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Volume 7: Number 11: Jun, 2012

Feature Article: Gadget Grabber: Tablet Office Suites Go Head-to-Head

By Carol Holzberg, Ph.D.

On holiday in late December, I flew cross-country to visit California. It quickly became obvious that travel-friendly personal computing devices were everywhere—on airplanes, trains, buses, and even whale watch boats. I saw consumers of all ages engaging their personal digital assistants in airport waiting rooms, restaurants, cars, hotel lobbies, and national parks. They kept company with Kindles, Nooks, Android tablets, iPads, iPod Touches, and smartphones of various shapes, sizes, and operating systems. Travelers consulted their handhelds to read ebooks, access news and articles, play games, check email, research reference material, watch movies, obtain real-time GPS mapping directions, and get information on demand as the spirit moved them.

 

When we drove from Sacramento to Orange County, our designated navigator used her smartphone to provide her brother (the driver) with road directions, location checks, and map updates. Prompted by our inquisitiveness—and because it was so easy to get answers to all sorts of questions—she also did quick information look-ups for a variety of nonrelated topics (e.g., Closest movie theater? What’s playing? Do all bears hibernate? Is there arsenic in historic gold mine tailings?). Having all these powerful applications and search options available in a small, lightweight device prompted me to wonder why I carry both a laptop and a tablet on my travels.

 

Whether a personal computing device is all you need when you’re out of the office depends in part on your plans for work, the amount of time you’ll be away, and the applications you need to access your important files. It also depends on Internet availability. Wi-Fi tablets, the iPod Touch, and even laptops are useful, but without paid or free wireless Internet, their features are limited to what’s already stored on the device. (For example, I brought my laptop because it has all my work files. It also has Adobe Dreamweaver, the Web design application I use to manage our District website.)

 

If Wi-Fi rather than 24/7 access is sufficient for your work-away Internet service and your task needs are limited to sporadic email checks or the ability to view, edit, and create Microsoft Office compatible documents, you can probably leave your bulky laptop behind! An iPad or Android tablet will suffice.

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Other articles in this issue:

• Leading at the Intersection of Data: Perception and Myth
• Building Walk: Walking with Faculty to Use Data
• Character Education
• Case Study: Data Problems
• Fiscal Fitness: An Attitude, Not a Reform
• Choosing Your Assistant Principal
• Move Closer to the Window
• FACTS: Setting Goals for Next Year
• INTERNET SITES TO SHARE: Does It Sound Too Good to Be True?
• How to Recognize Student Engagement When You See It
• Taking a Hard Look at Data
• Gadget Grabber: Tablet Office Suites Go Head-to-Head
• Reflections on Endings and Beginnings
• The Principal’s GPS: Understanding Formative and Summative Assessments
• Spice Up Data Presentations
• Focus Events: June/July