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Weekend tech reading: 10 reasons not to buy an iPad for students
10 reasons not to buy an iPad for students With summer coming slowly to a close, that means back-to-school shopping is in full swing. Your college-bound child is probably in the midst of asking for more and more money to buy the "essentials" they’ll need for class and dorm life. And it’s very likely that they’ve also mentioned needing a device called the "iPad," a little-touted tablet computer manufactured by a small, independent company called Apple. You then may be wondering if, in this day-and-age, the iPad should be considered instead of a laptop... Dealnews
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Astronomers find largest, most distant reservoir of water Two teams of astronomers have discovered the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe. The water, equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the world's ocean, surrounds a huge, feeding black hole, called a quasar, more than 12 billion light-years away. NASA
Hilarious and surprising predictions of the future…from the 1960s! Nothing should make a futurist more wary than looking at the history of the profession and seeing how hilarious its mistakes have been. Jetpacks, flying cars, death rays…the future isn’t quite what the past hoped it would be. Singularity Hub
Police to begin iPhone iris scans amid privacy concerns Dozens of police departments nationwide are gearing up to use a tech company's already controversial iris- and facial-scanning device that slides over an iPhone and helps identify a person or track criminal suspects. Reuters
Bulletstorm didn’t make money, but it was worth it Mike Capps, president of Gears of War development studio, doesn't regret Bulletstorm. That game got a lot of hype—and some extraordinarily odd press coverage—when it was released earlier this year. Kotaku
User Comments: 28
Got something to say? Post a comment-
What are the odds this DBag works for Micro$oft? I bet 10squids he does.
Word of wisdom: Articles like these does nothing to sway nobody...they only shows how bias one is.
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It's easy to spot an Apple fanboy.
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I'm an apple fan. I eat a red delicious every day with lunch!
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Sound like pretty legitimate reasons to me (and yes, I own an iPad) - the truth hurts doesn't it?
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Guest said:
What are the odds this DBag works for Micro$oft? I bet 10squids he does.
Word of wisdom: Articles like these does nothing to sway nobody...they only shows how bias one is.
Wow, a lolcat that learned to type.
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StaffWhat are the odds this DBag works for Micro$oft?
I'd say minimal to nonexistent.
What are the odds you work for Apple?
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I'd say minimal to nonexistent.
What are the odds you work for Apple?
+1
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What are the odds this DBag works for Micro$oft? I bet 10squids he does.
Word of wisdom: Articles like these does nothing to sway nobody...they only shows how bias one is.
Reason #11
Apple's software either doesn't support spell/grammar checking, or you need an I.Q. approaching average -at the very least-to utilize it.
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Reason #11
Apple's software either doesn't support spell/grammar checking, or you need an I.Q. approaching average -at the very least-to utilize it.
....Irony or biting satire?
You decide.
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Staff
In my opinion, at least half of those are crappy reasons... "apps are too distracting"??
The other half are valid nonetheless, and it doesn't take a genius to understand that text input on the iPad or any tablet is a pain and that in general, any laptop will be more useful than any tablet for content creation. Tablets are great for certain kind of content consumption (web browsing, reading, etc.) and are supplemental to what you can do with an actual computer. At least that's the way it is for now.
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To me #2 "It's Not the Best Solution for Note-Taking or Editing Documents" is the best reason for me to choose a laptop over a tablet of any type. Allot of the other reasons, if you can call them that, can also apply to laptops as well IMO. I will say this line sums it all up and applys to all tablets in general
"It's not a "productivity tool" and it's certainly not a laptop replacement."
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Tekkaraiden said:
I actually talked my boss out of buying her son a ipad instead of a laptop. I told her a laptop would be far more useful for about the same amount of money.
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I wax nostalgic for the old days, when the iPad simply didn't exist.
Nowadays, I'd simply tell the entitlement addicted little sociopaths, to sell drugs off their paper route for extra money, then buy their own god forsaken piece of iCrap.
I guess the internet has killed paper routes, hasn't it? Yeah well, tough s***.
What are the odds this DBag works for Micro$oft? I bet 10squids he does.Still working on your personal version of English. I see. Or maybe this in "Trollian". Anybody out there that can interpret this gibberish?Word of wisdom: Articles like these does nothing to sway nobody...they only shows how bias one is.
Isn't the rule about double negatives taught in 3rd grade, or thereabouts?does nothing to sway nobody
Anyway, an iPad is what happens after your iPhone gets boned by a Kindle.....
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Not a fanboy, but i'll say that because there are those who will always buy the newest from companies like apple, we all get to enjoy the tech trickle down and buy similar devices from other companies. Also, keep in mind that because apple releases new devices like clock work, the competitors try to keep up and also improve their devices, thus driving ever new tech.
nuf said.
