An intriguing prospect for Apple's future.
The question keeps coming up, "What is Apple going to do with their $20bil cash reserve?" I believe an excellent avenue for this company to pursue would be the education industry. Apple's mission statement reads: "Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings." Although Apple has been extremely successful at bringnig the best personal computing experience to creative professionals, it hasn't been as successful with their aim at students and educators.
It has already been well noted that Apple is planning on replacing the keyboard and mouse with a multitouch input device. A great addition to Apple's already stellar application lineup would be something aimed at the college market for the US.
The question keeps coming to me, why haven't computers become the dominant medium for reading and taking notes in an academic environment? Why do we have five books a
semester that collectively weigh enough to give us a hernia, and yet the entire World Wide Web in our pocket on the iPhone? The answer to this question comes down to the characters on the existing keyboards we now use. How can a student take notes for calculus class when there's no such thing as an "integral" key? How can a physics major solve a simple vector addition problem step by step without any Greek symbols? What will change this? Apple's new input device. It is well known that touch devices are the future of input devices due to their ability to change, rearrange and omit keys that are not needed. The solution to this age old problem will give way to the implementation of computers in everyday acedemia. Each keyboard configuration would be specific to the subject and application to which it pertained. For math classes, your keyboard would take on many of the same characters of a scientific calculator. A similar situation would be true for science classes with various symbols. And symbols that are repeated in different subjects would be assigned the same placement on the device to make the process as intuitive as possible.
\t
Think of the possibilities. The ultimate integration of the learning experience. The software on the computer would be a combination of the lecture material, homework problems and text book reading, all integrated neatly into one. I envision a future where Apple holds the licensing rights to all sorts of education material. The sample problems that are given in class could be polled to find the results of the class, bettering the professors attempts at reviewing the concepts the class finds to be the most difficult. The homework could be graded instantly just as Maple 10 solves complex differential equations. Think about something like reading through the text combined with "core-animation". You swipe your finger across the input device as if you were flipping the page, and the proper visual effect appears on the screen.
There are over 15 million students attending college in the United States alone. Thats a huge market. In addition to the presence that Apple is already obtaining in higher education with the iPhone and iPod touch, this new computer would integrate the learning experience in a very organic manor.
With Apple's $20 billon in cash reserve, I think they should contemplate making a laptop that can embrace this vision. Some things that would need to be considered are: haptic feedback on their mulitouch input devices, a computer screen that offers low strain on the eyes (something similar to the kindle), licensing agreements and or buying out a textbook company.
Since its inception, Apple has defined the personal computer industry, rearranged the music industry and redefined the mobile phone industry. With its billions in cash reserve and its budding acceptance into higher education with the iPhone, I believe Apple is in a great position to shake the education industry to the core with its new offerings.
It has already been well noted that Apple is planning on replacing the keyboard and mouse with a multitouch input device. A great addition to Apple's already stellar application lineup would be something aimed at the college market for the US.
The question keeps coming to me, why haven't computers become the dominant medium for reading and taking notes in an academic environment? Why do we have five books a
semester that collectively weigh enough to give us a hernia, and yet the entire World Wide Web in our pocket on the iPhone? The answer to this question comes down to the characters on the existing keyboards we now use. How can a student take notes for calculus class when there's no such thing as an "integral" key? How can a physics major solve a simple vector addition problem step by step without any Greek symbols? What will change this? Apple's new input device. It is well known that touch devices are the future of input devices due to their ability to change, rearrange and omit keys that are not needed. The solution to this age old problem will give way to the implementation of computers in everyday acedemia. Each keyboard configuration would be specific to the subject and application to which it pertained. For math classes, your keyboard would take on many of the same characters of a scientific calculator. A similar situation would be true for science classes with various symbols. And symbols that are repeated in different subjects would be assigned the same placement on the device to make the process as intuitive as possible.
