By Brian Zarzycki, MP Integrated Solutions
The latest Apple consumer and potential business product line has released. The question everyone has – is this just another cool toy from Apple or can a corporate user be able to start carrying less and less for their meetings?
These next statements concluded through the assumption that you are using either Wifi or AT&T 3G. What can the iPad do for me:
- Access all my different email accounts (which are the same accounts that you can access on your iPhone).
- It can browse the Internet and does a very good job through Safari. Or if you browse the Internet without the free download of Opera mini. Both run as if you were actually on a Mac or a PC.
- Organizes your contacts and daily appointments flawlessly.
- It runs your favorite free social media apps – Facebook, My Space, Twitter, etc.
- Need access back to your data in the office and have a Citrix server (there’s a free app for that). Don’t have Citrix – maybe Logmein or VNC will do the trick.
- Need to create a new document or spreadsheet – purchase Pages and Numbers or for the Microsoft in you purchase Documents to Go.
- The iPad has over 200,000 apps to choose from.
But you ask what are the flaws. Well here are my top concerns:
- Using the built-in keyboard of the iPad – I realize the importance of spending an extra $69 for the keyboard dock or $29 for iPad dock and connect the iPad to a bluetooth keyboard (typically another $69). The main problem comes from trying to use the spacebar. Words end being run together and a lot of misspelling. Using the keyboard dock or wireless device is just like working on any other MAC.
- The keyboard dock or connecting a bluetooth keyboard to your iPad in the iPad dock gives you the inability to turn the iPad to landscape view.
- Inability to run or switch to different applications (which is suppose to be fixed with the iPad OS 4 release come this fall).
- Inability to print. Now remember you could purchase a third party application that runs on your Mac or PC by sharing the installed printers, but you cannot print directly to a printer typically without the software running.
- If you thought that having the AT&T 3G iPad would allow you to stream Netflix movies or watch your favorite ABC show, think again – AT&T has banned these apps from running unless you are connected to a Wifi location. Their network cannot handle the performance requirements needed for streaming the movies. In addition, even YouTube videos have a decreased video quality.
All in all – if you used your iPhone for just about everything, like I do – Word, Excel editing, Internet browsing, Evernote, music and the vast amount of other applications – you will greatly love the iPad.
Is it worth the cost the Apple is selling the different models at? I am not 100% convinced that they are worth that much. I have been able to narrow my baggage down from a 20lb laptop bag to just an ipad carrying case. With the purchase of some excellent software, I am able to run 80% of what i normally did on a Mac and PC.
In closing, remember this is version 1 of the iPad, its little brother the iPhone is now in its third version of hardware (with a potential 4th release this summer) in conjunction with the fourth version of the OS. Imagine what the iPad will be on its fourth version.
