Oklahoma State University professor Bill Handy has big plans for the Apple iPad this fall. If the text messages he has received since the school announced he would test the tablet-style e-reader in some courses are any indication, students are eager to get their hands on the devices, too.

Handy, who teaches in the School of Media and Strategic Communications, is quick to stress that his intent is not to celebrate the new technology so much as to evaluate its effectiveness in the classroom.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who got his iPad 3G last month, unveiled the tablet at a meeting in Staten Island on Tuesday.

As the Daily News reports, Bloomberg bought the device at the behest of his scheduler, Shea Fink, and used it on Tuesday in place of his daily briefing book. The mayor told his audience that the device will save both time and paper.

"He wants to try using it for speeches, as well as...for reference - things like news clips, key budget documents," a spokesman for the mayor said in an email.