\t
Think of the possibilities. The ultimate integration of the learning experience. The software on the computer would be a combination of the lecture material, homework problems and text book reading, all integrated neatly into one. I envision a future where Apple holds the licensing rights to all sorts of education material. The sample problems that are given in class could be polled to find the results of the class, bettering the professors attempts at reviewing the concepts the class finds to be the most difficult. The homework could be graded instantly just as Maple 10 solves complex differential equations. Think about something like reading through the text combined with "core-animation". You swipe your finger across the input device as if you were flipping the page, and the proper visual effect appears on the screen.
There are over 15 million students attending college in the United States alone. Thats a huge market. In addition to the presence that Apple is already obtaining in higher education with the iPhone and iPod touch, this new computer would integrate the learning experience in a very organic manor.
With Apple's $20 billon in cash reserve, I think they should contemplate making a laptop that can embrace this vision. Some things that would need to be considered are: haptic feedback on their mulitouch input devices, a computer screen that offers low strain on the eyes (something similar to the kindle), licensing agreements and or buying out a textbook company.
Since its inception, Apple has defined the personal computer industry, rearranged the music industry and redefined the mobile phone industry. With its billions in cash reserve and its budding acceptance into higher education with the iPhone, I believe Apple is in a great position to shake the education industry to the core with its new offerings.
Comments
Contextual keyboards would be great! I would appreciate some leadership by Apple in regards to
education.
The question keeps coming up, "What is Apple going to do with their $20bil cash reserve?" I believe an excellent avenue for this company to pursue would be the education industry. Apple's mission statement reads: "Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings." Although Apple has been extremely successful at bringnig the best personal computing experience to creative professionals, it hasn't been as successful with their aim at students and educators.
It has already been well noted that Apple is planning on replacing the keyboard and mouse with a multitouch input device. A great edition to Apple's already stellar application lineup would be something aimed at the college market for the US.
The question keeps coming to me, why haven't computers become the dominant medium for reading and taking notes in an academic environment? Why do we have five books a
semester that collectively weigh enough to give us a hernia, and yet the entire World Wide Web in our pocket on the iPhone? The answer to this question comes down to the characters on the existing keyboards we now use. How can a student take notes for calculus class when there's no such thing as an "integral" key? How can a physics major solve a simple vector addition problem step by step without any Greek symbols? What will change this? Apple's new input device. It is well known that touch devices are the future of input devices due to their ability to change, rearrange and omit keys that are not needed. The solution to this age old problem will give way to the implementation of computers in everyday acedemia. Each keyboard configuration would be specific to the subject and application to which it pertained. For math classes, your keyboard would take on many of the same characters of a scientific calculator. A similar situation would be true for science classes with various symbols. And symbols that are repeated in different subjects would be assigned the same placement on the device to make the process as intuitive as possible.
\t
Think of the possibilities. The ultimate integration of the learning experience. The software on the computer would be a combination of the lecture material, homework problems and text book reading, all integrated neatly into one. I envision a future where Apple holds the licensing rights to all sorts of education material. The sample problems that are given in class could be polled to find the results of the class, bettering the professors attempts at reviewing the concepts the class finds to be the most difficult. The homework could be graded instantly just as Maple 10 solves complex differential equations. Think about something like reading through the text combined with "core-animation". You swipe your finger across the input device as if you were flipping the page, and the proper visual effect appears on the screen.
There are over 15 million students attending college in the United States alone. Thats a huge market. In addition to the presence that Apple is already obtaining in higher education with the iPhone and iPod touch, this new computer would integrate the learning experience in a very organic manor.
With Apple's $20 billon in cash reserve, I think they should contemplate making a laptop that can embrace this vision. Some things that would need to be considered are: haptic feedback on their mulitouch input devices, a computer screen that offers low strain on the eyes (something similar to the kindle), licensing agreements and or buying out a textbook company.
Since its inception, Apple has defined the personal computer industry, rearranged the music industry and redefined the mobile phone industry. With its billions in cash reserve and its budding acceptance into higher education with the iPhone, I believe Apple is in a great position to shake the education industry to the core with its new offerings.
*************************************************
Hi,
I teach math in a Middle School in Los angeles Unified School District.
Many teachers are fed-up with the hassles of using the notebook carts and just stop using them, in spite of administrative efforts to promote the "use of technology" by students.
