

And so it begins... Seton Hill University to give all students an iPad - zazi
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/30/and-so-it-begins-seton-hill-university-to-give-all-students-a/

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duck
Is it really _gives_ all students an iPad? More like they _up your tuition and
force_ an iPad on you. Nothing is free, but they sure can spin it that way.

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ErrantX
Have you got a source for that? Im not disputing it but it isn't mentioned
anywhere I found.

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andrewcooke
i'm not sure what you're asking, but generally it's illegal to print you own
money.

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ErrantX
well, no; the GP was suggesting the college is charging more in tuition to
cover the iPad costs. I couldn't see where they got that info from was all :)

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andrewcooke
i think you would agree i was saying a little more than i actually wrote.

similarly, i suspect the original poster was saying something along the lines
of "every organisation has to deal with finite resources, so spending on one
item means less for an another. instead of spending money on ipads they could
have reduced fees, or reduced their increase... etc etc".

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ErrantX
Hmm, well you do talk in tangents sometimes ;)

I don't think you've interpreted his comment correctly - it sounded the poster
was making an uncertified direct claim that tuition fees have _risen_ to pay
for this. It was getting upvotes so I queried it. :) Apparently this is
conjecture - which is cool I just wanted to know.

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Tichy
Who pays for the iPads? Presumably it is in the tuition fees? In any case it
is probably more of an advertising thing than a revolutionary teaching thing.

Can't get mom and pops to buy you an iPad? Go to Seton Hill and they don't
have a choice but buy you one.

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gizmo
> "Students will be able to download their textbooks to their iPads from the
> iBook Store. In addition, iPads can be used as phones and for air and file
> sharing, as well as note-taking."

The iPad isn't a phone. Many textbooks don't have good PDF versions. If the
file sharing is similar to the iPhone (and it looks that way) it's going to be
a lousy share-by-email experience. You can't use the Dropbox app (or similar),
because Dropbox files live in the "Dropbox" directory, and your other files
will be in the "Documents" or "Presentations" directory. And note-taking? Sure
you're joking. The iPad is a "hunt-and-peck-required" device. How can you
possibly pay attention when you spend a full minute on every sentence?

I suspect this will end up as a major disappointment -- the iPad isn't ready
to replace a laptop yet. It's a consumer's device, and college isn't
exclusively about consumption of content.

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stcredzero
_If the file sharing is similar to the iPhone (and it looks that way) it's
going to be a lousy share-by-email experience._

That's funny, because I never mail myself documents on the iPhone.

 _You can't use the Dropbox app (or similar), because Dropbox files live in
the "Dropbox" directory_

If all you want is to read a document, what's the problem?

 _And note-taking? Sure you're joking. The iPad is a "hunt-and-peck-required"
device._

And you're basing this on what data?

 _I suspect this will end up as a major disappointment -- the iPad isn't ready
to replace a laptop yet. It's a consumer's device, and college isn't
exclusively about consumption of content._

Currently, everyone needs a laptop to sync content with an iPad. If everyone
has a laptop, what's the problem? It's not as if college is _devoid_ of
consuming content.

Also, everything you point out looks like a _business opportunity_ to me, not
some sort of overwhelming world-halting problem.

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gizmo
> And you're basing this on what data?

Steve Jobs fumbling his way through a single sentence during the original iPad
launch, and the hunt-and-peck typing used in the promotional videos.

> It's not as if college is devoid of consuming content.

Agreed, but if you need a real laptop anyway (Mathematica, writing essays,
etc, etc), is it really worth it to carry both?

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stcredzero
If your're set to do some heavy reading, does it pay to lug your laptop? Maybe
if you want to do some browsing or tinkering. The iPad can do the former now.
The latter will get implemented for lots of uses, for profit.

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megaman821
This is based on extensive testing of the iPads in their classrooms? No, just
hype. If this is the normal operating procedure for Seton Hill I would
transfer now.

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balding_n_tired
Wow. I can remember from something under 20 years ago, Seton Hill was listed
among the most financially troubled schools in the US. Guess admitting men
might have helped.

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riobard
If textbooks from iBookstore is cheaper than paperbacks, this will definitely
work!

