National service is a pain for most men in Singapore, but it does make things better when the Singapore defense ministry issues iPad 2s to its soldiers. For geeks and Apple fanboys, it probably makes the whole national service experience more fulfilling.
The AFP reported yesterday that Singapore’s Defense Ministry will be issuing about 8,000 iPad 2s to its soldiers as the nation hopes to “take advantage of the technological abilities of the city-state’s youth.”
With the gadget, soldiers can now group chat with fellow colleagues and commanders – a good way to improve interaction in a somewhat mundane army routine. Soldier’s iPads will also be used to record outfield exercises which will then be uploaded to their online learning portal for post-learning and assessments.
The shiny Apple logo needs some camouflage too. Credits: Indiazone
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will also be developing applications to cater to specific needs for its internal operations. Who knows, in the future, the iPad could be used to fire a missile or activate a horde of soldier bots. It’s a good initiative, but it remains to be seen if these iPads will really be a useful addition – or an expensive distraction – to the SAF.
Given the strict rules and discipline in the army, I’m pretty sure that soldiers will not be allowed to download AngryBirds or Plants and Zombies on their iPads for some night time leisure. The SAF can consider getting some of these army-styled skin for their iPads, over here.
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