Though I don’t sell used equipment out of my Gardner store, I have been getting a ton of requests for used iPads. Out of curiosity I asked some of the customers why there’s a huge demand for iPads this week.
As it turns out, a couple of the schools in our area have been moving away from paper text books in exchange for iPads. One of the memos made privy to me stated the new tablets could also be used as notebooks. Come to find out, many schools across the country are slowly eliminating paper in exchange for tablets.
iPads and competing tablets have taken the technology world by storm over the last year or two. HP just unveiled a tablet which sells for under $150.00. HP’s inexpensive tablet sold out of local stores within minutes after its launch; demonstrating the popularity of the technology.
When I was in school (many years ago) we were told to bring pens and paper. We were provided with school issued text books unless the class required a workbook. Every year I had to lug a backbreaking stack of books to and from school along with all the accoutrements. I can remember times when my sac of books may have weighed more than me.
While preparing for this week’s article I found some very definite pros and cons. Some educators claim changing to technology may impact students in the beginning; however, over time the benefits are limited. Business people argue that, over time, utilizing technology will save school districts money.
It’s important to take a look at the technical aspect of the switch to technology. iPads and tablets are nothing more than a processor, memory, storage and a screen. Essentially the children are being handed a computer without a keyboard.
One of the contacts I made early in my career of fixing laptops was a group in Maine that worked on state owned MacBook laptops. Years ago I was amazed to learn that each student in Maine is issued a laptop for use while they are attending school.
The average MacBook cost the state somewhere in the neighborhood of $250.00 per student per year in maintenance. When tallied up, that’s a lot of money to spend on keeping computers up and running. Major repairs included hard drives and LCD screens.
In a prior article I mentioned iPad and tablet failure. If an iPad or tablet screen breaks it is essentially ruined. As of this writing, my cost on an iPad LCD screen is $140.00. A fair labor charge for a screen replacement is somewhere around $60.00. If the screen breaks the iPad is essentially ruined.
If my daughters came home with new iPads as replacements for I would be concerned. As a parent I would be concerned with how my children would conduct their rubric. As a technician I would be concerned with many hours of work lost due to a technical glitch or user error.
As important as it is to save money and change how students learn, I believe it’s also important to look at the life cycle of equipment. I would hate to be the one student who spent all my time taking notes directly to my tablet only to have my iPad stolen on damaged.
I may be a techno-junkie, but please give me a pen and paper any day. There’s nothing like reading from a textbook and being able to flip from one page to another. I can’t remember the last time someone stole a notebook and pen from me. Moreover, I can’t remember the last time I needed to plug in my book before bringing it to class.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)