A long while ago before the iPad came out I made a post about the iPad being the perfect business device. In the last few months of actually owning the iPad, and actually taking it to work I can safely say it’s “almost” the perfect business PC. It’s kind of funny that at the clients I sit in a cube next to another guy with an iPad. In addition the main network admin at the facility also has an iPad at work. Each of us bring it to work for different purposes. The network admin uses it to troubleshoot network outages, mobile email device, and other associated duties. The developer I mentioned uses it for a variety of things such as at-home leisure gaming, project management, to-do task manager, notes, and development testing for the new apps being developed at the clients.
I wish I could say I use my iPad for more business related activities. I do take notes on it, reference development blogs/material, personal and business emails, and social media applications. I primarily use it as a mobile email device where I can have access to emails without needing them on a work PC. I mostly enjoy the ability to email a PDF to my iPad email address, import it into iBooks, and then have the ability to read that PDF at any time with the device.
The iPad has certainly changed the way I interact with computers. I take it with me almost everywhere. It’s my GPS, book shelf, TV, arcade gaming device, online comic reader, news source, and my social media device. I have all of my comics linked on the home screen, tech blogs, and new sites all available with a single tap. The best thing again is the pinch so I can change the screen to hide all the ads or distracting site floaters to get straight to the content meat. I can watch tech demonstrations via YouTube, and I can regularly update my Facebook and Twitter statuses for no one to read.
After having it for so long it’s still hard to justify the purchase of the device. It’s easy to sway people though. Since starting at the client people constantly stop to ask questions about the iPad. We actually managed to make a fellow developer so envious of our iPads that he went on a lunch break to buy one. It was neat seeing the device unboxed and his excitement, but as soon as he turned it on the iTunes prompt displayed. It’s kind of a buzz kill we all have to go through on first unboxing.
Still with any device there are problems. The big problem with the iPad is its design leads it to be primarily a data consumption device. Tapping out words with the virtual keyboard is slow, and is very cumbersome depending on how the device is held. That is a very big impact to producing any content via the device. Sure, they make an iPad keyboard dock called the Mac Air (ha.) Seriously though considering the price you might as well buy a Mac Air instead of an iPad if you actually want to create content in any timely manner on a very portable device. Still for being a consumption laden device it does its primary job well. The only limitation in fact is AT&T on 3G or availability of free wifi when you’re roaming.
Again, it’s “almost” there to being the perfect business device. The intuitive interfaces, the easy-to-use app store integration, and natural gesture motions make the device a gem of simplistic computing. The consistency and enforcement of development standards helps alleviate any bottlenecks to downloading an app and using it immediately. Don’t get me wrong I still don’t condone the Marxist control that Apple has over the device, but since the devices are easily rooted it’s still an even playing field. Either way it goes the iPad is still the only tablet device you could ever need.