It is common for a whole period to go by while the cart arrives, the tangle of cords is wrestled to submission, the inadequately charged units are set aside, the kids' passwords are re-re-re-re-assigned, the log-on ritual is accomplished, etc. etc. and then the whole process repeated after only 5 to 10 minutes of actual use.
PROBLEM 1 : By far, the biggest impediment to using Apple's notebook carts, in the classroom, is the tangled octopus of chargers and cables. It eats up huge gobs of class time TWICE per period.
SUGGESTION 1 : Build a charging pad into the back of each notebook so that, by simply sliding each notebook into its individual compartment, a "connection" will be made with an inductive charger.
MY TOOTH BRUSH HAS AN INDUCTIVE CHARGER.
Also, use one central charging box for the whole cart.
--------
PROBLEM 2 : The cart itself is flimsy and won't make it up the two steps into my classroom.
SUGGESTION 2 : Beef-up the cart, bigger wheels, detachable ramp rails for access to elevated doorways, better bar-handle for pushing, and another for pulling; more secure locking system.
Also, it needs a long, self-reeling and surge-protected, heavy-duty power cord : this is NOT a consumer-home-use product .... THINK : COMBAT SPECS.
--------
PROBLEM 3 : What a hassle it is to document usage of the cart !!!
The forms, schedules ( 4-track school with block scheduling ) student ID's, log-on, software used by students, California Standards Addressed, seating charts, rosters, etc. simply make me want to forget the whole thing... which is what I do. Most teacher don't want the carts any more.
SUGGESTION 3 : An application is needed for documentation of cart usage. I ought to be able to enter my ID, schedule of classes, and student rosters (downloadable and updated automatically from the ISIS system) ONCE, at the start of the school semester and have the app' transparently check the date and time, via wi-fi , to determine which class is using it, software the students are using, CA STANDARDS addressed, their identity, duration of use, etc.
The cart ought to include a wi-fi base and each notebook ought to turn on automatically and ask only for the student password. It ought to save files automatically, log-out and shut down with a warning timer on-screen, at the end of the period, so that students need only return the unit to its compartment at the end of the lesson.
There are many other app' features I could suggest, but these are just a minimal set that one might expect if one were taken seriously by Apple ( the way the business sector is taken by iPhone developers ).
I would love to develop the app' myself, but I have over 150 little angels to teach, test, grade, document, etc. I teach for a living.
--------- SNARKY MISSIVE SECTION ----------------------
When we note how Apple bends over backwards to facilitate the business community with apps , I/O, etc. , it is clear that the EDUCATION effort is perfunctory at best. We are really getting short-changed as with everything else : pencils that won't write, erasers that smudge, scissors that won't cut, chalk that scratches, markers that are dry out of the box, rulers that snap, paper without holes, walls that are too thin, furniture that won't last, spit-balls that won't fly straight, etc.
The notebook carts are little more than a thoughtlessly thrown together after-thought with little if any customization and no apparent consultation with ... (imagine this)... THE CLASSROOM TEACHER ( What would those losers know -- eh ? ).
Since the schools are not likely to get more money to replace broken carts, notebooks, chargers ports, etc. what might happen, as these carts are damaged and teachers fed up with the hassles , is that Apple will lose the contracts. That would be a crime -- Apple is still the best hope we have.
I agree with gooddog. Inductive charging dock in each desk or up at the top of the class would solve a lot of the mess. And if a student forgets to charge their Mac touch, they are given a notebook and pen/pencil while it charges. Thus eliminating all those needless books.
With a bit of clever remote desktop technology the teacher could drag a folder into a drop box on their main computer and it would end up on all the students Mac touch desktops. "There's a test on your desktops kids, get on it."
As for books, the school could buy a classroom license for said book, and when the students bring in the money for the book they can use it. The pay a fee which covers their share of a license for a year or two worth of use for all these books and a lot of crap is solved overnight.
I don't personally think computers are the answer for educating children. The best education to me seems to come from understand how structure works regardless of whether you are doing Language or Mathematics.
I would rather not have an Electronic Crutch giving to my child. The Phoenicians didn't need computers...neither will he.
