Only tech types refuse to see this coming. That's the problem with sites like this. We represent a minuscule minority who tries to apply our view of the tech world to the mass market. So yes, it is entirely possible that mobile os devices will have a major impact on the sale of traditional computing systems, including PCs, Macs, Laptops, and Netbooks.
Yeah, who'll be the first to thumb-type his doctoral thesis on a cell phone-- 10,000 twitters.
.
4.5 characters per word, plus 1 character for the space equals 5.5. I’ll round to 7 for punctuation, which will include a lot of hyphens so you can use all 140 characters per tweet, and to keep the math simpler. That is 20 words per tweet.
Yahoo Answers states the average PhD thesis is 60k to 80k words. That would 3,000 to 4,000 tweets. 10k tweets would be a 200k word thesis. With an average 300 words per page (if going old school [and current school]) that is 667 pages.
Yes! A lot of what you say is true! Especially introduction of computers in the classroom:
The first computer/lab classroom was installed in June of 1980 at Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA. It included 7 Apple ][ computers sharing a 5 Megabyte Hard Disk. AIR, the installation cost $25,000.
Sorry, PLATO systems were around in the 70s (started in the 60s) and the first computer assisted learning labs I was aware of was from Stanford in the 60s (installed in california elementary schools). My dad was a professor in educational technology and there was a picture of me in front of an IBM terminal with a light pen around pre-school age. That would be late 60s. LOGO is also from the 60s/70s.
I also remember playing Empire and Airfight on a PLATO system sometime in the 70s. When I went to elementary school in the 70s we had a computer lab of some 5-6 IBM terminals for math drills.
Yes! A lot of what you say is true! Especially introduction of computers in the classroom:
The first computer/lab classroom was installed in June of 1980 at Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA. It included 7 Apple
[ computers sharing a 5 Megabyte Hard Disk. AIR, the installation cost $25,000.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
Sorry, PLATO systems were around in the 70s (started in the 60s) and the first computer assisted learning labs I was aware of was from Stanford in the 60s (installed in california elementary schools). My dad was a professor in educational technology and there was a picture of me in front of an IBM terminal with a light pen around pre-school age. That would be late 60s. LOGO is also from the 60s/70s.
I also remember playing Empire and Airfight on a PLATO system sometime in the 70s. When I went to elementary school in the 70s we had a computer lab of some 5-6 IBM terminals for math drills.
Sure there were other experimental computer labs by many mainframe and mini computer manufacturers and higher educational institutions like Stanford. But these were controlled experiments.
The June 1980 Saratoga High School installation was unique in several ways:
-- it was spearheaded by Marion Kenworthy, Vice Principle
-- it was an actual, running, classroom, not an experiment
-- it was practical from a financial and educational standpoint
-- it was staffed by the High School
-- it was comprised of new, but available (retail) components
-- it was purchased and supported entirely by the High School *
-- it ran successfully, for many years
* I suspect that the fact that the daughter of Gene Carter (Apple VP of Marketing) went to Saratoga High School, as did mine, contributed to the support they got from Apple and my company (Computer Plus, Inc.) who sold, installed and supported the installation.
I worked for IBM 1964-1980. The 1960's era IBM terminal you spoke of was. likely, an IBM 2250:
AIR, The Saratoga HS computer lab classroom was purchased and installed with a total budget of $25,000.
While, as you say, computer labs/classrooms were, prototyped in the 1960-1970 timeframe-- it was not practical financially or logistically to implement until 1980.
Sure there were other experimental computer labs by many mainframe and mini computer manufacturers and higher educational institutions like Stanford. But these were controlled experiments.
No, there were many CAI programs in schools because of federal funding under a 1965 elementary and secondary education act. In Montgomery County MD they had a pilot program from 1969 to 1972 at three schools (1 ES, 1 MS, 1 HS) which lead to a pilot for a locally funded CAI program called OWN which was then rolled out to 9 schools in the 75-76 time frame.
By the time I hit high school in 1980 there was a computer class at my high school with complete computer lab (card punches and 1-2 CRT terminals) and they taught COBOL. The class had been going on long enough that they were beginning to retire equipment including this ancient card sorter with IBM CRTs.
These were actual classroom activities run by teachers who were trained to develop CAI curriculum and staffed by school system employees.
Googling for Satatoga High School Apple Computer Lab returns no hits.
Googling for apple and education returns notes that Apple I computers were donated to schools in 1975.
While, as you say, computer labs/classrooms were, prototyped in the 1960-1970 timeframe-- it was not practical financially or logistically to implement until 1980.
