Hey all,
I frequently lurk through this forum, though I rarely post. I've had this ipad since the beginning of last semester and have been incorporating the ipad as my main school device since then.
For some context, I also have a 15'' retina mbp that is too heavy to lug around (for my taste) and also had but sold an 11'' air that was a bit too cramped.. but overall worked well. I am a business major, so there is a lot of math, papers and power point presentations that I do. I also work as an account manager for a fortune 100 company (logistics). I do not use the ipad for work, unless I am working from home using the mbp, the ipad is my 2nd display.
My use cases:
1. Math - our prof. gives us pdf handouts for notes where we fill in the content as she lectures. What I do is import the notes to notability and annotate using the pencil. It works so well and eliminates the need to print and carry around paper notes.
First time I did this, I was scrambling to import the note to notability. It is not as easy as download and open from desktop using the app you'd like. There is a paradigm shift on how to approach a lot of simple tasks in iOS.
2. Business / English classes: For this opening Evernote and taking notes with the keyboard suffices. Sometimes we use google docs and have to have side by side google documents open. This is rather cumber-sum as the google docs app is just bad and offers very limited features. Then Safari or Chrome don't play well with the desktop version of the document opened.. I've made it work though.
3. Online courses: We use a system call Canvas. It is a school system where we put our work and assignments are posted. The iOS app has been getting better, but is also very limited. Most of the time I use Safari instead to access it. One BIG limitation on both points of access is that I cannot upload and submit a word or pdf file as an assignment. I need to send this to my mac and do it from there.
Overall, using the ipad as my main school device has been a pleasant experience. I did not realize how good it was until a couple of days ago. I was working on my math homework, for which I need to use split screen, one to resolve the problems on notability and the other with the assignment on Safari. While doing that, I was also able to watch a ted talk with pip for one of my business classes. However, attempting to do the same a couple of days later with a youtube video didn't work.
The only limitation iPad has at this stage to be an even more productive device is the developers.. We have the hardware, the accessories and a good playground that is iOS.
Hope this helps others.
-David.
I frequently lurk through this forum, though I rarely post. I've had this ipad since the beginning of last semester and have been incorporating the ipad as my main school device since then.
For some context, I also have a 15'' retina mbp that is too heavy to lug around (for my taste) and also had but sold an 11'' air that was a bit too cramped.. but overall worked well. I am a business major, so there is a lot of math, papers and power point presentations that I do. I also work as an account manager for a fortune 100 company (logistics). I do not use the ipad for work, unless I am working from home using the mbp, the ipad is my 2nd display.
My use cases:
1. Math - our prof. gives us pdf handouts for notes where we fill in the content as she lectures. What I do is import the notes to notability and annotate using the pencil. It works so well and eliminates the need to print and carry around paper notes.
First time I did this, I was scrambling to import the note to notability. It is not as easy as download and open from desktop using the app you'd like. There is a paradigm shift on how to approach a lot of simple tasks in iOS.
2. Business / English classes: For this opening Evernote and taking notes with the keyboard suffices. Sometimes we use google docs and have to have side by side google documents open. This is rather cumber-sum as the google docs app is just bad and offers very limited features. Then Safari or Chrome don't play well with the desktop version of the document opened.. I've made it work though.
3. Online courses: We use a system call Canvas. It is a school system where we put our work and assignments are posted. The iOS app has been getting better, but is also very limited. Most of the time I use Safari instead to access it. One BIG limitation on both points of access is that I cannot upload and submit a word or pdf file as an assignment. I need to send this to my mac and do it from there.
Overall, using the ipad as my main school device has been a pleasant experience. I did not realize how good it was until a couple of days ago. I was working on my math homework, for which I need to use split screen, one to resolve the problems on notability and the other with the assignment on Safari. While doing that, I was also able to watch a ted talk with pip for one of my business classes. However, attempting to do the same a couple of days later with a youtube video didn't work.
The only limitation iPad has at this stage to be an even more productive device is the developers.. We have the hardware, the accessories and a good playground that is iOS.
Hope this helps others.
-David.
