Is an iPad worth 400+ for College/ University Work? What apps would you recommend?

System

ringo_24601 wrote: »

They are students with no income - they're meant to be cheapskates.
iPads are not heavily used in business, with a possible exception being sales and 'executives'. The only people I see in meetings with iPads are the 'execs' who use it to access things like salesforce.com in a snazzy fashion

The students with iPads will be those who conned their parents into getting one; will then use it for Netflix/BBC iPlayer/games/snorting crack off the glossy screen

If they can afford a crack habit they can probably afford an Ipad as well.

shaun_from_Africa

So how did people manage in the centuries before PCs and laptops were invented?

well exactly. Laptops, ipads etc are all well and good but really you need no technological helps to get a decent degree

One very important thing to remember is that all those centuries ago (or even decades ago), the coursework and the studying required for it would have been planned knowing that the students would need to go to libraries and other places to get the information that they required.

Nowadays, so much of the course planning and preparation is done with the assumption that the students will have access to a computer, hence the internet, and should therefore be able to find information that may be difficult, if not impossible to obtain elsewhere.


I've not been to uni, but last year I did a very intensive 6 week engineering course and this required hours of private studying each evening.
Much of the information I needed was only available online, and without a computer, I would have been totally screwed.

mattyprice4004

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

Blimey what a load of cheapskates!
If I was an Undergraduate I would have a Ipad for same reasons as you.
One major thing going for it is you have Laptop functionality with lighter weight, and the Apps extend the use of the machine.
Although you will be branded as Spendthrift ignore the skeptics.
The Education Section of Apple Istore is full of Apps that more than justify the costs.
This is one of the cases when it is more economical to fork out than to adopt a more apparently cheaper model.
As regards Degree Class if it helps you think better so as to earn a Better Class of Degree why not?
Degrees cost money, Decent Textbooks cost money, Ipads are being used in Business so it makes sense to get used to one now, Reading that makes the grade costs time in mastering concepts and using them.
There are some things worth forking out for this is one of them.

So much fail.

1. You can get thousands of education programs for a laptop, that's not a valid reason to buy an iPad.
2. If you're actually serious about a degree, you'll do just as well if you had a laptop.
3. Coffee machines are used in business, it doesn't mean the OP has to buy one.
4. You don't have laptop functionality at all, there are far more programs out there for PCs, often cheaper and more functional too. And as for apps extending the functionality of the machine, that's such a major selling point, as with a laptop you're stuck with what comes on it. :rotfl:

You don't need an iPad. If you want one then go ahead - they're great pieces of kit. I work with repairing, using and even messing about with software development for iPads and PCs, and a laptop is by far more functional.

I'm not biased - I'm about to pick up a refurb iPad 2 for myself in the next few days. It's just not as amazing as this poster makes out, it's a glorified generic tablet PC.

System

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

One very important thing to remember is that all those centuries ago (or even decades ago), the coursework and the studying required for it would have been planned knowing that the students would need to go to libraries and other places to get the information that they required.

Nowadays, so much of the course planning and preparation is done with the assumption that the students will have access to a computer, hence the internet, and should therefore be able to find information that may be difficult, if not impossible to obtain elsewhere.


I've not been to uni, but last year I did a very intensive 6 week engineering course and this required hours of private studying each evening.
Much of the information I needed was only available online, and without a computer, I would have been totally screwed.

It would be different at university though as a university will have adequate computer facilities for a student to be able to obtain the relevant information they need (if they require the internet). Visiting a computer room for research now would be the same as visiting a library 10 years ago. I don't believe having a laptop at university is therefore an essential item. Its without doubt useful but I am sure many students get away with not having any of these aids and still manage to achieve good grades.

mattyprice4004

goater78 wrote: »

It would be different at university though as a university will have adequate computer facilities for a student to be able to obtain the relevant information they need (if they require the internet). Visiting a computer room for research now would be the same as visiting a library 10 years ago. I don't believe having a laptop at university is therefore an essential item. Its without doubt useful but I am sure many students get away with not having any of these aids and still manage to achieve good grades.

To add to this, even if it was essential a decent refurb laptop can be had for under £200, pretty much anyone in Uni could find that amount of cash if it was needed.

Having your own IT equipment is not as essential as people make out.

biscit

missile wrote: »

A well written article, but unless this is part of your course work is it wasted time and effort

Not necessarily. Thinking critically and forming an opinion on a position based on the available information and expressing it clearly is a useful skill for many University degrees, and for many graduate jobs.

Researching this article, refining the arguments within and expressing them is practicing vital skills.

[Deleted User]

Poor OP, the link was removed from their first post!

Ah, i have fond memories of working hard before starting uni, scraping together £700 to buy a desktop computer (laptops were far too expensive for me in 1998). I also bought a printer (rather essential I believe, since you had to trek to the 'print room' to get your essays)

Even 14 years ago, it wasn't essential but it was bloody useful to have your own computer. Computer rooms were on campus and i lived a 25 min bus ride away. Writing essays on uni computers would have been a very painful exercise (esp. with a 10mb storage limit per student!)

These days I wouldn't dare sending a child away to uni without a laptop. However, much like it is at work - a laptop is essential, an iPad/tablet is a luxury.

xxJudexx

fluffnutter wrote: »

So how did people manage in the centuries before PCs and laptops were invented?

I have grown up with computers so that is all I know. If I hadn't had the use of a computer throughout my entire school life I would have known no different and could have done without it.

Kids in schools these days aren't even given textbooks, they are expected to get it all off the internet!

But I think, for the purpose of getting a decent degree, a laptop/computer is a very useful aid but an ipad is a gimmick that is fun to play around with but has no real use to a degree student.

Coopdivi

fluffnutter wrote: »

So how did people manage in the centuries before PCs and laptops were invented?

Ye Olde iScribe

heretolearn_2

they are fun toys but I'm not convinced they help THAT much in business/studies.

They are useless for writing anything of any length on so cannot replace a PC/laptop for the actual work.

They are good for recording things and making notes. A consultant we meet with a couple of times a month uses one to schedule in all his meetings, keep all the notes/related emails together in one place, etc etc. So I can see the usefulness for that. Whether I'd spend £400 to get that though, no I don't think I would. When he comes we spend half the time watching 'swappsies' on YouTube videos on it anyway :rotfl:.

Bossman was going to buy one instead of a new laptop and this consultant told him not to, they are more entertaining toys than tools, at the moment.

I fail to see how this would improve your degree grade. It would make written notekeeping (or recording) of lectures a bit easier. Other than that, I can't see anything you can't easily do in another way.

And even that when my son went to uni he hunted high and low for something to help him take notes in lectures, being dyslexic, and researched what he needed was actually an obsolete type of gizmo - he tracked down a second hand one for about £50 and it was perfect - he could take notes electronically, also draw into it (and it would sort out your wobbly shapes for you) all sorts. So that reproduces the only thing that is genuinely useful re Ipads for business or studies at a fraction of the price. This thing is over 10 years old but everyone he shows it to is blown away and wants one!