No matter how old you are, there’s something about August that brings thoughts of a new school year to mind. Ah, how exciting are the smell of a pristine notebook and the sight of freshly sharpened #2 pencils. New clothes, new shoes, and a new backpack are on the shopping list.
This is the first of four articles on what tech devices to put into that new backpack if you’re a student or into that briefcase if you’re in the work world or on that side table if you’re beyond the years of the daily grind of the work world or into that diaper bag if you’re among the youngest ones.
What’s in your backpack? Let’s concentrate on students in college and high school.
School, with its focus on reading, writing and arithmetic, defines the tech devices you’ll use most. In 2011, reading may be best defined as research which leads us directly to the Internet. Here’s the optimal trio of tech devices for you and are all Internet ready: a laptop, a phone, and a tablet.
Laptop with wireless card
You might study at home, in your dorm, over coffee somewhere with your study group, or outside in the park. Mobile is the name of the game in meeting your study needs. Internet access provides the full spectrum of research assets and being connected with your study groups.
While Microsoft’s Office Suite is still in the lead when it comes to productivity software, a laptop with wireless provides the options for cloud computing and storage. No ongoing data plan requirements, but guaranteed you’ll quickly learn where all the free wifi spots are.
SmartPhone
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You’ve been tethered to your phone for social stuff. SmartPhones have value for your academics. They allow ready access to the Internet, without sleuthing for a wireless spot, so you can: find answers to questions, keep up on real time news, read ebooks, take pictures or video for projects, listen to music or podcasts for your research, organize and be your timekeeper for activities such as classes and study groups and volunteering, and let’s not forget the maps to keep you from losing your way.
When you think SmartPhone, it doesn’t have to be a top of the line iPhone or Android. It does mean a data plan which is a budget item to consider carefully.
Tablet
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This device may supersede the laptop in a short time, but for today both are on the list. It offers the same options as the laptop, but is much lighter and easy to carry and is more flexible in Internet access if you go with a data plan. It does everything the SmartPhone does, except phone calls. With a larger screen surface than SmartPhones, it is more amenable for reading and the larger keypad for writing.
Serious discussions are underway between publishers and tablet developers to bring textbooks to tablets such as the iPad. Relieving your back of the weight of those textbooks in your backpack might just be the ultimate gift.
Next week? Well-stocked Briefcase: Technology Devices for Those in the Work-A-Day World.
