I couldn’t let another Small Business Saturday go by without talking about the iPad. There is still a lot of controversy as to whether this device can replace your laptop as the essential business device. Even The Wall Street Journal found the iPad to be very easy to use for writing emails. When it comes to office applications this is where most people have little experience.
First – let’s get the facts out there. Microsoft does not have a version of Office for the iPad. Will they do it? Your guess is as good as mine. The more Apple devices Microsoft supports, the less people depend on Windows…and Windows is kinda a big deal to Microsoft!
What most people miss though is that Apple does have their own office suite available for download on the iPad and it’s not half bad. I’m not sure I’d write a novel on it however how much are we all doing besides email anyway? Keynote is a great presentation app that I actually like a lot more than Power Point. You can easily make a presentation or edit and existing one on the iPad and the touch-screen actually makes it much easier to do the layout. Numbers, the Apple version of Excel doesn’t really stand-up to the real thing so serious number crunchers will probably start going-into Excel-withdrawal pretty quickly.
Here’s the thing though, I could go on and on about all of the amazing business apps available for the iPad…but it actually doesn’t matter. It all comes down to one thing – email. I don’t know about the rest of you but email has become the most essential business technology ever made – and the iPad does email just fine! Sure, from time to time I edit word docs or create small docs myself but otherwise an email client and good web browser takes care of about 99% of my needs.
So does the iPad mean business? I think people may be underestimating what a useful business tool the iPad is. With instant-on (no boot-up time at all), excellent battery life, and the ability to catch-up on your email then switch to an episode of Two and a Half Men – the iPad has what most business road warriors like myself need to get the job done and then some!
What do you think? Will the iPad change the way you work and make you more efficient or are you sticking with your trusty laptop? Comment and let your voice be heard!
Oh and if you haven’t seen “Will it Blend?” blend the iPad then you really have to watch the video below. Hey – it’s Saturday night, you shouldn’t be reading geeky blogs like mine anyways. Now go pour yourself a stiff drink and get ready to be amazed at the video below:
