Last Saturday, Apple officially opened up the world to another, supposedly, revolutionary piece of technology — the iPad.

The device won’t come to Canada for another month or so, but there already have been reports of Apple-crazed Canadians making the trek south of the border to lap up what some have called “an iPhone on steroids.”

And the iPad is essentially that, offering almost everything that its predecessor has on a larger scale
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But, what does this device mean for students? The first issue is price. The 16 GB version with Wi-Fi costs US $499.

Since the iPad can’t load a full version of Adobe Photoshop or connect to a printer, it’s a little bit steep for a student who is considering purchasing a laptop that is so much more versatile.

Typing on the iPad will also be a bit of problem for students. From early reports, typing on it has been problematic because of the curved backside of the device. This means that putting pressure on the touchscreen while typing causes the iPad to rock around and makes it very unstable to type quickly.

During lectures at Ryerson, students use their laptops for Facebooking, chatting and watching videos, all while periodically taking their noses out of their computers to look at the professor.
An iPad won’t do anything to change that.  

This device can be a game-changer, though, if the publishing companies start to design their products specifically for the iPad.

If textbook publishers started selling copies of their books specifically for the iPad, it would, no doubt, make reading a textbook a lot more exciting and engaging for a student.

Online magazine BoingBoing reported that an iPad application on the periodic table of elements is a clear example of what the device can do for the academic world.

“The Elements on iPad is not a game, not an app, not a TV show. It’s a book. But it’s Harry Potter’s book. This is the version you check out from the Hogwarts library. Everything in it is alive in some way,” the report said.

Having to only carry around one device instead of a knapsack’s worth of hernias would also convince many students to make the case that the best way to go is the electronic reader.

But, even if textbooks were priced a small percentage lower than their hard-copy counterparts, students might not get a chance to buy any used books.   

Songs can’t be shared between two iPod users.

So why all of a sudden would publishers let their books move around from device to device?  

The iPad will not be something that students need, but it will be something that they want.

Expect to see it in classrooms in the near future — once the price drops.