Tutaleni I. Asino
Blog Post

“I played with an iPad today”

Johannes (not his real name), who looked like he was in his early 20s, is a waiter at a restaurant in Mauera Mall in Windhoek where I was working with friends on a project. There were two Apple laptops and an iPad on the table and even though, he was not our waiter, he came over to confess his love for Apple products.

After seeing the iPad, he asked if he could touch it and I gladly handed it over to him. I have never seen anyone’s so happy to touch a device as this guy was. He ignored everyone else in the restaurant, much to the dismay of his customers and about 10 minutes later, he reluctantly gave the iPad back and left saying that he is going to tell his friends “I played with an iPad today.” Johannes was very excited and rush off before I could have a conversation but I may go back and have a chat with him about design, usability, and applications he would like to see.

This for me is what I love about technology, when people light up and get excited about being able to use a new tool or interact in a new environment. Just imagine the state of Instructional Systems/Educational Technologies if we can design educational tools or learning environments that get that type of excitement and generate such an emotional response from the learner!

Date written: 1st June 2010
World count: 228

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