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I almost always prefer MacBook for productivity needs.

But in a class room setting, iPad Air + Pencil 2 + Magic Keyboard combo can be superior for taking notes. Rear camera for quickly taking pictures and Pencil for drawing diagrams and writing equations.
I'm a medical student and I concur. I've been using the iPad Pro and Pencil with Notability since I was in undergrad. I use my 12.9 iPad Pro now for just about everything. The addition of the Magic Keyboard has further enabled me to work mostly without my laptop. I did just buy the M1 MacBook Air because our exams are proctored using software that requires macOS and honestly, although it's not as flexible, I've really enjoyed the functionality, speed, battery life, keyboard, and its more portable than my iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard combo.
 
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Now do a study on how many of these student buy a laptop/desktop anyways and we’ll see how adequte iPadOS really is.
 
Let's see... student hauls around Apple Pencil and Keyboard in already overweight backpack.... First to get lost will be the Apple Pencil. The keyboard will need recharging -- as will the iPad Air. Okay, and when you add all that weight and cost together, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier on your back if your just had a MacBook Air?

I've just never understood all the add-ons to the iPad. In my opinion, the add-ons show exactly what's wrong and missing in the iPads... MacOS.

Overweight backpack? That's so Macbook.

An iPad replaces all your notebooks, and in most cases today, textbooks and photocopies. Not to mention your pens and highlighters...

Most of the hard sciences, math, finance and other business courses I took I would have loved an ipad. It's a huge leap forward.
 
I've yet to see a use for a liberal arts degree. My wife did a liberal arts degree at a top 5 university in the world and went back to college to get her M.D., she thinks they are useless. If it isn't STEM or law, then it's useless and a waste of money.
Well, as a guy with a very “practical” education (Engineering Bachelors and Finance MBA), I would hate to think of a world only populated by STEM and Law students.

My daughter graduated with a BA in International Relations and got a great job right out of school. She was making over $100K at 25 y.o., plus full benefits. Loved her job. She recently was admitted to the #1 graduate school for Public Health. She doesn’t see her undergraduate degree as useless.

There are plenty of STEM bachelors degrees that are marginally employable. For example, there are very limited opportunities for someone with just a BS in biology, geology, and meteorology. There are plenty of law students that graduate with a mountain of debt and can’t find a decent paying job unless they are from a top 10 school. By no means am I saying people should not study these subjects. I am just saying it is inaccurate to generalize that only STEM and Law are worthwhile fields of study.
 
Laptops dont work for everyone either and they are more expensive. Ive seen many folks getting on with their work using an iPad only. If you are going to spend thousands of dollars on an education they should at least get you started on an iPad.
People were fine with laptops even before tablets came in the picture. To use your quote, tablets don't work for everyone either.

And if you are comparing the iPad Pro and the M1 Air, the iPad Pro is more expensive :p
 
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Overweight backpack? That's so Macbook.

An iPad replaces all your notebooks, and in most cases today, textbooks and photocopies. Not to mention your pens and highlighters...
Ironically, iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard is heavier than the M1 MBA LOL
Most of the hard sciences, math, finance and other business courses I took I would have loved an ipad. It's a huge leap forward.
Uh oh, seems someone did not properly do their research or totally unaware of the working environments of the people in those field :p
 
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A MacBook Air is probably slightly awkward in class due to its size.
How can it be awkward when the iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard is almost the same size?

I will say it again. It looks like there are incentives to force the idea that iPads should be used when laptops are totally adequate :p
 
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Ironically, iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard is heavier than the M1 MBA LOL

Uh oh, seems someone did not properly do their research or totally unaware of the working environments of the people in those field :p
I was not describing the working environments, I was referring to the college environments. Don't blame me that these are different.
 
How can it be awkward when the iPad Pro + Magic Keyboard is almost the same size?

For starters, this is an Air, not a Pro. It's 10 inches, not 13.

And second, like I said, you'd leave out the keyboard when going to class.

I will say it again. It looks like there are incentives to force the idea that iPads should be used when laptops are totally adequate :p

I will say it again: your needs aren't everyone's needs.
 
