After the successful conclusion of a pilot program which studied the effect of tablet computers in government, all 650 members of the British parliament (MP) will soon receive Apple's tablet masterpiece, the iPad.

The roll out of iPads to MPs will cost anywhere between $420,300 and $693,500. Nearly 70 MPs have already bought an iPad and have listed them as an expense, putting the cost onto the tax payer. But there are benefits, they say: such as saving money on printing, and other business/workflow-related reasons.

Each MP and his or her staff are entitled to three desktop computers, and two laptops in the service of the government. A trade-in of one of the allotted devices is expected from 300 of the 650 members not assigned to a select committee. The returned equipment helps for the cost of the iPad purchases by updating obsolete equipment in use by non-elected staffers, which then reduces the need for purchases of new equipment, which would cost a little over $80,000.