303 Software

iPad as a laptop replacement: Fail

by Kate

Another toy has arrived at 303 Software: the iPad. Purchased for the purpose of testing applications this little beauty has been used for another purpose: working remotely. As a technology company 303 employees often choose to work from home or whatever other location suits their current needs. Working from home is fine, but when working remotely dragging around a laptop can be somewhat cumbersome especially when long flights are part of the equation. As such, we decided to experiment with using the iPad as a primary work device. Managing Director Stefan Ramsbott took the iPad international on his trip to Germany and I took it a little closer to home on a trip to Salt Lake City.

The conclusion? Although the iPad is a beautiful piece of technology it does not replace a laptop and lacks in several key business needs. That being said, the iPad is an amazing piece of hardware for entertainment and basic use. Here are a few conclusions from my weekend away:

Pros:

1. Users enjoy the feeling of awesomeness associated with having a new apple product. Please see this informative article from The Oatmeal for more information.

2. Portability: It is compact and light yet still has a big enough screen to be useful.

3. Battery life: It can be used for a full day of work, play, and movie watching without dying or requiring a recharge. When battery life is low, the iPad recharges fairly quickly.

4. Netflix App: We all need to catch up on Dexter sometimes. In general, there are several useful apps on the iPad, but the majority of them appear to revolve around entertainment or basic information needs rather than core productivity (and those apps that seem to be directed towards productivity don't work that well).

5. Display: As per usual, this apple product has a beautiful sharp display and intuitive navigation. In addition, the speaker on the iPad was surprisingly loud and clear.

Cons:

1. Outdated software: The iPad isn't slated for OS 4 until this fall which means that the iPad can not run multiple applications at once. Like many workers I need to be able to run Skype to communicate with my team while accessing other programs to take notes, send emails, and make updates. I found not being able to run multiple apps at the same time to be crippling.

2. Sub-Par Apps: Some applications just don't work anywhere near as well as the real thing on the iPad. For example, skype would not allow me to conference in multiple parties, open links within conversations in the iPad browser, or have skype take up the entire screen. When skype did expand to spawn the entire screen it became pixelated and difficult to read.

3. This is obvious, but there is no way to plug in USB devices to access data on an external hard drive etc.

Overall, the iPad is great for what is it meant for and should not be pushed into a work device. Next time I fly I'll be forced to drag my MacBook through security. I won't be buying an iPad for myself anytime soon...but I may be asking for a Droid based tablet for Christmas.

Posted in iPad, MacBook, Droid, Android, Skype, Travel, Apple on 8/25/2010