Apple tried to get into school with the PowerSchool acquisition and them subsequently bailed.
I don't personally think computers are the answer for educating children. The best education to me seems to come from understand how structure works regardless of whether you are doing Language or Mathematics.
I would rather not have an Electronic Crutch giving to my child. The Phoenicians didn't need computers...neither will he.
Sadly you won't be able to avoid this. It's simply a a matter of time. And just because the kids don't have all these physical "subject" books. Doesn't mean the kids won't still use a pen and copy in some classes, or continue to study the arts. Breaking your child's back for the sake of an education is surely not the solution.
I teach math in a Middle School in Los angeles Unified School District.
Many teachers are fed-up with the hassles of using the notebook carts and just stop using them, in spite of administrative efforts to promote the "use of technology" by students.
Gooddog, having recently come up through middle school and high school I agree with your points on using computers in the k-12 education setting. I do think that a lot of IT departments have over complicated this, but this wasn't really what I was talking about.
Apple has a lot of interest from top level colleges in the country with regards to the iPhone. I'm talking about implementing something within private universities. Starting at the top and moving down. The state education systems don't really have the money to support such a radical transformation. However, if you look at some of the top colleges in the country, they're all about progressing into the future.
At the college that I attend (Clarkson University), the professors carry only a laptop around with them. The overhead is already installed in the classroom and all the profs need to do is plug in the video. They've got it down to a very simple process. Once computers have become a more integrated medium for education (like what I mentioned in the first post) then I believe steps could be taken to bring this down to the public high school/ middle school level. But I my post was mainly in regards to collegiate level education.
Also, as a side note. Battery life won't be as much of a concern for college classes seeing as how many students only have class a total of 3 hours a day (15 credit hours a week / 5).
Apple tried to get into school with the PowerSchool acquisition and them subsequently bailed.
I don't personally think computers are the answer for educating children. The best education to me seems to come from understand how structure works regardless of whether you are doing Language or Mathematics.
I would rather not have an Electronic Crutch giving to my child. The Phoenicians didn't need computers...neither will he.
-----------------
The "use of technology" bumper sticker was suspect when I first heard it and has proven to be a real pain in the ass, now that I have dealt with it for several years. It is almost entirely empty of content and useful only to politicians. We have had big-name, private sector companies foist too many "instructional" software PROGRAMS on us. For, we must always have PROGRAMS and SYSTEMS with "expert teachers-of-teachers-teaching-teachers-to-teach" who are mostly classroom escapees who couldn't stand the heat - couldn't teach the kids; citing hundreds of thousands of double-blind, 50-year tracked studies with charts, graphs, aerial photography with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one , to prove that their SYSTEM was a stunning success in some other state ... BAH !
IT'S BULL CRAP.
One company had not coded the interactive use of fractions into their CAI app' and tried, instead, to tell us that this was a "feature" because the only correct implementation of a slope is the UNIT SLOPE. He never saw a sign at the grocery store that read, "3 apples / 97 cents".
These "private sector" wizards are almost entirely parasitic on the teachers and, consequently, on the REAL enterprise : teaching the kids math ( not -- making a profit for Teachers-of-Teachers-Teaching-Teachers-To-Teach Inc. ... "T6" for short ).
Teaching is a prime example of HUMAN COMMUNICATION. The one thing where the current generation of computers truly sucks.
While MY use of a 12" G4 Power Mac and projector with WACOM graphic tablet and Appleworks is a HUGE benefit to me and to my students (class time saved, quality of presentations, multi-media, etc.) , I can not say this carries over to THEIR use of laptops in the classroom. The CONTENT of ALL programs I have seen is not sufficiently to-the-point when explaining mathematical concepts and skills to frightened and disinterested students. I can do far better with a verbal/Appleworks, on-screen presentation and practice session. Automated learning is canned, horribly ponderous, and students are always given an "escape" route by way of a question mark button that gives successively more explicit "hints" each time the kid clicks on it. So, they just sit there chatting, while clicking on the question mark repeatedly, until the program tells them " PUT 3 IN THE BOX" . These companies don't have much on the shelf and yet have the nerve to pitch their products to District classroom escapees who then mandate them on the classroom teacher or pressure them to use them. Only a few, simple programs have been useful to me and then only in a tutoring-after-school setting : Times Tables Asteroids is huge fun and it gives them lots of practice in a circumscribed skill.
