The past, present, and future of back-to-school tech

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Students, teachers, and parents are stocking up on pens, notebooks, and all the latest tech essentials for the season—so many of which are powered by Snapdragon®. From smartphones and smartwatches, to tablets and laptops, Snapdragon tech enhances education environments for students and teachers alike.

To help Snapdragon Insiders determine the best tools for conquering the school year, we recently hosted a Twitter Spaces with Qualcomm CMO Don McGuire (@donnymac on Twitter), Managing Editor of Pocketnow Myriam Joire (@tnkgrl on Twitter), and two Qualcomm Technologies interns: Michael Lancia and Lauren Cronyn. Here are some of the highlights from their conversation.

Back-to-school across the years

As our multi-generational panel discussed, back in the day, back-to-school was a very different experience. Don and Myriam agreed that a graphing calculator was about as techy as school supplies got in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, across all grade levels, technology is an integral part of the academic experience. “Having high schoolers and college kids in my family and supporting them with their back-to-school needs, I’m acutely aware of all the technology that's required today for students to productively learn and stay connected to their world,” said Don.

Michael and Lauren confirmed the power and necessity of incorporating technology in education. Between the pandemic and a rapid adjustment to remote and hybrid learning models, they depended on their laptops to keep them connected and engaged with their learning material. “At one point I was attending classes on Zoom, doing homework, doing internship work, hosting club meetings, even attending virtual chapter meetings for my fraternity, so I definitely got a lot of usage out of my laptop,” Michael added. “Without it, it would have been a completely different experience.”

“The compute device, smartphone, and earbud combination is that magic trio, whether it's back-to-school or just back to work,” Don remarked. Gone are the days of pay phones and Walkmans—typical of the student experience in the ‘80s and ‘90s—now it's all about the latest smartphones and wireless earbuds. Having a Snapdragon powered smartphone keeps you connected when you’re tuning into a lecture or calling a study buddy. And whether you’re walking across campus, hitting the gym, or tuning into a lecture, high quality earbuds with the Snapdragon Sound® Technology Suite make all the difference.

What sets apart Snapdragon powered devices?

To start: all-day battery life, industry-leading connectivity, and incredible camera quality.

Take it from Myriam: “With the always-connected PCs, you get 5G connectivity and a pretty awesome imaging experience on a laptop. We've seen webcams become pretty critical the last couple of years. And always on connectivity is great even if you’re at home a lot because Wi-Fi can get pretty congested pretty quickly. It's nice to have some way to connect with your laptop without having to necessarily use your phone or rely on that.”

With Snapdragon® Mobile Compute Platforms, you get superior performance, lightning-fast connectivity, and extraordinary battery life, meaning you don’t have to worry about finding a strong Wi-Fi connection or an outlet on campus. You can count on that same leading connectivity with Snapdragon mobile compute platforms, allowing you to work from whatever device is most convenient.

The future of tech and education

The group also looked into their crystal ball to predict what the future of tech holds for students. Michael is looking forward to Star Wars-inspired holographic displays, but in the short term, there’s rising momentum for two-in-one laptops with touchscreen ability and a removable keyboard. Michael and Lauren both said if they were going back to college and could only bring one device, they would choose a tablet.

Michael elaborated: “Even though I've been more of a laptop person, if I were going back this fall, I would 100 percent have a tablet. They’re just easy to take to class, and it's an advantage to be able to take notes with the stylus or with a detachable keyboard. With how portable they are and with that all-day battery life, it’s huge for a college student.”

“We’ve seen the tablet segment grow exponentially since Covid,” said Don. “I think it's about that portability, that longer battery life, and that it does have some phone-like features such as the camera. You can hold it up and take a picture. You can still do video conferencing, whether it's Teams, Zoom, whatever. It's great for messaging. It's great for handwriting. If you’re an artist or in the creative side of developing your career, it's great for Adobe tools and other types of publishing tools. It's great for reading, doubling as a Kindle type of device. It's multifunctional and it's light, so it's easy to carry around.”

What student doesn’t want less weight in their backpack? Of course, there was more to the discussion, including thoughts on the future of XR glasses and some anecdotes from Lauren and Michael about their experience as Qualcomm Technologies interns. For more on how Snapdragon tech enhances the back-to-school season, listen to the full Twitter Spaces chat. Plus, head over to our Instagram (@snapdragonofficial) to see some of the great back-to-school content Michael and Lauren made, featuring some of our favorite Snapdragon powered devices.

If you’re looking to get your hands on a new Snapdragon powered device as you head back to school, check out our device finder. You’ll find smartphones, tablets, laptops and more—all powered by Snapdragon.

What device is your back-to-school essential? Let us know in the comments below.