Singapore Issues iPads to Soldiers
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I use my iPad to read a bit of news, play games, and watch videos. I’m sure many of you out there reading this use your iPad in much the same way, for mundane, relatively unexciting purposes.
I may carry my iPad with me to take out at the doctors office or while waiting in line at a store, but soldiers in Singapore will be taking their iPads to far more dangerous places.
According to a recent report form Reuters, Singapore has begun issuing iPads to new recruits in the military, air force, and navy. iPads are now standard issue items, handed out along with rifles. According to the defense ministry, approximately 8,000 iPads will be given to soldiers starting in November.
Next year, the ministry is planning to issue the devices to other servicemen, an endeavor that will cost a minimum of Sg $668 ($538) per soldier. According to defense chief Neo Kian Hong, adopting the iPad will allow the Singapore Armed Forces to take advantage of technological abilities that the city-state’s youth are already enjoying.
“By exploiting the use of popular and current information and communications technology, we are able to harness our advantage of today’s technologically savvy servicemen,” he said.
Troops will be able to use the camera on the iPad 2 to take photographs and video clips while out in the field, which they will then be able to upload to the online platform of the Singapore Armed Forces, named LEARNet.
Questions and inquiries from soldiers will be sent to their leaders using a live messaging system that will also support group chatting. The Singapore Armed Forces is already planning on hiring private contractors to design apps custom tailored to the needs of their servicemen.
The usefulness of the iPad in this situation seems limited, especially given the very poor quality of the iPad 2’s camera. However, it’s sure to serve as an incentive to Singapore’s male youths, who are required to enlist for two years of service at the tender age of 18.
In the U.S., Marine Corps aviators are using iPads in place of obsolete paper charts and grid reference drawings, and we may see Apple technology more widely adopted by additional military forces in the future, given the wide range of applications that the iPad can fulfill.