Then, when it comes to those things about technology that students ought to be learning, like basic computer architecture, programming, internet use, hygiene, ethics, web-based research, etc. ..... WHERE IS IT ? And, more depressingly, will code-pounding be out-sourced by the "private sector" and turned into another minimum-wage career ?
By carefully ignoring whatever the CLASSROOM TEACHERS may have to say on the matter, the educational "village" has managed to squander countless millions, nation-wide , on poorly conceived , poorly planned, "technology promotions" . Corporations are largely parasitical on the enterprise of schools and the limited set of applications where computers might be truly useful is being ignored in favor of grand schemes involving fictitious children who are said to be mutants of the information age and incapable of using a mind and a pencil. They are learning more about computer use when they crack their parents' browser lock to surf the putrid porn and when they sit in class, texting their friends under the desk, than when clicking the question mark button in a CAI program.
Our schools are infested with parasitic pundits ("PP" for short), and T6
scam artists.
The kids are still cute as a button though.
Just please, expurgate the T6 and PP 's from our classrooms: we are kinda busy, you know.
I couldn't agree more. Teaching is "all" about the Human interaction. I had Teachers in High School i'd walk across broken glass for. The just empowered me to learn and care through their passion for Teaching.
My son enters 1st grade this year and I hope he doesn't touch a computer for two more years. He needs to learn social interaction first before delving into computing which offers nothing in the form of learning non-verbal communication skills.
I don't like to piss on the parade of those that want computers to revolutionize schooling but right now our Districts need help. Not necessarily funding help but engagement from parents and community to bootstrap these upcoming generations and get them focused on the big picture.
Gooddog, having recently come up through middle school and high school I agree with your points on using computers in the k-12 education setting. I do think that a lot of IT departments have over complicated this, but this wasn't really what I was talking about.
Apple has a lot of interest from top level colleges in the country with regards to the iPhone. I'm talking about implementing something within private universities. Starting at the top and moving down. The state education systems don't really have the money to support such a radical transformation. However, if you look at some of the top colleges in the country, they're all about progressing into the future.
At the college that I attend (Clarkson University), the professors carry only a laptop around with them. The overhead is already installed in the classroom and all the profs need to do is plug in the video. They've got it down to a very simple process. Once computers have become a more integrated medium for education (like what I mentioned in the first post) then I believe steps could be taken to bring this down to the public high school/ middle school level. But I my post was mainly in regards to collegiate level education.
Also, as a side note. Battery life won't be as much of a concern for college classes seeing as how many students only have class a total of 3 hours a day (15 credit hours a week / 5).
******************************
I have taught college physics and I know the heavenly luxury of pre-installed projectors and basic respect for persons and property.
In my situation, I must accomplish the same efficiency by designing and building my own self-contained , rolling, lockable utility cart ( no larger than a wheeled luggage case ) to push around with me when my school adopts a traditional calendar and the resulting overcrowding forces some of us to "travel" or "float" from room to room, each period, six times daily. I am now doing this design and build-it-yourself work in anticipation of the coming calamity: just part of the job. It will fold out instantly to deploy the projector, voltage-regulated APC surge protector, cord, Powerbook, JBL On Stage II doughnut speaker, WACOM tablet, Canon digital camera with copy stand, 6 student-work shelves, laser pointer, emergency chalk box, and aspirin dispenser. It's going to be a real beauty -- I'll post pics when it's done, this summer.
I don't think anything other than pee will ever trickle down to the public schools: just by sheer force of tradition.
Still, the vast majority of after-school meetings could be replaced easily by a LAN wi-fi network with PA2 security that will update every teacher's laptop with an iCal schedule of tests, activities, documents due, etc. thereby eliminating the weekly parade of administrators that present themselves before our faculty, each with their very own list of more distractions from our teaching that we must engage in ASAP.
