How soon we become spoiled and accustomed to the technological luxuries of our life. Yesterday I was issued a new (or newer) iPad by my school district. This is my third iPad since being issued my first one ten years ago. I had asked for a new device since mine was showing its age. It was flaking out and shutting down apps more and more often. It's browser was running slow and becoming frustrating to use. The district had said they would get me a new one but it may take a few weeks. But one suddenly became available yesterday and they actually delivered it to my classroom.
Yes, I was happy to get a new iPad. But I started thinking about how excited we were ten years ago when we first got them. It was a super big deal. Ten years ago the iPad was a curiosity. Back then we were impressed with the simple act of the screen rotating from vertical to horizontal when turning the device. Simpler times. A few of my colleagues at other schools or friends had gotten them and they looked pretty cool. I wanted one. I wanted one bad.
So I was excited when our school district said they would be issuing iPads to teachers. But there was a catch. Teachers would have to write an essay saying how they would use the device in their classroom and why they should be issued one. Looking back now, it was pretty condescending. They had plenty of iPads to go around due to a grant. But they treated us like children and made us work for it. The administrators running the show back then are long gone and good riddance.
Well, we wrote our essays and everyone got iPads who wanted one. The essays were a joke.
The iPad did change a lot of my habits. It became my primary device for accessing the internet rather than using a laptop or my phone. I used an iPad app (Evernote) to take notes in graduate school and to file all sorts of things. Again, I found it much easier to take notes than writing or even using my computer. I sometimes use the iPad for reading on the Kindle App. And I watch a lot of programs on the YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime apps via the iPad. I use the iPad pretty much every day. It organizes my calendar, to-do lists, and emails.
But, yesterday, when I got the new (newish) one, an iPad Air, I wasn't quite as excited as ten years ago. In fact, I knew that I would have to spend some time setting it up and I wasn't looking forward to that. Having to log in to every app again and syncing iCloud, etc is a tedious exercise. How soon we become jaded.
This is my third iPad in ten years. Getting spoiled. Free iPads? How can I complain? And I admit, that after I got everything set up I was impressed with its processor speed, crystal clear screen resolution, improved graphics (since my last iPad had not been compatible with the last several updates) and light weight. It made realize how slow and out dated my old iPad had become. My old iPad had become ancient in just five years.
I hate how reliant I've become on technology. I also hate losing the wow factor when given a pretty sophisticated device. This thing would blow my 2009 mind!