Over 40 years ago, I went to a Cal State University. It was a heck of a bargain back then. Today, Tuition runs about $7K per year and Housing with meal plan runs about $13K (we are talking about California). Add books, fees and other expenses and you are looking at $25K per year. If you can get out in 4 years, which is problematic because of impacted programs at CSU, then the full cost is $100K. Many students are on some type of assistance, such as loans and grants, but the point is someone is covering the $100K....tax payer, student, parent, donor, etc..

I mention this to put the whole cost issue in some perspective. If CSU wants to give students iPads, that's fine. Personally, I think most students will buy laptops anyway and use their iPad as a secondary device and an additional screen. But, I would not pretend that buying iPads is somehow cheaper or more cost effective than buying laptops. There is almost no difference in cost between an iPad Air with accessories and a new MBA. The tiny difference is lost in the noise compared to the full cost of a college education.

My daughter is working on various papers for grad school. She needs to have multiple documents open and a large number of references and citations to track. She has to move swiftly and seamlessly between applications and documents. An iPad would be a disaster for this type of work.

IMHO, I think CSU should have bought the students laptops, and then let the students decide if they want to buy a secondary device like an iPad on their own dime.
 
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Someone is getting a nice kickback since this failed at the lower USD level but somehow passed at the higher CSU level. They're setting up these students that are about to enter the work force for failure. A laptop or even Chromebook would've been better but at least give them a choice.

1. A chromebook? Why not just install chrome on your ipad?
2. There are major advantages to students all having the same mobility equipment particularly for tech enabled classrooms and engagement tools
3. On failure, I'd say ipad pros are already the most popular mobility device for the executives in my circle so the device itself isn't limiting success. Also, generally, for specialized applications, most Universities will have labs with the appropriate hardware and software that students use anyway. Not to mention that many of those applications won't install on a mbp.

I actually think we're in a major transition, and a year or two away, from seeing how apple is really changing mobile computing.
 
3. On failure, I'd say ipad pros are already the most popular mobility device for the executives in my circle so the device itself isn't limiting success.
Yeah, because most students are executives /s
 
Yeah, because most students are executives /s

Yeah, not related to my argument. Though I suppose most executives were students... So learning set theory, another thing better on an ipad. : )
 
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Not even the same. Safari on iPadOS isn't a full desktop browser like on MacOS/Windows/Linux/ChromeOS.

Safari? Huh? So install chrome on the ipad. K-12 in my district all all using google cloud, which is hardware agnostic.
 
Safari? Huh? So install chrome on the ipad. K-12 in my district all all using google cloud, which is hardware agnostic.

If you're in K-12 then it's not expected that you're aware that other browsers on iPadOS/iOS are just reskinned Safari with the same limitations so a lot of web apps don't fully work or work at all.
 
As if tuition wasn't expensive enough. Those iPads aren't free and someone is paying for them.

I couldn't imagine the frustration at doing my engineering degree on an iPad. I guess it makes sense if you are there to do some useless liberal arts degree.

Meh, real engineers uses slide rules, HP 41 caluclaters and punch cards.

"reading, writing and researching in databases and over the internet" is much easier to do on a 27" monitor. Laptops work to a degree (better with a monitor). If one wants to teach students how to work/study inefficiently, the best way to do it is to give them a tablet.

Well, if you need a 27 inch monitor a laptop just becomes a mini; and yiu can put a big monitor on an iPad as well. Apple does need to up the multitasking game but that is an iPadOS limitation, not hardware.

Let's see... student hauls around Apple Pencil and Keyboard in already overweight backpack.... First to get lost will be the Apple Pencil. The keyboard will need recharging -- as will the iPad Air. Okay, and when you add all that weight and cost together, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier on your back if your just had a MacBook Air?

So ithe Air replaces a heavier laptop as well as books. Seems like it could be a plus to me.

I've just never understood all the add-ons to the iPad. In my opinion, the add-ons show exactly what's wrong and missing in the iPads... MacOS.

