Most of the public workstations at my school wipe their hard drives and restore from an image overnight. That's not feasible for a netbook, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't be done monthly or even weekly if necessary. It seems more likely that the iPad, with its huge screen, would crack before permanent damage would be done to a netbook.
You don't see how a cheaply made netbook that has to be opened and closed multiple times a day wouldn't last longer than an iPad screen?
Lets say I have a 8 GB microSDHC card full of mp3s. That nail-size is too large, so let me burn the music to a digital audio COMPACT disc. Uh oh, I would need about 100 of these 12-cm discs.
The interesting question is what we are going to do when such artificial limbs are actually better than the real deal. Voluntary amputation to get an upgrade? Interesting times....
I'll be surprised if even 5% of the ipads still work. You really think an ipad is more durable?! Seriously?! Really?!?!
The overly-restrictive os doesn't let you install things willy-nilly and the machine has far fewer moving parts, like a clam-shell that's contantly opening and closing. Yes, I do think an iPad would outlast a cheapo netbook.
If we just throw more money at the problem we can fix it. Giving an iPad 2 to every student is just that kind of a "solution". Until our culture and our parenting change, we will continue to produce kids who aren't interested in school and learning.
In fairness to our 'uninterested kids', the internet has really made the textbook style of learning seem awful slow. I swear I've learned (and retained) a lot more information about historical events from reading short Wikipedia articles than I have from being forced to read chapters from a text book which I was quizzed on later. In fact, knowing how to use a search engine has opened way more doors for me than spending several hours a day in a classroom. Kids are little sponges and school is slooooowwww.
Frankly I think it's time for schools to tune in to the internet age. I don't know if giving them iPads is the right step, but I do think boring them to tears when they've been exposed to much faster ways of learning is setting them adrift.
Or are they loaded with some sort of locked down ios that prevents 12 year olds from using the thing to play Angry Birds when they're in class?
I'm pretty sure you can set the parental controls accordingly. Even if it's wide open and anything can be installed, so what? If they dick around, they'll fail.
I don't really understand this fear, I mean Game Boys have been around for 20+ years and failed to bear out this concern.
I went to a magnet high school. Ours was math, science and technology. All our science classes were in rooms with lab tables and computers at each spot. Guess what we did all day? Yep. Internet games(pool, miniature golf, etc). All they're going to do is use these things to play games in class.
iPads are way closer to an appliance than netbooks, with far fewer moving parts to boot. Between OS-rot, cheaply made components,and the dumb things kids will install on these things, I'd be surprised if at the end of the school year even half of the $400 netbooks were still operational.
No, I'm saying I don't want a flimsy tablet. I like my iPad because it is rigid. If it has an SD slot, and it's still rigid, great! If it had an SD slot, but its design was flimsy, then it would not be great. There is no 'purist' about it. I had a TabletPC that was flimsy and I hated it. It felt like one wrong turn and it'd crack. The iPad, nope, I can carry it around without fear of that. Does this make sense now that I've stripped away the nonsense you added to my post?
Maybe because nobody wants to fumble with little cards and little doors to break off, or remember which card has what on it? I wonder why camera companies waste volume with SD cards and don't just put 32GB of flash on the MLB and call it a day. The SD slot is an obsolete waste of product volume and complexity, and for some reason people (meaning people on Slashdot, not as a whole) don't seem to get it.
I'd love to have an SD slot on my iPad, but I wouldn't trade battery-life or rigidity of the structure for it. I know it's not the same, but I had a TabletPC a few years ago and I was scared to death of carrying that thing around due to its flimsiness.
Slashdot Mirror
How about paying the government deficit that is about to default in a month so humans can habitat Earth first
How about making science exciting again so we can maintain the ability to pay off these debts.
Most of the public workstations at my school wipe their hard drives and restore from an image overnight. That's not feasible for a netbook, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't be done monthly or even weekly if necessary. It seems more likely that the iPad, with its huge screen, would crack before permanent damage would be done to a netbook.
You don't see how a cheaply made netbook that has to be opened and closed multiple times a day wouldn't last longer than an iPad screen?
One for you and one for me.
One for you and one for me.
One for you...
Lets say I have a 8 GB microSDHC card full of mp3s. That nail-size is too large, so let me burn the music to a digital audio COMPACT disc. Uh oh, I would need about 100 of these 12-cm discs.
You are missing an important variable, here.
No, Im saying it does not illustrate a problem with the 'cloud'.
Again, though, this has nothing to do with the cloud. The service was discontinued, not suddenly either.