That was all one sentence ! Are you impressed ? It's a gift
************
I am concerned about the gradual supplanting of paper books with digital files in a political environment that seems to be accelerating toward fascism. It will be a lot easier and far less shocking to the senses for a repressive regime to wipe or otherwise deny access to digital files and the reader hardware these require than it has been to burn books and board up libraries.
I don't personally think computers are the answer for educating children. The best education to me seems to come from understand how structure works regardless of whether you are doing Language or Mathematics.
Then books aren't the answer for educating children, either. Nor the overhead projector, nor the chalkboard, nor pen and paper.
If you make interactive media copy a book exactly, then it's as good as a book. But it can, obviously, be much more than that. You can link directly to glossaries, applied examples and problems without cutting the flow of text. Also to lower and higher levels of the same subject. As an example, you can have a physics problem intended to be solved with canned equations link to a higher-level explanation of the same problem solved by deriving the needed equations with differential math. Add the possibility for the student to track their own progress, take tests of any scope they want anytime they like, and the possibilities go through the roof.
I also see no reason why students, parents and schools should continue paying year after year for the same material shuffled around a little bit with a new cover, while the old books head for the landfill. Most subjects do not change rapidly at all. Once computers of sufficient form factor, specs and price are ubiquitous enough to replace books in education, textbooks under Creative Commons and similar licences are likely to eat away a lot of the old ones' market. You'll certainly still be able to make a better book, but shuffling some old material and a little bit of lobbying won't cut it. Most likely the old writers and publishers will seek to compete and improve in ways that are difficult to immediately replicate in the open textbooks, such as interactive problem solving. I foresee great things coming out of this.
The answer to this question comes down to the characters on the existing keyboards we now use. How can a student take notes for calculus class when there's no such thing as an "integral" key? How can a physics major solve a simple vector addition problem step by step without any Greek symbols? What will change this? Apple's new input device. It is well known that touch devices are the future of input devices due to their ability to change, rearrange and omit keys that are not needed. The solution to this age old problem will give way to the implementation of computers in everyday acedemia. Each keyboard configuration would be specific to the subject and application to which it pertained. For math classes, your keyboard would take on many of the same characters of a scientific calculator. A similar situation would be true for science classes with various symbols. And symbols that are repeated in different subjects would be assigned the same placement on the device to make the process as intuitive as possible.
\t
Think of the possibilities. The ultimate integration of the learning experience. The software on the computer would be a combination of the lecture material, homework problems and text book reading, all integrated neatly into one. I envision a future where Apple holds the licensing rights to all sorts of education material. The sample problems that are given in class could be polled to find the results of the class, bettering the professors attempts at reviewing the concepts the class finds to be the most difficult. The homework could be graded instantly just as Maple 10 solves complex differential equations. Think about something like reading through the text combined with "core-animation". You swipe your finger across the input device as if you were flipping the page, and the proper visual effect appears on the screen.
Sounds Great But here is the problem
for each subject unless you want to spend 10 seconds trying to find the right key, you have to learn a whole new keyboard technique, and having multiple classes, especially in high school, that means up to 8 new keyboard configurations... and if it takes most people years to master a regular qwerty keyboard, then learning 8 more in a matter of days so that you can take effective notes then kids are gonna have to learn stuff a hell of alot faster
Also... i really hope these touch keyboards have haptic feedback, because many people will abandon apple if they go all touch if there is no affermation that you are actually pressing down on the keys...
I don't want to sound like a anti touchscreen person because I love touch screens. I personally can't get enough of iPod Touch and iPhone, but there are many leaps and bounds apple has to make before going all touch laptops or tablets
..and having multiple classes, especially in high school, that means up to 8 new keyboard configurations... and if it takes most people years to master a regular qwerty keyboard, then learning 8 more in a matter of days so that you can take effective notes then kids are gonna have to learn stuff a hell of alot[SIC] faster
Also... i really hope these touch keyboards have haptic feedback, because many people will abandon apple if they go all touch if there is no affermation that you are actually pressing down on the keys...
