it's just a steam-rolled iPod Touch.

 

This kid's observation of it is hilarious though. She took to it as quickly as I did.

[Astor]

I won't be buying one, no matter how much Stephen Fry (Archbishop of the Church of Twitter and de facto Apple UK head of sales) and others talk about how revolutionary and excellent they are - I just don't see myself ever needing one, although i'm sure they're useful in this capacity.

 

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

 

You can have my hardbacks and book collection when you can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

 

Reading books has a certain charm that I don't think can be replicated by an e-reader or a tablet. I don't need to charge my books either.

 

 

I was a bit worried about my son's penmanship, which is as bad as mine, but one of his teachers pointed out we're going to be using computers so much more in the future, it probably isn't going to matter as much. At this point, learning keyboarding is far more useful than cursive.

 

I think that's rather sad, actually. While we may be in the Computing age, I don't think traditional communication skills should be neglected.

[Pavlos]

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

Not to come over all Scrutonite but while I can imagine the school textbook, the dictionary, and perhaps airport novels bought to fill time (my version of the OED lies unused on my bookshelf; the online edition is much easier to use and is not shortened like my print copy, and imagine if you could wipe a cook-book clean!), I suspect that print media will not be making its exit in our lifetimes. There's often the assumption that with the invention of the Press in the 15th century manuscript culture stopped. It didn't, it goes on for centuries afterwards.

 

While the utilitarian end of the market is eaten up by electronics I don't know if we'd see the re-emergence of books as a luxury item, bound to specification, as the Victorians so loved to do.

 

Much agreed. But it's like that transition phase between VHS and DVD where everyone is wary at first, and it takes time and more money to use the new format...when prices come down (just not on Apple products) and the technology evolves further, readers will be everywhere.

The DVD doesn't fundamentally change your viewing habits, though. It is, as with VHS, a very small part of your experience. You take it out of the box and put it into the player, and then watch the film. You don't hold it throughout the experience as you would a book.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

this confirms what i have long said: apple is the fisher price of the computing world

[urluckyday]

The DVD doesn't fundamentally change your viewing habits, though. It is, as with VHS, a very small part of your experience. You take it out of the box and put it into the player, and then watch the film. You don't hold it throughout the experience as you would a book.

 

But think about it this way...

 

DVD unlocked a whole new wave of portable movie-watching experiences. DVD's on laptops, smaller TV's with DVD players built in, portable DVD players themselves, the small nature of the format, etc. None of those things were available with VHS. You couldn't watch a VHS on your computer, and it was difficult to bring a TV with VHS player on a trip. While it may not have changed the experience in the living room (besides better picture/sound), DVD did very much to expand the viewing possibilities.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

You can have my hardbacks and book collection when you can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

 

Reading books has a certain charm that I don't think can be replicated by an e-reader or a tablet. I don't need to charge my books either.

This. Call me old fashioned but I love flipping through pages. If I'm ever given the opportunity, I take printed, not digital.

 

I was a bit worried about my son's penmanship, which is as bad as mine, but one of his teachers pointed out we're going to be using computers so much more in the future, it probably isn't going to matter as much. At this point, learning keyboarding is far more useful than cursive.

Won't be much trouble if he opts for a doctor carreer.

 

But really, the usefulness of writting with a pen and paper is still completely evident. I don't think there's a single day that I don't make hand notes of some kind: from mail addresses to phone numbers and even the occasional warning you glue on the entrance door to warn your roomate the kitchen was set on fire again.

[Taak Farst]

Well Jae, it actually frightens me that you and even TEACHERS are having a lax mood towards writing and books! There is nothing like sitting down and relaxing sinking into a good book. As another poster said before, you can "get my hardbacks and my book collection when you pry them from my cold dead hands". And writing has it's charm too. and, i personally think, depending on the circumstances of when your writing and what your writing, it can be very therapeutic IMO.

 

I'm 13, and I only want the best computers and gadgets all the time. Alienware gaming pcs, the latest ipods, the lot, but even I know that books and writing shouldnt be tossed aside..

 

EDIT: And, as a guy who doesnt know much about the iPad, I can really say..that it just looks like a bigger version of the iPod Touch/iPhone... maybe with a different OS or something, but either way, it's the same..only the iphone (not to mention CHEAPER product) has a camera..

