I'm about to rant. So if listening to (somewhat random and perhaps out-of-context) complaints is not your cup of tea, please go to the next blog post in your reader.
I worked hard to make a top-notch mobile mapping computing "lab" at my old job. The mobile computing lab had 15 or so tablet PCs with GIS software and GPS receivers. All charged up and ready to go, these tablets were used by faculty and students at a moment's notice or for a regular class session. The lab, at its inception, was designed for outdoor education. When I say I worked hard on this project, I mean I found the technology and talked about it with faculty members, I found the grant RFP, I co-authored the proposal with faculty members, I figured out what else was needed to make these tablet PCs work for the teaching and research needs of the department. You know, project management stuff. This was in 2003/2004 and no one that we knew of was using tablet PCs, let alone for using GIS software to map.
The long story short...they worked! They were awesome. Having tablet PCs right in a department allowed for so much flexibility in teaching environmental sciences, geology, GIS, urban studies and other classes. More professors on campus got to try them out and more people adopted using tablet PCs. We got the original grant that gave us, of course, free tablet PCs and one of the academic deans at the time said that "if they work," the college will fork up the money to replace them one. And as proof, we wrote a few papers and gave invited talks on how we used them and talked about our successes. So the original tablets were replaced once with newer better, faster, more robust features. It was all even more wonderful. But that was the end of the story. I recently heard through the grapevine that the thing that actually worked, the mobile mapping lab built in 2004, is no longer supported and will be eliminated. The purse string holders on campus who paid not one cent for the hardware since 2004, have decided to close up the shop.
In higher ed, I'd like to hear every now and again "But what if it works?" These tablets worked. They still work. And they are no longer being supported. RIP mobile mapping lab, you were a priceless resource for so many students and faculty.
