College and University Blog
iPad for Students Justifying Your Purchase
If you are like me, you have been salivating over the iPad, waiting for its release and trying to devise justifications to purchase it as soon as it becomes available. Look no further – the reasons below will provide an excuse. They will also provide ideas for ways to make life a little simpler, run a bit smoother, and just make your daily activities more fun.
Email: This is a feature that is difficult to put a price tag on. In today’s world, we need to be constantly connected. I took a graduate class last fall and I was one of five students. The professor was flying in from out of state and had been delayed. Through a simple exchange of emails prior to the class, we decided to postpone the class by a couple of hours. If I wasn’t connected to my email, I wouldn’t have been a part of the the decision, and I may not have known about the postponement until much later.
iBooks: During my last year or so in graduate school I have saved quite a bit of money by finding eBook versions of my required texts for school. At this point, availability of texts is still hit or miss, but if you can save even a little bit of money, why not? Over the course of a few years, buying a few eBook texts could save you enough money to justify the purchase.
Calendar: iPad features a supremely functional calendar that allows users to select a day, week, or month view. It also allows users to color code tasks, and even to create separate calendars for your academic, work, and personal life.
Contacts: Students can organize school friends, study buddies, and professors and include photos with each contact. Students can create group contacts for school clubs and book groups.
Online newspapers: Aside from the inherent value of reading newspapers on a daily basis, it is a required activity in many classes today. Many national newspapers are available in an online format, and they will all be at your fingertips each and every day.
iWork (Keynote, Pages, and Numbers): This is the application that will allow academics to create and edit presentations, reports, and papers on your iPad. Word documents that you receive through email can be easily imported into Pages for viewing and editing.
One might ask why we need each of these features if we already have a Blackberry, a Kindle, or a mini netbook. Because all of these great features are offered in one, sleek, attractive package. See you on April 3rd!