The iPhone/iPod Touch Phenomenon
Today Apple reports that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from it's App Store in little over a year. It also reports that there are currently over 85,000 apps available for download. In the press release Steve Jobs is quoted as saying:
“The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”
Steve Jobs is correct in saying that the App Store and the iPhone have revolutionized the mobile handheld market. Whether you are a fan of Apple products or not, there is no question that they have changed the landscape permanently for what you can do on a mobile handheld computer.
Until July 2008 I never owned an Apple product or a cell phone for that matter. That changed one day when a colleague handed me his first generation iPhone. I was amazed at how easy it was to use and navigate. I found it to be much more user friendly than the handheld devices running Windows Mobile that I had used and owned previously. At the end of that school year I decided to leave my position as a math department supervisor to become an assistant principal in another district. As a going away gift the teachers in my department gave me a $150 gift card to the Apple store. They knew the 2nd generation iPhone would be released that July and they were inclined to influence me in that direction. I am so glad they did. On July 12, 2008 I waited 2 hours in line and I bought an iPhone for myself and one for my wife.
As a long time PC user and a former district technology coordinator, who used Windows products exclusively, I never gave much thought to Apple's products. That changed with the creation of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple has created devices, with supporting software, that makes it possible for more districts to move towards a 1:1 computing environment. It is beyond comprehension what Apple has accomplished in both sales of iPhones and iPods, and in apps developed and downloaded. Every other major software or hardware developer in the mobile handheld space has opened an App store or is planning to. When we look back in 10 to 15 years at how educational technology changed, it will be clearly evident that the iPhone/iPod Touch with the App store will have been a seismic shift that brought vast innovation within the educational environment.
Most of my focus this year will be on how regular cell phones impact the learning environment because that is what the majority of students use. (iPhones, Blackberrys, the Palm Pre, and similar devices are considered smart phones and have significantly more features that your basic cell phone). I would be remiss though if I did not give some attention to the iPhone/iPod Touch phenomenon as I think it will have a significant and long term impact on the use of technology in education.
The Education Apps available for the iPhone or iPod Touch is overwhelming. Learning in Hand and I Education Apps Review both do a great job at getting you up to speed on what you can do with an iPhone or iPod touch in a classroom.
