Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
by Bill French on 01/04/10 at 12:03 am
Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.cialis sale
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Even with Apple’s soaring success across its entire product line, there’s still no shortage of people who can’t understand why its products are successful. Here’s a comment, in it’s totality, that I saw in an article about the new Apple iPad. It is representative of many people who struggle to step into the mindset of others and the roles they perform.
It’s just like an iPhone, only less portable and it doesn’t make phone calls. The iPad is going to fail.
Yes, it’s true, the iPad is less portable (than iPhone) and it doesn’t make calls. Setting aside the fact that it weighs only a
pound and it has many communications capabilities, I guess it’s not very portable compared to an iPhone, but it has far greater mobile agility than a 17 inch MacBook Pro. And indeed, it doesn’t make calls unless you rule out VoIP calls; surely a growing trend among users of all wifi-enabled devices.
People who spend little or no intellectual energy trying to envision what iPad is good at, tend to see only the most obvious details; its dimensions and features, an effortless exercise playing armchair analyst and reflective of this person’s ignorance. Imagine spending time thinking about how inadequate a landfill is as a golf course. It’s roughly the same size and has fewer features.
But the push-back I’ve read from people that tried tablets in the past, is hopelessly flawed. They tried them, didn’t like them, wanted a notebook instead. Well of course they did. Early tablets cost much more than a notebook and ill-equipped too. Their designers hadn’t considered all the requirements mostly because some of them were inconceivable. The iPad is cheap and likely to get cheaper and more compelling. It has a sizeable web services infrastructure that provides a seamless content, entertainment, and applications experience.
iPad users (and there will be millions of them in the very near future), will find some very interesting and purposeful scenarios where this new device improves business life and ultimately operations and profits. Here are five ways that iPad will transform the lives of small business owners, enterprise executives, and many roles in between.
1. Persuasion
As I’ve written before, iPad (among other things) is ideally suited for business people who need to make a point. iPad brings a new capacity to compel, educate, and create an understanding. The rich ability to present information (dynamic and static) will define this product as one of those tools that salespeople, biz dev professionals, and marketing executives will soon learn they cannot live without.
The newly reshaped Keynote for iPad will open the floodgates of new ways to tell stories. Marketing, business development, and simply anyone with an idea will find the iPad and Keynote a critical solution combination that will accelerate understanding and lead to new opportunities.
2. Just-In-Time Knowledge
Unlike notebooks (and netbooks) which must be purposefully setup with specific intent, iPad comes in an always-on form factor that eliminates some of the friction associated with consuming content. If your organization can present knowledge, schematics, data, and business intelligence on iPad, you stand a far better chance of building a more knowledgeable workforce.
iPad with iBookStore and other content services will revolutionize how we acquire and use information. Seamless integration from information providers direct to workers will bring the idea of just-in-time learning to the edge of reality.
3. Orientation Agility
I have a sense that business people who carry iPads and iPhones will quickly grasp where iPhone ceases to be effective and iPad not only picks up where iPhone leaves off, but expands operational possibilities in mobile and non-mobile environments.
When comparing functionality to a netbook or laptop, we tend to miss a key point – orientation agility. It’s difficult to demonstrate anything on a notebook one-on-one. If the screen is facing the person you are trying to communicate with, the presenter is unable to type or use the keyboard effectively. If the screen is aimed at the presenter, your interested party is visually challenged trying to see the presentation without some neck discomfort or screen glare.
In contrast, the iPad with a wireless keyboard and cradle, provides a setting for a comfortable and casual conversation with the content providing an elegant centerpiece. To make a point, you can also hand the tablet to your guest for prolonged inspection, a gesture that is borderline insulting with a 5 pound notebook.
Firearms come in different sizes to maximize agility, performance, and safety; iPhone, iPad, and desktop are the business battleground equivalent of pistol, uzi, and sniper rifle.
4. Do It Now, Do It Quickly
On a daily basis, iPhone users encounter situations where they could potentially address a business issue using iPhone’s connectivity, full-featured browser, and native apps. But we choose not to tackle certain mobile computing tasks because the iPhone’s size makes the undertaking a little challenging. iPad will change this – it will be very handy in its snug little flip-folio case, and it will be as quick and easy to dash off a moderate email message with a dominance of gestures and without mouse and keyboard.
The ability to tackle more issues while away from the office and in less time, will increase the propensity for users to help their organizations increase operational velocity, a key success factor in competitive markets.
5. Business Analytics
iPad will usher in an era of business performance understanding. iPhone gave us a taste of success in terms of building highly detailed presentations in a very small but compelling user interface. Coupled with always-on cheapest cialis prices connectivity, business data will be easily accessible and far more understandable; business analytics will finally arrive for ordinary everyday business folks like me.
As Quinton Alsbury said about the development of Roambi, “When we designed Roambi for the iPhone,” he said, “our motto was ‘don’t shrink, rethink’ – that is, rethink how to interact with information on a small screen. Similarly, as we optimize Roambi for the iPad, we’ll be rethinking how to leverage more screen real estate while still offering a better way to view, analyze and interact with critical business information on the go.”
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