The interesting question is what we are going to do when such artificial limbs are actually better than the real deal. Voluntary amputation to get an upgrade? Interesting times....
What's going to power it?
What does this have to do with the reliability of the cloud? Nobody ever promised your data would survive a service closing its doors.
Damn you Google: I spent last weeks sucking videos and wasting bandwith FOR WHAT? Time to send me that Nexus as a compensation, at least.
I would love to see you $600+ internet bill!
I'll be surprised if even 5% of the ipads still work. You really think an ipad is more durable?! Seriously?! Really?!?!
The overly-restrictive os doesn't let you install things willy-nilly and the machine has far fewer moving parts, like a clam-shell that's contantly opening and closing. Yes, I do think an iPad would outlast a cheapo netbook.
Nobody has written a 10 page report on a textbook, either. Wouldn't 'a consumption device' be ideal for something replacing a textbook?
If we just throw more money at the problem we can fix it. Giving an iPad 2 to every student is just that kind of a "solution". Until our culture and our parenting change, we will continue to produce kids who aren't interested in school and learning.
In fairness to our 'uninterested kids', the internet has really made the textbook style of learning seem awful slow. I swear I've learned (and retained) a lot more information about historical events from reading short Wikipedia articles than I have from being forced to read chapters from a text book which I was quizzed on later. In fact, knowing how to use a search engine has opened way more doors for me than spending several hours a day in a classroom. Kids are little sponges and school is slooooowwww.
Frankly I think it's time for schools to tune in to the internet age. I don't know if giving them iPads is the right step, but I do think boring them to tears when they've been exposed to much faster ways of learning is setting them adrift.
Or are they loaded with some sort of locked down ios that prevents 12 year olds from using the thing to play Angry Birds when they're in class?
I'm pretty sure you can set the parental controls accordingly. Even if it's wide open and anything can be installed, so what? If they dick around, they'll fail.
I don't really understand this fear, I mean Game Boys have been around for 20+ years and failed to bear out this concern.
I went to a magnet high school. Ours was math, science and technology. All our science classes were in rooms with lab tables and computers at each spot. Guess what we did all day? Yep. Internet games(pool, miniature golf, etc). All they're going to do is use these things to play games in class.
What was your grade?
iPads are way closer to an appliance than netbooks, with far fewer moving parts to boot. Between OS-rot, cheaply made components,and the dumb things kids will install on these things, I'd be surprised if at the end of the school year even half of the $400 netbooks were still operational.
Why?
A Stream of Wii
Soak it up with your iPad.
Over-analyzed by your android.
Wtf is this crap. Am i on cracked.com now?
I don't understand the troll mod. This article is both stupid and nearly unfunny enough to be a Cracked.com story!
Can we please get articles with substance on here instead of this kind of retarded tripe?
Naturally by 'substance' you mean 'an Apple or Google story so we can take potshots at Apple or Google'.
Oh brother. Am I *really* being that unclear?
Yes, you are. Phrasing it as a trade-off shows that you think there's some relationship between them.
There is. But if it's unnoticable.....
Hahaha!
Oh brother. Am I *really* being that unclear?
No, I'm saying I don't want a flimsy tablet. I like my iPad because it is rigid. If it has an SD slot, and it's still rigid, great! If it had an SD slot, but its design was flimsy, then it would not be great. There is no 'purist' about it. I had a TabletPC that was flimsy and I hated it. It felt like one wrong turn and it'd crack. The iPad, nope, I can carry it around without fear of that. Does this make sense now that I've stripped away the nonsense you added to my post?
You're seriously saying that an 11mm wide slot would compromise the device's structure in any significant way?
No, I'm saying I wouldn't make that compromise.
Maybe because nobody wants to fumble with little cards and little doors to break off, or remember which card has what on it? I wonder why camera companies waste volume with SD cards and don't just put 32GB of flash on the MLB and call it a day. The SD slot is an obsolete waste of product volume and complexity, and for some reason people (meaning people on Slashdot, not as a whole) don't seem to get it.
I'd love to have an SD slot on my iPad, but I wouldn't trade battery-life or rigidity of the structure for it. I know it's not the same, but I had a TabletPC a few years ago and I was scared to death of carrying that thing around due to its flimsiness.
Did you see the part where it's called a "Transformer" because there is a detachable keyboard/battery?
I did make an error, but that wasn't it. I interpreted that statement as "only Linux apps" to the exclusion of Android. I misread that.
My bad.