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Xclusiveitalian said:
As a college senior, i can tell you that an ipad wouldn't help at all in class or for homework/papers. For most papers I do tons of multitasking on my computer, and an Ipad would make that extremely difficult. For in class, 50% of my classes don't allow computers, or any electronics. I go to John jay college in Manhattan fyi.
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So do I, iPad 2.
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Still working on your personal version of English. I see. Or maybe this in "Trollian". Anybody out there that can interpret this gibberish?
I think the trick would be to find someone conversant with "Trollian" (i.e. nursed on meth-laced breast milk), but whose brain cell loss rate has slowed sufficiently (i.e. early weaning to Mountain Dew) to still convey the information in a semblance of the English language.
Look on the bright side, another half-generation of so (around 5.5 years in some area's) and most of these people won't have the concentration levels required to go from "quote/reply", add the requite hieroglyphics, and then the hit "submit"
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matrix86 said:
Ok, so setting aside my negative feelings for Apple:
1. It's ExpensiveWhat isn't expensive? Though I do have to agree that the iPad definitely ranks up there. I personally would go for some of the less pricy tablets, but you have to remember that you get what you pay for.
2. It's Not the Best Solution for Note-Taking or Editing DocumentsNeither is any other tablet. As much as I love tablets, let's face it...this isn't what they were meant for unless you have a keyboard or dock of some sort.
3. It's Too Distracting (With all the Games, Apps, 4Gs, Web-Browsing, Twitters, and IMs)This applies to all laptops and tablets. I can't tell you how many people I saw in my college classes playing solitare while the teacher was giving a lecture...or even IMing (which made it look like they were actually following along, lol).
4. It's Ultra-Portable and Ultra-DroppableSo is any tablet and netbook. Laptops are more likely dropped falling out of a backpack or while being moved from one person to the next, so I will say that tablets probably get dropped more than laptops. And if you drop a desktop...well...you don't deserve to own a computer, lol.
5. What Makes it Desirable to your Kid is What Makes it Desirable to CriminalsUm...this is true for any piece of electronic equipment. Next:
6. It's Meant for the Enjoyment of One Person, Which Means Social SeclusionPartly true, but once again, this would apply to any smartphone and smaller laptop and any other tablet.
7. Digital Text Books are a Marvel, but There's No Secondary MarketI can't really say much in this area (lacking experience and research) other than this applies to all tablets and laptops.
8. It's a Status Symbol, Plain and SimpleI've yet to develop an opinion on this one. What the article said was true, but this just seems like one of those half-@ssed reasons you pull out of your @ss when you have nothing else to come up with...sorry, but that's just how I see it :P
9. It'll Already be Old Technology by the Time You Buy ItThis is true for any new technology, but the iPad is kind of the leader in making it's successor obsolete very quickly.
10. They'll Also Want a Laptop, TooSee number 8
So overall, as much negativity as I have for Apple, i'm going to have to be the mature adult and say this article should have been renamed "10 reasons not to buy A TABLET for students." Whether it's an iPad or not makes no difference. And this is coming from a guy who loves tablets, lol.
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Bet you feel icky now coming to Apples defense
Pretty much came to the same conclusion as you did. I will say that i think #8 is the the biggest reason why kids these days want an iPad or any other tablet for that matter, nor sure if would say its a reason not to buy it though.
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HaMsTeYr said:
@Matrix86 Reasoning 2, Cue Asus Transformer XD
But yes, very true at your last comment. When I shared it on facebook I sort of mentioned it was more of a tablet thing and not just an iPad thing.
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Its July! Summer is hardly 'coming to a close'.
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yRaz said:
I still haven't found a good reason to buy an iPad.
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stewi0001 said:
A netbook in reality is probably the best for students. This is for them in general since it's almost as portable as a tablet but more than a laptop, has a keyboard and the ablity to still BS(with flash even) when class gets too boring. Personal, I would want an uber laptop even though it would be bulky, but that's just nerdy me.
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so in other words...the ipad really is a giant ipod touch. amirite?
(im jking-i know the few differences well)
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This isnt to knock apple, I'm addressing tablets as a whole when I say, seriously what is the point?
What are they for? Show me some REAL justification for all that money they cost?
Minigames? Please, im a frikkin gamer, if I wanna play games Im not gonna giggle to myself while flinging birds across a 2D landscape, Im gonna stick to my console thats what its for.
Media? hmmm, I can do that with my phone......and that was free!
Pictures? again see above.....
Calender......see above
Work.....nope I cant use it for work....well I can but it takes way longer than just booting up my laptop which was also cheaper by the way.
I really want a shiny tablet, but I just cant see a way of justifying the cost. Every time I see someone with one I just think...MUG!
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