Comments on: Cost For iPads For Every Florida Student? $441 Million

By: freda m

freda m — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 01:51:06 +0000

I hope noone looses one of these cause it would be sad for a child to do without books cause their parents dont have the money to pay it of fast enough.

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 01:43:25 +0000

REGARDING:
“My wonder is will the iPads need wifi to get into the books because I know there are people that don’t even have computers in their home.”

You can store your books on them when you ARE near wi fi, such as at school, for example.

It used to be that a book was around a megabyte of memory, so that would be a thousand books per gigabyte. Lately I’ve noticed even magazines take more than ten megabytes per issue, so let’s assume the text book takes a whopping fifty megabytes.

That would cut you down to 20 books per gigabyte.
Assume 16 gig and you can only carry 320 books with you at any one time.

Let’s see, six classes, generally six books so there should be some to spare. In fact, assume two books per class per year and 13 years gives you plenty of memory for the entire time you are in school along with lots of reference material.

David for flash memory
and Moore’s Law

By: No Excuses

No Excuses — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 23:07:37 +0000

The ipads will have problems – just as books do. Books can be stolen and lost and are just as costly to replace as ipads. I would think that the school district would require some sort of repair contract with whomever they purchase the ipads from, or would have some sort of warranty in place to cover damage (accidental – not willful) or loss.

When textbooks are lost, children are not issued ANY books until the bill is paid. This is really no different and I think the advantages outweighs the disadvantages. Good move!

By: Mommy of 3

Mommy of 3 — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:12:44 +0000

My wonder is will the iPads need wifi to get into the books because I know there are people that don’t even have computers in their home. I know to get into my kids books now we have to have internet. Plus what happens when a child breaks it and their family can not afford to replace it, it should not all be on the rest of us to have to pay ~ therefore that child’s education is in jeopardy. I really think they need to consider all the pros and cons.

By: fred

fred — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:37:53 +0000

@PSUEarl1 – your point is well taken! As I wrote that, I thought about a kid tossing the backpack into a corner and cracking the screen. I carry mine in a computer briefcase, and it’s in there pretty tight, but I don’t throw it around. Accidents happen, and I’m sure there will be failures from rough treatment – they can probably outfit them in Otter Cases to protect them. It’s really the loss and theft issue that I think is going to be a problem.

By: PSU1Earl

PSU1Earl — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:03:05 +0000

Fred, I’m assuming you are not a H.S. student… Durable to you and a H.S. student are apples and oranges… IMO….

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:23:54 +0000

now if they could just make them unbreakable….

By: Devastating Dave

Devastating Dave — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:59:18 +0000

I’m disappointed. Big Bird gets more than that.

By: fred

fred — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:46:22 +0000

I have owned an iPad for several years (since the Gen 1 came out – 2009?), and it still is going strong. I travel with it in my briefcase, so it is pretty durable. I guess my concern with this idea is theft and loss of these popular and pricey devices. I understand the cost of books, but if you have to replace these things over and over because Johnny can’t keep up with it, or it is stolen, then where are we? I would agree that Johnny’s family should have to pay for it, but what if they are indigent? Does Johnny then go the rest of the school year with no books? Adoption of a standard curriculum, quick updating of materials, no hassles with book inventory, less to lug around all over the place, all great reasons to do this. It’s a good idea, but loss and theft are going to be the big issues here – in my opinion.

By: paper mill man

paper mill man — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:33:35 +0000

think about the paper busniess and how bad this is going to hurt us