3. April, 2010. The ipad has arrived
List of applications in an educational setup:
- Good reader. Nice to orgnize PDF's, for example from the web
or uploaded from the computer via sftp.
- The apple ibook application is gorgeous, but one can not add own PDF's. Kindle and Stanza are not yet
updated.
- Space time. A decent computer algebra system. A bit pricy but
not bad. I would prefer to have a local Mathematica application (Wolfram Alpha like Google docs is for
me not an option).
- Ebooks like the Grimm's ferry tales with embedded videos show what is possible in an educational setup.
I think Pogue is
wrong with the classification of people who hate or love the ipad. According to his test (Do you use linux? Do you
use bittorrent?), I'm a "techie". But I love the innovation of the ipad. Would I like to run any application
on the device or rsync my files with it? Hell, yes. But thats not the point. It will take open source many years to
come up with something close, certainly also due to patent reasons. Eventually, it will come,
but for now, I need a device on which I can keep books and articles.
The iPad is for me a good display tool. Like
with a display for a computer, or with a phone, I do not expect openness here, but insist on open source
where I organize my files and where I really work. Like when working with
several books at once, or having several computer displays, I can imagine having several of these tablets lying
around in the house.
