At Westlock County’s July 18 meeting, councillors voted to go ahead with buying nine Apple iPads, but before they made that decision, it was necessary for two councillors to test-drive the machines to make sure they were what the councillors would need.
Those two councillors were Bert Seatter, representing the technophiles on council, and Ron Zadunayski, representing the councillors who were not as tech savvy, who each took an iPad to use for a month and report back to council.
Both councillors saw the benefit to adopting the iPads almost immediately. “The biggest thing with the computer age as far as I’m concerned with council, is that you can have your policies and your minutes and things like that right at your disposal,” Seatter said. “Whereas the way it works now is you got to go to your office and look it all up.”
Zadunayski agreed with this assessment, saying that he felt the devices would be a great asset to the councillors because they would be able to communicate with the county office without having to make the drive to Westlock as often. This would also save the county money, he added, because less mileage would need to be paid to councillors for travelling to and from the office, as well as allowing the county to cut down on the amount of paper it uses.
As the less tech savvy tester, Zadunayski said he found the iPad to be easy to use, which he said he figures played into the decision to choose it as a possible computer for councillors.
Seatter expanded on this suggestion, explaining how the iPad’s touchscreen makes it more efficient than a typical laptop or desktop computer.
“I do know that this is much easier to learn from than, say, a regular computer because you just touch what you’re looking for,” he said. “You don’t have to move around and find it on the screen and click on it. You just touch it and there it goes.”
Although he had few problems while testing the device, Zadunayski said he knew at virtually any moment he could have personal tech support if a problem arose. “I have grandchildren who live 300 feet from my place, so if I have a problem I just call them and they come over,” he said.
As for why the county opted to go with iPads, Seatter said it partly came down to following the lead of other municipalities.
“It seems to be the trend of the future because they all seem to be copying it,” he said.
He added that with the town councillors already equipped with laptops, and seeing that the county’s representative on external boards like GROWTH Alberta being the only one without a personal computer, the time had come to get caught up with the Joneses.
When full adoption finally takes place, Seatter said he expects some teething problems to arise, but those should work themselves out as the councillors and administration get accustomed to the new system.
