Real Ways for Small Business

Our iPad Review

The iPad is a huge success.  According to the research firm iSupply, Apple will sell roughly 13 million iPads this year.  Many of these are being used by small businesses.

Over the last few months we’ve interviewed a number of small businesses who use iPads.  We also use iPads at Emergent Research. 

The consensus view of the folks we talked to is the iPad is a great computing device for some applications, but is not for everyone.  Also, the iPad has not fully replaced notebook computers for most of the people we interviewed. 

The major advantages of the iPad are: 

• It’s instant on and very fast
• It has a long battery life (most folks say they get 8-10 hours per charge)
• It’s light and easy to carry
• It’s very easy to use
• The touch screen interface makes web browsing quick and efficient
• The huge number of iPad applications

This combination of features makes it a great tool for web browsing and media consumption.  It is also an excellent note taking device and email client.  And the attractive screen and graphics makes it a useful demo tool.

The major disadvantages we heard are:

• Limited or no support for most office and business applications
• Limited storage and printer support
• Limited ability to import and export data
• Touch screen keyboard hard to use
• Lack of multitasking

These views match our experience using the iPad.  Browsing is quick and easy and the iPad has replaced my notebook for use in meetings and local travel. 

But on overnight trips or longer, I leave my iPad at home and take my notebook.  I also rarely use the iPad while at my desk. 

The reason is simple.  While the iPad is great for consuming content, it is not a good for creating content.  Nor does it fully support all my business application needs.  Because of this, I still need my notebook. 

We think the iPad is best for mobile workers focused on quick and easy access to email, social media, web browsing and simple business application use.   

For people who are only occasionally mobile, work with large documents or spreadsheets, or need access to traditional business applications, a notebook is probably the better choice.

Another consideration is most of the iPad users we talked to continue to need and use their notebook.  Adding another computing device is costly and can be confusing. 

But most felt the iPad was worth it, and our return on our iPad investment has definitely been strongly positive.

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Tags: Ipad, Ipad Review