I agree that the touch "keyboards" should have haptic feedback. I included that in my first post. Also, I don't believe a computer like this has any place in a high school setting (for a third time). One question though, where do you get the number 8 for "8 new keyboard configurations"?? History, English, Psychology, Economics ... etc etc. would all have a typical qwerty keyboard. Chemistry would have a separate one and the math and physics ones would be very similar. I suppose biology would have a separate one as well. Having studied engineering, it would all pretty much revolve around a physics/math based keyboard for that major. The same could be said for a lot of other majors as well. In fact, for many studies, the laptop wouldn't have to change from what it is now.... qwerty would work just fine. I see a possibility for 4, maybe 5 different keyboards with qwerty being the dominantly used one.
OneNote is actually decent as a note taker and I haven't used OneNote 2007 yet with better ink parsing.
@ vinea
styluz just haz 2 be implimented correctly
imagine this: your in high school, finished physics so you pack up your laptop, get to art, whip it out again, and start to draw... imagine the range you have in photoshop or another program like that... I, however, am not saying that pencil and paper will ever be replaced... as an artist I think that pencil and paper are too important.
I, however, am not saying that pencil and paper will ever be replaced... as an artist I think that pencil and paper are too important.
Sure, just like all the other mediums. Digital can't replace oils, pencil, etc.
But the Cintiq is rather nice...
Sure, just like all the other mediums. Digital can't replace oils, pencil, etc.
But the Cintiq is rather nice...
Is Cintiq by Wacom
I love Wacom
they probably make some of the best tablets ever...
If you have ever used a Modbook (for example at Macworld) You will realize how great Wacom's tablet stylus's are... instead of actual touch it works by using a RFID i believe
More images after the break:
http://www.apple-style.com/laborator...ir_080505.html
More images after the break:
Please don't do that. I have visions of Ryan Block's arrogant head when I see that.
Those images are sexy however.
I have a few issues with the design though, and its name. Firstly this will be the first Mac to have a multi-touch user interface, Steve will be shouting that fact from the rooftops. It will be called Mac touch. Simple, straight forward, descriptive name with "touch" and "Mac in it.
Secondly the whole keyboard thing, while cool, is not the way Apple will present the product. Steve might mention that you can hook up and wireless bluetooth keyboard, but only briefly I suspect. No, this will "has a great touch keyboard" have that. And the stand on the back, won't be a stand, but more of a rest, i.e. not 75º, but more like 20º or 16º for typing more effectively on the screen while by a flat surface, table, desk or plane try. It may have a home button like the image depicts.
As for the software, I don't think it will have rows of icons like there, but rather something more along the lines of multiple docks on the bottom (more Mac-like) which the user can swipe to view. Going with icons the size of the iPhone icons (which it will have) which are sized for fingers, you'd fit about 17-20 icons across the bottom of a dock on a 10"+ screen. Which is enough for anyone when you consider you'll have multiple docks. That and a desktop above it, and with a finger-sized menubar and you're getting a lot closer to the Mac touch I envision.
*************************************************
Hi,
I teach math in a Middle School in Los angeles Unified School District.
Many teachers are fed-up with the hassles of using the notebook carts and just stop using them, in spite of administrative efforts to promote the "use of technology" by students.
It is common for a whole period to go by while the cart arrives, the tangle of cords is wrestled to submission, the inadequately charged units are set aside, the kids' passwords are re-re-re-re-assigned, the log-on ritual is accomplished, etc. etc. and then the whole process repeated after only 5 to 10 minutes of actual use.
PROBLEM 1 : By far, the biggest impediment to using Apple's notebook carts, in the classroom, is the tangled octopus of chargers and cables. It eats up huge gobs of class time TWICE per period.
SUGGESTION 1 : Build a charging pad into the back of each notebook so that, by simply sliding each notebook into its individual compartment, a "connection" will be made with an inductive charger.
MY TOOTH BRUSH HAS AN INDUCTIVE CHARGER.
Also, use one central charging box for the whole cart.
--------
PROBLEM 2 : The cart itself is flimsy and won't make it up the two steps into my classroom.
