Derrick L. Cogburn, associate professor at the School of Information Studies (iSchool), posted a review of Apples new iPad on the Center for Research on Collaboratories and Technology Enhanced Learning Communities
(Cotelco) blog page.
His post, “Cotelco Director Reviews the Apple iPad,” begins with a statement to the “naysayers” of Apple’s iPad. He openly disagrees with statements that call the iPad a failure because it does not meet the expectations of every single person.
Cogburn details what the iPad is, describing it as a very solid piece of hardware with four buttons and a 10-inch screen made out of oil and scratch resistant glass. Thanks to the iPad and its portable size, Cogburn envisions a day when people will no longer have
to tote around heavy laptops.
Like other Apple fans, Cogburn likes the applications for the iPad. He highlights the benefits of the iBook application; an easy to read/use Apple ebook application. Silent page turning, adjustable light, and a dictionary provided him with the necessary tools to stay up reading until 4 a.m., he said.
Cogburn posted two updates after discovering more of the iPads useful features, such as tight integration between the iPhone, laptop, and iPad when using the Kindle application, and connecting the device to a data projector to display presentations on a projector screen with a finger acting as a laser pointer.
Cogburn’s final thoughts on the iPad are its impressive battery life. “I’ve been using it almost nonstop unplugged since yesterday afternoon about 3 p.m. when I left Borders (video, music, email, twittering, Facebook, web surfing, writing, exploring), and I still have 21 percent battery power left,” Cogburn posted.
Cogburn is an expert on global information and communication technology policy and in the use if ICTs for socio-economic development. His research interests include the institutional mechanisms for global governance of ICTs; transnational policy-actor networks and epistemic communities, especially for non-governmental organizations and global civil society; and the socio-technical infrastructure for geographically distributed collaboration in knowledge work.
He serves as director of the award-winning Center for Research on Collaboratories and Technology Enhanced Learning Communities (Cotelco) that investigates the socio-technical factors influencing geographically distributed collaborative knowledge work, particularly between developed and developing countries. Cotelco is an affiliated center of the Burton Blatt Institute, Centers of Innovation on Disability, where Cogburn serves on the Leadership Council and the Internal Advisory Board.
Cogburn earned a Ph.D. in political science (International Relations, Political Economy, and Comparative Politics)
from Howard University in 1996, where he was a W.K. Kellogg doctoral fellow at the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center.