Do Consultants Need An iPad For Business?

Apple’s new iPad tablet won’t replace your laptop and you won’t pull it out of your pocket (or bag) to text a client if you’re stuck in traffic. But as a consultant, it might add some efficiencies to your business. Here are some ways the iPad might be able to help you streamline your day.

Convenience

When traveling distances or locally, lightweight technology is just plain convenient. If you find it’s a bother to lug a laptop down long airport corridors or if you’re tired of dragging it to meetings, you’ll appreciate the weight and size of the iPad. The diagonal screen is 9.7 inches, so you can actually ges something done. Yet the two models weigh in at 1.5 and 1.6 pounds and it’s razor thin—0.5 inches, making it quite portable.

The user interface is as slick as the iPhone, but it has multitouch capabilities. For input, the iPad has a virtual keyboard, that in landscape mode is almost full-sized. You can also buy a hardware keyboard as an accessory.

Power

There’s no question that the iPad is more powerful than your smart phone. The iPad comes comes with a 1-gigahertz (GHz) central processor and 10 hours of battery life. This is a lot of computing power from a little device.

Connectivity

The iPad is mainly about connectivity. One model comes equipped with wireless technology, meaning you can access the Internet from any Wi-Fi hotspot. The higher end version will also include 3G technology for  mobile access through AT&T (you’ll have to buy a plan). This will allow iPad users to access any website whether or not there’s wireless service.

In business terms, this means you can get email, check comments on your blog or use web-based applications from wherever you’re located. That’s the type of convenience that will come in handy for many consultants.

Application-Ready

In addition to accessing web-based applications, the core iPhone apps have been redesigned to work on the iPad. Apple says that 140,000 third party iPhone apps will work on the iPad too. Even better, Apple has an iPad version of  iWorks, the Apple Office Suite that includes a presentation, document creation and spreadsheet programs. And the iBook software will let you download digital publications, similar to a Kindle, but in color.

This means that you can pull out  your iPad if the need arises to for you to show your presentation, take notes when a discussion gets lengthy or show your portfolio of images or movies to potential clients. For large meetings, you can get an inexpensive VGA adapter and hook the iPad to most projectors.

What It’s Missing

Be aware that the iPad has at least four negatives:

1. It’s not equipped with a standard USB port. There is an adapter for USB connectivity, but currently, the iPad needs to be docked in it’s port to use it. Certainly, some third party adapters will solve this problem, but it’s one you should know about.
2. Similar to an iPod, you must sync your iPad with only one computer.
3. The iPad does not multi-task. You can only run one application at a time. This could hamper the efficiency of the work you get done on the iPad.
4. The iPad doesn’t support Flash. As you browse the web, sites that are created in Flash or movies and animations that are Flash-based won’t display on the iPad. Why Apple would choose this path is anyone’s guess.

Now that you’ve seen the advantages and drawbacks of this slick device, what do you think? Starting at $499, it might be an investment you want to make for your business. Leave your comments below.

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