The rumors of Apple producing a "revolutionary" tablet PC device has been swirling around the internet for the past couple of years. The possibilities of ubiquitous computing as well as a electronic book device saving the backs of many students has become the holy grail for many educational technologist. Entire conferences like WIPTE have been developed to show the educational benefits of pen-technology. With Apple's track record of re-imagining technology and user interfaces, there has been a natural conclusion that this new tablet can be "the one." Imaging Apple doing for the tablet PC concept what they did for the smart-phone.
Yesterday, Apple released its long awaited "tablet" device called the iPad; or as I like to call it "a neat piece of fool's gold." Overall I must say that it is a massive disappointment. There is nothing revolutionary about this device, in fact, in many ways it is inferior to the Amazon Kindle or B&N nook. The iPad with its 9.7" screen is nothing more than a large iPod touch or iPhone if you get the 3G version. There is no stylus and seems to be no annotation function on the device. With no handwriting recognition ability on the device, input is accomplished via a "soft" keyboard on the screen. That would be a nightmare for any student trying to annotate in the margins of a document or anyone trying to use this device to replace traditional textbooks.
I am not predicting a "flop" for this device from a consumer business stand-point. In the long term with a software development kit maybe someone can find a use for this device, but it is not anything new or revolutionary for today's students. So the hunt continues...
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