<p>In response to TAs and/or profs caring whether students use their laptops in class, I TA for a prof and last semester I had a student opening her email, chatting on AIM and not really paying attention to a very important lecture the entire period--right in front me, her TA!
I honestly wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but honestly the prof didn't care. We joked about it and basically were just kinda like, "Well, if she fails the midterm, we'll know why."
Honestly, though, college really is quite different in that students are given far more responsibility AND freedom. Whereas high school students and freshmen have been shown (via psychological studies and research) to believe that the forces in their lives are all external (i.e., they have little power to influence what happens around them), college upper-classmen see the world as something we can mold.</p>
<p>The entire purpose of a tablet PC is pointless. It is more buisness oriented where you can take notes by hand easily. When you are in class, a tablet would just be a nuisance. </p>
<p>The issues with the MacBook Pro's are actually supposedly solved. Apple has made sure that the new batch of MacBook's are problem free.</p>
<p>
[quote]
...and I hate windows...it crashes too often...
[/quote]
ihateCA,</p>
<p>While Windows XP isn't the greatest operating system, if your computer crashes it's probably something you did to it. Try reformatting.</p>
<p>In terms of quality...</p>
<p>MacBook Pro = PowerBook 5300</p>
<p>Do the research and you'll find out that the PB5300 (August 1995) was similar in circumstances--lots of little flaws that were fixed in later models, plus the first with a new chip (it was the first PowerPC laptop).</p>
<p>Anyone else besides me actually remember these from back in the day? Or am I just an old-school technician with a good memory?!?</p>
<p>"Back in the day" is relative!</p>
<p>In the late 70's and early 80's, I worked for a subsidiary of Xerox and played with a Fuji-Xerox Star document processor. It had this funny GUI interface with a single button "mouse". The company was working on Asian/English language documentation for a while. The project never got off the ground and we shipped the machine back to Japan.</p>
<p>Then there was the $10,000 Apple Lisa for some database/spreadsheet work. Way too expensive for what an IBM PC could do for less money...</p>
<p>Thus enterprise computing was born and IBM/Microsoft won the hearts and minds of corporate IT staffs weaned on the mainframe business. Apple went their own way...</p>
<p>I actually have a Lisa! It's 22 years old and has the 10MB internal hard drive option installed. Still works great after all of these years. I keep it in the original box with the original manuals and disks.</p>
<p>Not only could it do spreadsheet and database, but also drawing, painting, communications, word processing, and graphing...all part of the Lisa 7/7 System, which was like Microsoft Office. It was pretty advanced--all mouse-based, the word processor had a spell check built in, printing was easy...as far as interface goes, think Mac OS X but much earlier.</p>
<p>I took this to a classic computer show in 2002 and everyone was amazed at how advanced it was for its age. However, the Macintosh did almost as much and was a fourth of the cost. Guess who won.</p>
<p>BTW: Lisa is supposedly named after Steve Jobs' daughter born out of wedlock in the late 1970s. Some say it stands for "Local Integrated Software Architecture" but that sounds sort of made-up at the last second to me...</p>
<p>
[quote]
It is much easier to type and faster and more efficient. Why were keyboards invented in the first place? To increase productivity. Going back to writing by hand was a dumb idea.</p>
<p>Now unless you are an artist who uses photoshop a lot, tablet pc's are not worth it. Get a souped up MacBook rather than a TabletPC that has a subpar processor, dim and small screen, heating issues, and battery life issues.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But most laptops are troublesome to use while moving around or standing up, due to the center of balance. If you need to pull it out briefly to check something for a friend or to quickly jot something down (which I've done plenty of times), it's great. Also in certain situations the pen is way better than a touchpad could ever be.</p>
<p>Also, my Toshiba R15 has a bright, 14.1" screen, with a decent battery life. Even when I need to keep it on, it never gets so hot it messes up.</p>
<p>MacTech92: Somebody still has a working Lisa?! What about the Cube? You probably aren't old enough to remember the Apple ][ clones: Taiwanese "Pineapples" and "Oranges". Apple's lawyers shut them down in the early 80's...</p>
<p>Sorry, I don't get all sentimental and weepy about hardware anymore. Once the case comes off, it's just another motherboard.</p>
