By switching to iPads, Vancouver, Wa. has been able to save $336 per iPad used as well as decrease printing of paper to about 40% according to this Verge article. The city traded in some of the BlackBerry’s given out to employees for iPads to stop people from printing. They brought printing down from 5,371 to 3,182. Not only did they save paper and therefore money, but they also decreased their data plans, adding up to $336.
From the article,
The pilot program was fairly limited, involving a total of 54 iPads used by members of the city council, leadership team, and police department. The city says it may keep replacing BlackBerrys with iPads but has no definite plans to expand the program. As an experiment, the project shows that tablets can replace paper printouts in a way that phones and computers have not.
I think it’s great that cities are starting to branch out and trying to find different methods that not only is green and better for the environment. What I also really liked about this method is that the city was able to save money and still get the job done. Who would take an iPad over a BlackBerry? Not many, I think. I hope that Vancouver decides to follow through with this plan as it has shown to be pretty effective. Hopefully people will take notice and this will not only catch on for government but also in schools and universities.
You can always count on the Pacific Northwest for this.
