Thanks danah for showing us 1 way the iPad could be useful in research, rather than just entertainment or being kewl: "mine is bigger than your's." ***I still maintain that the iOS is an inadequate engine, and as for battery life, most peeps in all but poorest countries have electricity in their homes.*** Of course, we're kinda obsolescent, but when NetLab did the COnnected Lives interview, our piloting found that laptops were a distraction -- both intimadating and fascinating -- and we went to a modified paper-pen-stickynote data collection technique. Read about it in our Field Methods paper (also on my website). Bernie Hogan, Juan-Antonio Carrasco and Barry Wellman. 2007. "Visualizing Personal Networks: Working with Participant-Aided Sociograms." Field Methods 19 (2), May: 116-144. Maybe it would be useful if CITASA, AOIR, CSCW had a session or 2 on data gathering gadgets. I've seen lots on data analysis -- the Sunbelt Social Network conference was filled with dazzling ones -- but little on the pesky problem of getting the stuff in. YMMV IMHO -- my .02 Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________