Compatibility with Apple iPad

I am sorry to report that the Math Open Reference web site does not operate on Apple iPad. There two main reasons why this is so. First, the iPad does not support Flash content. The interactive animations on this site are written in the Flash internal language called ActionScript. Much has been written about this decision at Apple, but whatever the reason, it means a large body of educational material will not work on the iPad.

The second problem is that all the applets were created assuming a mouse. They depend on the user being able to accurately put the cursor on say the vertex of a triangle, and then drag it. With the touch interface of the iPad this is not possible. You don't know where your finger is going to touch until it makes screen contact, and then the point of interest is covered by your finger. If Apple would even consider the idea of supporting an optional mouse it would make things simpler.

Apple claims that HTML5 with the new canvas element is a solution, and perhaps in the future that may be so. But as of now, a large number of computers in schools and homes will not accept that format. For example Internet Explorer on Windows XP will never be able to run HTML5. Even if it that were not the case, it would take a very long time to rewrite the over 400 applets.

While these conditions remain, it does, at least in my mind, create doubts about whether the iPad is a suitable machine for educational purposes.

So, I plan to continue on the present course. In my judgement it serves the greatest good to add new content than to backtrack and spend the resources to rewrite everything. It's a shame. This content would have been very cool on the iPad.

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