[Darth Avlectus]

I grew up using Apple products. Apple II to be exact.

 

Then I was onto the mac when it first came out on the market like hotcakes. A few years later my family even got a Performa 6300CD...which I still have.

 

My one caveat for getting kids something like an iPad for a kid is that kids in general are urban destruction machines to this very kind of equipment.

 

That aside, hey, you wanna get a computer, a better one for this purpose does not exist IMO. Still enjoy mas O.S.'s for their simplicity and straightforward design. And stability. Sure it can't do everything, say, linux can do for programmers of chips and microcontrollers but, hey, it works and works well. Since it's less popular, less likelihood of trouble, viruses and pretty much immune to the majority of dos and windows viruses already anyway. Just anyone knows this of course.

 

Finger oil? Get a spray bottle and some 70% isopropyl alcohol (kmart, wlamart, dollar tree, places like that), a rag and wipe-clean it off. Disinfects (it *is* what doctor's offices use), nice optical clarity and dissolves quickly. All in one fell swoop.

 

Thinking of getting it for your kid? Do it with boldness and don't give it a second thought.

 

Still, the drawbacks with an overly tech'd out kid is less general social skills, less desire to write, and supposedly colleges are taking note of a trend of "less empathetic, more self centered"--I don't know about that. Like with vidya-games: Make sure the kid gets necessary social skills and that s/he gets up and out to exercise, etc.

[Astrotoy7]

Are we even going to be reading books in the future, or will we all have the equivalent of a Kindle?

 

I was a bit worried about my son's penmanship, which is as bad as mine, but one of his teachers pointed out we're going to be using computers so much more in the future, it probably isn't going to matter as much. At this point, learning keyboarding is far more useful than cursive.

 

A teacher that doesn't encourage kids to write and encourages screen time + keyboarding instead? That is a worry....

 

It's not so clear cut. It will never come down to keyboarding OR handwriting. As a form of expression, handwritten notes will always be used - particularly by anyone studying or involved in work that involves text.

 

Whilst devices such as the kindle are being adopted by universities with paper reduction in mind (eg. Harvard Medical School now offers kindle editions of textbooks), as far as it being a productivity device, trials such as the pilot program run by Princeton show that it was not practicable as a learning tool. One of the main drawbacks being cited was lack of handwriting support.

 

The ipad and android devices use mobile OSs which are designed to utilise touch functionality. In their current form they are not viable as productivity devices. Even if you were a fabulously quick touch typist, annotating is hard on a keypad, and unless a device can utilise handwriting input - the use for students or people who do a lot of text based work is very limited.

 

Apples hype juggernaut has lulled many into thinking it is a revolutionary device. Its a simple fact that tablets have been around for years. At the current Computex tradeshow MS and Android are jumping into the consumer tablet game along with apple, but from a productivity perspective, MS has been at it for years - with medical, military, law enforcement and industry using handwriting based tablets.

 

Motion Computing and WinMate are the leading manufacturers of these, I used The Motion C5v at work and it is amazing. My own blog, and alot of the posting I do here is done via handwriting input on a 5 year old tablet that was released by

 

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pic from two years ago...

 

 

Accurate handwriting input is supported by a wacom pen + digitiser under the screen and the 'TIP'(Tablet input panel) built into certain versions of windows, combined with a program such as one note or journal give you a more complete handwriting experience.

 

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Here's a nice short vid of the pen+TIP in action in realtime... I love how W7 changes handwriting to editable characters almost instantly.

 

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Reading the coverage on the tablet devices being planned by tech manufacturers worldwide, handwriting implementation is becoming more important as the new wave of tablets takes off. People who do a lot of writing or text based work are discovering that touchscreen typing is not for heavy duty use, nor ergonomic. Once such devices are cheap and durable, then they will eventually appear outside of the business/niche markets. If the apple, android, kindle devices evolve to support accurate handwriting, even better.

 

For more coverage on the latest developments in the tablet market, come visit the LFN techforum news and gossip thread

 

this confirms what i have long said: apple is the fisher price of the computing world

 

I'm with you jmac, but at least one 100 year old lady disagrees

 

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mtfbwya

posted on a 5 year old tablet/W7

[Darth Avlectus]

^^^Ohh yea. Elderly and computer illiterate also tend to benefit from apple and mac technology as well.