Dresden Mayor Danny Forrester is sold on the new iPad 2’s recently acquired for the city’s mayor, aldermen, city recorder and finance director. | | | Computers keep getting smaller, while phones seem to have gotten “smarter.” With all of the new technological tools on the market, a consumer could get easily overwhelmed with what piece of equipment serves his purpose.
In Dresden, the iPad 2 has taken a step up in popularity to beat out laptops and desktop computers.
Dresden Mayor Danny Forrester said the lightweight device is portable and serves as an effective storage tool.
“With this tool, we can make notes on our meeting agendas and refer back to them whenever we need to. As aldermen’s positions could be easily changed every two years, this device is passed to the next person in line and all of the notes and minutes from meetings are there with a click of a button.
“It’s nice because we can’t take our computers into the meeting room with us,” Forrester said as he demonstrated the note-taking tool installed on the iPad 2 in front of him.
Currently every alderman, the city recorder, mayor and finance director have an iPad 2 in Dresden.
While Forrester touts the digital tool as one of purpose, tech guru Steve Holt said the tablets have a long way to go before it replaces the laptop in his household.
“Tablets are not 100 percent business friendly. A common misconception is they are computer replacements. I get asked a lot if someone should buy a laptop or iPad. Even with the keyboard that you can buy for a tablet, they are still not computer-like enough to replace laptops,” Holt said. The Martin man has worked for years in the IT Department on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
With so many applications available for tablets, Holt said it is easy to see why people could use it for some work, but a lot of play.
There are apps for listening to music and apps for consuming a variety of media, from movies to magazines. From watching movies to surfing the web to checking emails and looking at documents, the tablet works for content absorption.
When it comes to actually creating documents and building projects, tablets “don’t cut the mustard,” according to Holt.
“We have to have a computer in the house for the kids for their school projects because there is a lot that you cannot do with a tablet,” Holt said.
While the smartphones have increased in size, computers seem to have a little way to go before they become smaller.
These days it is not uncommon, however, to find people using all three devices, such as the case in not only Holt’s household, but in city governments as well. WCP 1.17.12 |