<p>Re: laptops (used in business or in the classroom)</p>
<p>It's now a commodities business. Laptops are smaller, faster, lighter, have great battery life and brighter screens. Spend enough money and you can play games on them. The truth is that unless you're doing some serious multi-media or gaming stuff, any four year old laptop can play dvds, do e-mail, surf the net and do word processing. Add a Wi-fi card and you're good to go. </p>
<p>What the market is seeing are incremental changes: faster processors, lower watt consumption with longer battery life and indoor/outdoor lcd screens with wider viewing angles... The question is how will computer companies grow this business and add value to their products. Select an OS and a price point and it's a done deal. That's where Tablets come in. Frankly, that's pretty much all that's left to change in a maturing market. You might argue that flash memory could in a few years take over from current hard drives, but that doesn't enhance a user's experience. Your choice: pencil and paper or keyboard and screen...til the end of time. Tablets give you the option of using digital ink to take notes. Or you can use the keyboard. And Microsoft is adding touch screen technology to its Tablet functionality. It's all about needs and choices.</p>
<p>I don't have a Cube, but I vividly recall seeing them on display in 2000. As for Apple II clones, I actually have one!!! I own a Redstone, which I believe is South African in origin. It looks to be a II+. Very cool machine--the keyboard looks as if someone took it off a typewriter. The prominent clones were the Bell and Howell and the Laser 128.</p>
<p>I still remember my first trip to a computer store, back in August 1989. There was an Apple IIGS on display as well as a Mac IIcx and a Mac SE/30. I was in awe.</p>
<p>I forgot about the Laser 128, MacFanboy... Somebody has the fever. For me, it was all about the software: Visicalc, Lotus 123 and DBase. In business, it's all about solutions and less about style. </p>
<p>Trust me, the awe goes away. Deploying Windows 1.0 on a hundred or so 286 PCs is a thrill anybody should be glad to miss...</p>
<p>For everybody else, be happy that you can have a lightweight laptop that you can take to class or the library. Be happy that the Internet is no longer text based. Think Tablet...</p>
<p>My school actually just banned all electronic devices in classrooms. Its a $350 fine and expulsion from the class if you breat the new rule.</p>
<p>...how is that productive at all?</p>
<p>Transfer. **** that.</p>
<p>it's productive because that means kids can't text, call people, im, check their facebooks, or anything else like that. they actually have to sit there and maybe absorb some info.</p>
<p>Its a rare day when I see a laptop in class... its probably because my classes aren't liberal arts type classes. In math, computer, engineering, etc type courses taking notes on a laptop is too difficult... writing them out is MUCH quicker and more effective. I know people with tablets and most of the time even they ditch their computer for a pen and paper. In addition, most of my classes are less than 30 students and having a laptop and the noise associated with a laptop just isn't polite. During the very few instances when I have seen a laptop in class they were all in big lecture halls and the students were A) watching last nights episode of their favorite TV show, B) chatting on AIM, C) doing some other classes homework... I am guilty of this one or D) checking facebook. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, I go to the study lounge/library nearly everday where I retype my notes, edit things, etc. Portability is still key even if you don't use your computer in class.</p>
<p>Maybe so, kk06, but shouldn't it be the student's perogative, and not the schools, to wisely use the lecture time? If a student can learn and get good grades even while IMming in class, then so be it. If the student fails, well, hopefully he or she learns the lesson behind the grade.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>oh yeah - i mean, they ARE college students - they're the ones shelling out $20-60k a year to sit in the room and play solitaire. however i do see how the administration is trying to provide an environment more conducive to learning.</p>
<p>...don't get me wrong though, i text all through classes already :X</p>
<p>
[quote]
it's productive because that means kids can't text, call people, im, check their facebooks, or anything else like that. they actually have to sit there and maybe absorb some info.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Or work on in-class projects using Matlab, or take notes on a computer, or look up a quick fact for a class, or give presentations with the much despised but somewhat useful powerpoint. </p>
<p>As for taking notes in engineering classes: TeX is hott.</p>