Given I attended K-12 schools with a computer lab in that 70s timeframe staffed by regular school teachers I would disagree. At least for a relatively rich county like Montgomery.
And there is no google evidence (including my quick search of ACM and IEEE) to support your assertion that the Saratoga HS is the first of its kind. A single lab in a single HS is no more or less an experiment/pilot than a multi-school/multi-year project across an entire county.
MCSP funded their own CAI programs after that Title III money ran dry and I'm sure other school systems did as well. These evolved into the microprocessor based labs in the 80s for these school systems.
What you are describing, whilst cool, is really the benefit of introducing computers to the classroom rather than specifically the iPad. I love my iPad and often type quick emails and other messages on it, but if I was typing something longer liked an essay for school I'd prefer a proper keyboard. Schools are probably better off providing laptops instead of iPads.
I partially agree. But only with the part about needing a keyboard
I use a bluetooth keyboard with the ipad for longer "extended" typing sessions. It's actually a really great combo when needed. It gets the virtual keyboard off the screen, resulting in more real estate to work with, and allows a bit easier selection/cursor positioning... and fast touch-typing is the way to go with longer documents. Best of both worlds...
I'd say get them the keyboards for an extra $50 or so (or less with EDU discount) instead of a full computer that requires huge additional cost and resource to "lock down" and other wise configure/maintain...
One of the little-mentioned differences between netbooks/computers and iPads is... solid state. No moving parts in an iPad. Less chance of something going wrong. And, have you ever tried to get a netbook serviced? Yeah.......
Comments
Only tech types refuse to see this coming. That's the problem with sites like this. We represent a minuscule minority who tries to apply our view of the tech world to the mass market. So yes, it is entirely possible that mobile os devices will have a major impact on the sale of traditional computing systems, including PCs, Macs, Laptops, and Netbooks.
A very intelligent post .... congrats!
Yeah, who'll be the first to thumb-type his doctoral thesis on a cell phone-- 10,000 twitters.
Yeah, who'll be the first to thumb-type his doctoral thesis on a cell phone-- 10,000 twitters.
.
4.5 characters per word, plus 1 character for the space equals 5.5. I’ll round to 7 for punctuation, which will include a lot of hyphens so you can use all 140 characters per tweet, and to keep the math simpler. That is 20 words per tweet.
Yahoo Answers states the average PhD thesis is 60k to 80k words. That would 3,000 to 4,000 tweets. 10k tweets would be a 200k word thesis. With an average 300 words per page (if going old school [and current school]) that is 667 pages.
Always exaggerating, Dick.
A masochist........
Speaking of masochistic. I just took a break from math to read some posts which resulted in me doing pointless math.
Speaking of masochistic. I just took a break from math to read some posts which resulted in me doing pointless math.
Don't forget pointless web searches and pointless responses
.
Don't forget pointless web searches and pointless responses
.
Touché!
Yes! A lot of what you say is true! Especially introduction of computers in the classroom:
The first computer/lab classroom was installed in June of 1980 at Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA. It included 7 Apple ][ computers sharing a 5 Megabyte Hard Disk. AIR, the installation cost $25,000.
Sorry, PLATO systems were around in the 70s (started in the 60s) and the first computer assisted learning labs I was aware of was from Stanford in the 60s (installed in california elementary schools). My dad was a professor in educational technology and there was a picture of me in front of an IBM terminal with a light pen around pre-school age. That would be late 60s. LOGO is also from the 60s/70s.
I also remember playing Empire and Airfight on a PLATO system sometime in the 70s. When I went to elementary school in the 70s we had a computer lab of some 5-6 IBM terminals for math drills.
Man, PLATO was so cool.
Empire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMPC1...layer_embedded
LOGO
https://logothings.wikispaces.com/
Yes! A lot of what you say is true! Especially introduction of computers in the classroom:
The first computer/lab classroom was installed in June of 1980 at Saratoga High School Saratoga, CA. It included 7 Apple
[ computers sharing a 5 Megabyte Hard Disk. AIR, the installation cost $25,000.
Sorry, PLATO systems were around in the 70s (started in the 60s) and the first computer assisted learning labs I was aware of was from Stanford in the 60s (installed in california elementary schools). My dad was a professor in educational technology and there was a picture of me in front of an IBM terminal with a light pen around pre-school age. That would be late 60s. LOGO is also from the 60s/70s.
I also remember playing Empire and Airfight on a PLATO system sometime in the 70s. When I went to elementary school in the 70s we had a computer lab of some 5-6 IBM terminals for math drills.
Man, PLATO was so cool.
Empire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMPC1...layer_embedded
LOGO
https://logothings.wikispaces.com/
Ah... I should have been more specific.