MacOS would be a step back for an iPad; unkess it is completely redesigned of touch operation; and a mouse isn't touch. A better solution is to keep iPadOS moving to gretaer capablity.

And as a result of California's awful propositions and poor planning, the state still manages to squeak by with the 5th largest economy in the world: US, China, Japan, Germany, California, India, ...

We're doomed! Again.

and has a huge surplus this year.

Lol… liberal arts arent useless. 🤦🏾‍♂️ It just doesn't have immediately noticeable business value. I’m saying this as an engineer

As an engineer, my take is engineers should take more liberal arts courses to deevlop a broader picture of hwo things work. Any smart engineer is goung to windup leaving typical engineering work and move into positions where a broader understanding of the world is much more valuable than being able to design a widget, and much more lucrative.

I've yet to see a use for a liberal arts degree. My wife did a liberal arts degree at a top 5 university in the world and went back to college to get her M.D., she thinks they are useless. If it isn't STEM or law, then it's useless and a waste of money.

Her liberal arts degree got her into med school. STEM degrees are not a panacea, unless you are in a very specific niche, otherwise it can very well be just a path to some low level coding job or no job at all. Even an MD is pretty much only useful if you go into a specialty since a GP can be repalced by an NP with no loss in teh quality of care, and cost less.

Well, as a guy with a very “practical” education (Engineering Bachelors and Finance MBA), I would hate to think of a world only populated by STEM and Law students.

Same here. After my MBA I have not worked as an engineer and do not regret the choice. Engineering gave me a way to look at problems, and the MBA the way to get solutions implemented.

My daughter graduated with a BA in International Relations and got a great job right out of school. She was making over $100K at 25 y.o., plus full benefits. Loved her job. She recently was admitted to the #1 graduate school for Public Health. She doesn’t see her undergraduate degree as useless.

A well rounded education can be quite useful. I think UChicago's core currilculm is a good way to develop well rounded graduates, whether they are liberal arts or technical majors.

There are plenty of STEM bachelors degrees that are marginally employable. For example, there are very limited opportunities for someone with just a BS in biology, geology, and meteorology. There are plenty of law students that graduate with a mountain of debt and can’t find a decent paying job unless they are from a top 10 school. By no means am I saying people should not study these subjects. I am just saying it is inaccurate to generalize that only STEM and Law are worthwhile fields of study.

Everyone sees STEM as a cure all when it isn't. Some fields are certainly high paying and in demand, but as you point out tehre are those that essentially are the first step to a PHD becasue jobs are hard to find.
 
That’s exactly Apples vision of the future!
Very true, but iPad OS is definitely not up to it in the present.

It all went downhill once people stopped using command line for everything. Kids today don’t even know how to compile Assembly.
Finally, someone who understands! ;)
Seriously, though, until Apple figures out how to make it possible to do technical/programming work on iPad, it's not a good idea unless the students are only going to be writing essays, emails and taking notes. Maybe that's the case, though, at that University.

Generally, though, giving everyone the same thing is not going to be a good fit for many.
 
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ally, someone who Generally, though, giving everyone the same thing is not going to be a good fit for many.

I suspect that they anticipate using the ipads for in class engagement - like quizzes, polls, slide sharing etc... so there may be some community benefits from the deploying a standard solution.
 
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you guys realize that this is an iPad Rental Program, right?

and NOT free iPads for incoming students but a loan program where you need to give them back the iPad at the last term.

the program is intended for those attending students from low income background, ie. aged-out foster kids with no income

besides, if an iPad or tablet isn't a good fit for the student's needs, these universities already have laptop rental programs. either from the university or student government organizations.
 
Maybe you just need to learn how to use the newer technologies so you can get work done On your iPad. *shrug*
Fair point.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple for translators who are bound to CAT-based workflows. As of this writing, no worthwhile CAT tools exist for iPadOS. Once that changes, it might be an option. Web apps for translators need to become much more robust to drive such a change.

If you've never used iPadOS devices to translate documents in a paid and professional capacity on a deadline, then you probably don't know what I'm talking about.
 
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