Device of Choice is personal. (James Cao’20/Tech co-editor)
Within the first week of school, both Middle and Upper students receive their iPads, with all of their devices primed for use. Trends, however, are apt to come to light as the school year advances.
As the Upper School students make their way through the school year, an increasing number of them cease to use their iPads, choosing the laptop as a more labor-saving and productive appliance. This inclination towards the latter, however, is not as apparent in Middle Schoolers, if it even exists at all.
Students that have attended Columbus Academy since Middle School, like sophomores Kathan Reddy and Andrew Cahall both noticed this shift.
Reddy inherited his parents’ old MacBook Air over the summer before his freshman year. Although his iPad was a staple of everyday school life for him in Middle School, the time he spent utilizing his iPad diminished once he became a freshman. Completed homework, annotated texts, and current events that once resided on his iPad have now found a new home: his laptop.
Cahill like the iPad’s advantages of a more portable and lightweight device. Looks may not tell the whole story, however, as the smaller device boasts a longer battery life due to better efficiency of battery usage. Note takers, dictionaries, and calculators can be brought up with the swipe of a finger, which highlights the app-based aspect of iPads even more.
Yet laptops also possess one attribute that iPads lack. Software that requires a download from an outside source is, more times than not, incompatible with iOS. If a software developer wants to make an app to publish in the App Store, it must encode it in a special format that is specific to iOS. As a result, code compilers like Dr. Java, which is the software that Computer Science classes run on, cannot be used. This difference in software brings the restrictions found on an iPad that one would not find on a laptop.
iPads or laptop? The answer depends on what the student prizes more: efficiency or power.
The utility that students choose to wield is up to their preferences. The device they choose will suit their needs and, in turn, their priorities.
Technology will continue to permeate our school environment, so pinpointing your preferred device sooner than later will make school life more pleasant.