Sure there were other experimental computer labs by many mainframe and mini computer manufacturers and higher educational institutions like Stanford. But these were controlled experiments.
The June 1980 Saratoga High School installation was unique in several ways:
-- it was spearheaded by Marion Kenworthy, Vice Principle
-- it was an actual, running, classroom, not an experiment
-- it was practical from a financial and educational standpoint
-- it was staffed by the High School
-- it was comprised of new, but available (retail) components
-- it was purchased and supported entirely by the High School *
-- it ran successfully, for many years
* I suspect that the fact that the daughter of Gene Carter (Apple VP of Marketing) went to Saratoga High School, as did mine, contributed to the support they got from Apple and my company (Computer Plus, Inc.) who sold, installed and supported the installation.
I worked for IBM 1964-1980. The 1960's era IBM terminal you spoke of was. likely, an IBM 2250:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_2250
http://www.ibm1130.net/functional/DisplayUnit.html
In those days, IBM rented their equipment-- I'd estimate that the costs were:
-- $2,000 / mo - IBM 2250 Terminal and Control Unit
-- $10,000 / mo - IBM Computer to support the system (IBM/360, IBM/1130, etc)
-- $300 / mo - Electrical Power and HVAC for required controlled environment
-- $20,000 - 1-time installation costs (wiring, raised floor, HVAC, etc.)
AIR, The Saratoga HS computer lab classroom was purchased and installed with a total budget of $25,000.
While, as you say, computer labs/classrooms were, prototyped in the 1960-1970 timeframe-- it was not practical financially or logistically to implement until 1980.
!980 brought readily available, reasonably priced/installed/supported:
-- microcomputers (personal computers)
-- Hard Disk drives for microcomputers
-- LANs for microcomputers
BTW, the Apple ][ ran Logo and also supported a light pen -- including Color Graphics:
http://home.total.net/~hrothgar/museum/SMCII/index.html
.
Ah... I should have been more specific.
Sure there were other experimental computer labs by many mainframe and mini computer manufacturers and higher educational institutions like Stanford. But these were controlled experiments.
No, there were many CAI programs in schools because of federal funding under a 1965 elementary and secondary education act. In Montgomery County MD they had a pilot program from 1969 to 1972 at three schools (1 ES, 1 MS, 1 HS) which lead to a pilot for a locally funded CAI program called OWN which was then rolled out to 9 schools in the 75-76 time frame.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED066876.pdf
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED139655.pdf
By the time I hit high school in 1980 there was a computer class at my high school with complete computer lab (card punches and 1-2 CRT terminals) and they taught COBOL. The class had been going on long enough that they were beginning to retire equipment including this ancient card sorter with IBM CRTs.
These were actual classroom activities run by teachers who were trained to develop CAI curriculum and staffed by school system employees.
Googling for Satatoga High School Apple Computer Lab returns no hits.
Googling for apple and education returns notes that Apple I computers were donated to schools in 1975.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5491373_hi...rs-school.html
While, as you say, computer labs/classrooms were, prototyped in the 1960-1970 timeframe-- it was not practical financially or logistically to implement until 1980.
Given I attended K-12 schools with a computer lab in that 70s timeframe staffed by regular school teachers I would disagree. At least for a relatively rich county like Montgomery.
And there is no google evidence (including my quick search of ACM and IEEE) to support your assertion that the Saratoga HS is the first of its kind. A single lab in a single HS is no more or less an experiment/pilot than a multi-school/multi-year project across an entire county.
MCSP funded their own CAI programs after that Title III money ran dry and I'm sure other school systems did as well. These evolved into the microprocessor based labs in the 80s for these school systems.
What you are describing, whilst cool, is really the benefit of introducing computers to the classroom rather than specifically the iPad. I love my iPad and often type quick emails and other messages on it, but if I was typing something longer liked an essay for school I'd prefer a proper keyboard. Schools are probably better off providing laptops instead of iPads.
I partially agree. But only with the part about needing a keyboard
I use a bluetooth keyboard with the ipad for longer "extended" typing sessions. It's actually a really great combo when needed. It gets the virtual keyboard off the screen, resulting in more real estate to work with, and allows a bit easier selection/cursor positioning... and fast touch-typing is the way to go with longer documents. Best of both worlds...
I'd say get them the keyboards for an extra $50 or so (or less with EDU discount) instead of a full computer that requires huge additional cost and resource to "lock down" and other wise configure/maintain...
One of the little-mentioned differences between netbooks/computers and iPads is... solid state. No moving parts in an iPad. Less chance of something going wrong. And, have you ever tried to get a netbook serviced? Yeah.......