SUGGESTION 2 : Beef-up the cart, bigger wheels, detachable ramp rails for access to elevated doorways, better bar-handle for pushing, and another for pulling; more secure locking system.
Also, it needs a long, self-reeling and surge-protected, heavy-duty power cord : this is NOT a consumer-home-use product .... THINK : COMBAT SPECS.
--------
PROBLEM 3 : What a hassle it is to document usage of the cart !!!
The forms, schedules ( 4-track school with block scheduling ) student ID's, log-on, software used by students, California Standards Addressed, seating charts, rosters, etc. simply make me want to forget the whole thing... which is what I do. Most teacher don't want the carts any more.
SUGGESTION 3 : An application is needed for documentation of cart usage. I ought to be able to enter my ID, schedule of classes, and student rosters (downloadable and updated automatically from the ISIS system) ONCE, at the start of the school semester and have the app' transparently check the date and time, via wi-fi , to determine which class is using it, software the students are using, CA STANDARDS addressed, their identity, duration of use, etc.
The cart ought to include a wi-fi base and each notebook ought to turn on automatically and ask only for the student password. It ought to save files automatically, log-out and shut down with a warning timer on-screen, at the end of the period, so that students need only return the unit to its compartment at the end of the lesson.
There are many other app' features I could suggest, but these are just a minimal set that one might expect if one were taken seriously by Apple ( the way the business sector is taken by iPhone developers ).
I would love to develop the app' myself, but I have over 150 little angels to teach, test, grade, document, etc. I teach for a living.
--------- SNARKY MISSIVE SECTION ----------------------
When we note how Apple bends over backwards to facilitate the business community with apps , I/O, etc. , it is clear that the EDUCATION effort is perfunctory at best. We are really getting short-changed as with everything else : pencils that won't write, erasers that smudge, scissors that won't cut, chalk that scratches, markers that are dry out of the box, rulers that snap, paper without holes, walls that are too thin, furniture that won't last, spit-balls that won't fly straight, etc.
The notebook carts are little more than a thoughtlessly thrown together after-thought with little if any customization and no apparent consultation with ... (imagine this)... THE CLASSROOM TEACHER ( What would those losers know -- eh ? ).
Since the schools are not likely to get more money to replace broken carts, notebooks, chargers ports, etc. what might happen, as these carts are damaged and teachers fed up with the hassles , is that Apple will lose the contracts. That would be a crime -- Apple is still the best hope we have.
(respectful silence)
And yet you keep fighting. Godbless you and your fellow teachers.
My daughter briefly attended the LAUSD. I got a glimpse of the regulatory requirements that you operate under.
I thought that Federal Civil Service was bad....
Hang in there.
V/R,
Aries 1B
Secondly the whole keyboard thing, while cool, is not the way Apple will present the product. Steve might mention that you can hook up and wireless bluetooth keyboard, but only briefly I suspect. ... And the stand on the back, won't be a stand, but more of a rest, i.e. not 75º, but more like 20º or 16º for typing more effectively on the screen while by a flat surface, table, desk or plane try. It may have a home button like the image depicts.
If it can't stand at 75º then it wont be very useful as a desktop and it would only be useful as a tablet. A small display coupled with an onscreen keyboard = no screen real-estate for actual information.
Every tablet I own has a dock or a rest to allow for the use of a keyboard and for the tablet to be a display in a vertical orientation. Only in the case where you do direct manipulation of the data without the keyboard (like when drawing or taking handwritten notes) do you want it in a 20º position.
But hey, you wouldn't know the actual practicalities of using tablets since you've never actually done so. I'd rather have a MacBook Air sized convertible. That would be a great improvement on both slates and convertibles that exist today. Current convertibles too heavy. Current slates too limited.
And honestly, even as a multi-touch developer I prefer the stylus when trying enter data. IMHO multi-touch is most useful in a gesture interface environment for manipulation and navigation where the stylus and keyboard superior for complex data input (i.e. more than just buttons and limited pulldowns).
Onscreen keyboards, even with Apple's enhancements, are poor replacements for a full sized keyboard. The lack of haptic response and the loss of screen real-estate is sub-optimal.