I’ll be the first to admit — I’m not the most tech-savvy person I know.
In fact, I really dragged my feet when it came to:
- getting a cell phone and
- getting on Facebook
But I must say, that after slowly easing my way into the waters of technology and social media, I’ve really come to enjoy much of what it has to offer.
So yesterday I posed the questions (on Twitter, Facebook and Google+):
If you have all 3: a smartphone, ipad/tablet and laptop/pc – which do you use the most? Why? Which of these 3 would you give up first if you had to? Why?
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I did find myself surprised by the number of people who responded with the belief that their ipads & smartphones were their most valued (and used) pieces of technology — and that their laptops would be the first thing that they would get rid of (if they had to). A couple of people even mentioned that their laptops/pc’s were beginning to collect dust due to lack of use.
I find myself wondering how much of this had to do with the novelty that comes from rapid advancements and ever-changing nature of the smartphone and tablet-type technologies.
Are they really that much more convenient? Or user-friendly?
Do they offer that much more than a laptop or pc?
I’m asking in all sincerity.
I really enjoy my iphone, but when given the choice to type out an email with my thumbs, or use all 8 of my digits on a keyboard, I’ll almost always choose the latter.
I’ll confess to having had very little interaction with this mid-size mobile technology. But the thing that’s always puzzled me about the ipad/tablet-type devices is that they seem to fall into this odd size/function category where they don’t fit nicely into your pocket (like a smartphone) and they don’t have the external keyboard or ability to hold itself up in position (like a laptop).
For me, my laptop and iphone seem to provide more than enough ways for me to stay connected and current… but I want to be open to the possibility that the ipad/tablet (or other such devices) might have much to offer us in our work with college students!
SO, considering the person and work of those of us in college ministry, I want to know:
- which of these devices is most essential for what we do?
- how would you rank these 3 items in terms of their capacity to further your work with college students?
- is there anything special about the ipad/tablet-type devices that I’m unaware of? Something that makes them a “must have”?
Thanks for helping to enlighten this tech-neanderthal for ministry in the 21st Century!
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