IPad for business ... I am ... Anyone else?

[DeuceDeuce]

I'm in real estate and I'm using mine like crazy. Instead of printing all my MLS listings when I go out I just store then in my dropbox and have them with me. Saving paper and feel very professional. I'm also able to login into the MLS and check on things on the go. Perfect tool for me!

 

[JodyK]

I could see how it would be a valuable tool for real estate. Preview listings ... Map with street view, comps and tax records etc.

 

[Mellofello808]

I'm a technician for a large communications company.

We do service calls for businesses all over the state. I use my personal wifi iPad to configure router settings, responding to longer emails, submit invoices, kill serious amounts of time, and locate job sites in maps (street view is invaluable).

I have a company issued tough book with a 3G card with me at all times. My main gripes with the laptop is that it is heavy, and windows takes forever to boot. Most of our system has migrated to the web, so in many instances I'm programming with just my iPhone/blackberry. I really have no need for the laptop.

Our management has taken notice, and We are looking into replacing our expensive tough book/3G card setups for all techs in the field. The buy in for an iPad is $1000 less per unit, and the monthly cost is $35 less.

When you multiply those savings by 150 it adds up to big bucks.

For me it is perfect. Any field that requires serious correspondence, or real computing should hold off, but if you live on the road the iPad is a godsend.

 

[JodyK]

Any field that requires serious correspondence, or real computing should hold off, but if you live on the road the iPad is a godsend.

Very well stated.

 

[THFourteen]

i briefly toyed with the idea of taking my ipad to meetings to type up minutes but i couldnt get past the fact that everyone would think that i looked like a total gimp

so sticking to pen and paper for now

 

[Halon X]

i briefly toyed with the idea of taking my ipad to meetings to type up minutes but i couldnt get past the fact that everyone would think that i looked like a total gimp

so sticking to pen and paper for now

We purchased iPad's for all our employees (8 total), now those who don't bring theirs to meetings look like gimps...

The most notable improvement during meetings is that it has brought down the walls of laptop screens that normally filled the conference table making for a more personable environment.

 

[DaneGuy]

We purchased iPad's for all our employees (8 total), now those who don't bring theirs to meetings look like gimps...

The most notable improvement during meetings is that it has brought down the walls of laptop screens that normally filled the conference table making for a more personable environment.

What do they use to take notes?

 

[zoman504]

Maybe it's my age (only 25), but I do not understand what the deal is with people worrying about wth others might think when they break out their iPads at work, in meetings, etc.

Earlier this week we had a vendor put on a "boot camp" for our company and it finally gave me a chance to put the iPad through its first note-taking, business-setting test. And I can promise you when I whipped it out, while everyone else was setting up power cables and wifi cards, no one thought I was a "gimp".

In fact, at one point in the presentation, the speaker lost his wifi connection and asked to use my iPad, which was still connected, to show examples. So I allowed him to pass it around the room for others to view on!

Who cares, you spent your hard earned money on it, why not get everything out of it.

 

[Izzybeff]

Yes and I can't wait for it to get here.

My husband & I have our own business selling custom window coverings. I will be using the iPad to show samples of window coverings, different styles, etc.

I will also be using it to quote all our products online and won't have to worry any longer about looking everything up in our pricing books and making mistakes on whether something comes in a certain length, width, and color.

We also won't have the customers looking over our shoulders as we are pricing their products as i'll be able to enter all the info in the iPad as I follow along after Dh while he's measuring.

We've been looking for something that would give us internet when we need it without the $60 a month charge.. This will be perfect.

 

[MacDryCleaner]

I want to use it more ....

I am a commercial dry cleaner. We do dry cleaning and laundry service for hotels and businesses. I want to take my iPad with me on client calls, take notes, but I am having the hardest time finding a REALLY GOOD note taking app. Basically, I want to take notes with a stylus type pen, or my finger, and then later convert the notes.

Right now, I load up my iPad with all my contracts, price structures for different locations and accounts receivable info (so if a customer is complaining and they coincidentally are behind in their bill it makes for a nice 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine' kind of thing).

But, I have to share this idea with you all: The other day I bought a wifi ipad. Put a presentation for my potential client on the ipad. When the presentation was over I gave them the ipad. I got the account. Estimated sales for the first year will be about 800,000. I think I made a great last minute decision in giving them the ipad. I suggest the technique for trying to land the 'big fish'.

Thanks

 

[DaneGuy]

I am a commercial dry cleaner. We do dry cleaning and laundry service for hotels and businesses. I want to take my iPad with me on client calls, take notes, but I am having the hardest time finding a REALLY GOOD note taking app. Basically, I want to take notes with a stylus type pen, or my finger, and then later convert the notes.

Right now, I load up my iPad with all my contracts, price structures for different locations and accounts receivable info (so if a customer is complaining and they coincidentally are behind in their bill it makes for a nice 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine' kind of thing).

But, I have to share this idea with you all: The other day I bought a wifi ipad. Put a presentation for my potential client on the ipad. When the presentation was over I gave them the ipad. I got the account. Estimated sales for the first year will be about 800,000. I think I made a great last minute decision in giving them the ipad. I suggest the technique for trying to land the 'big fish'.

Thanks

Whoa. They'll get my iPad when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

But, I have to share this idea with you all: The other day I bought a wifi ipad. Put a presentation for my potential client on the ipad. When the presentation was over I gave them the ipad. I got the account. Estimated sales for the first year will be about 800,000. I think I made a great last minute decision in giving them the ipad. I suggest the technique for trying to land the 'big fish'.

Thanks

This may work well for smaller, privately held companies, but if you try stuff like this any more with larger companies you'll get blacklisted for trying to go around their internal ethics policies. I tried something once where we loaded up iPod touches with a video showcasing our work and all but one of them were returned with a "Sorry, but this violates our ethics policy...." statements.

I used to do the same thing with high-end drivers (golf clubs for the uninitiated). We'd send out the empty box for the driver with an introductory card and offer to bring them the driver itself if they'd meet with us. It worked very well except for those companies with ethics policies in place.

Damn business ethics...ruining our schtick!

 

[Streethawk]

i was at Citrix Synergy last week. And this was a demo at the keynote...

http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/2213

Looks like Apple needs to start working on this one for the home. But if the enterprise is using XenDesktop or XenApp, this is definitely possible.

Oooh, this is cool. We've just rolled out XenApp for 200 trial users (of over 100,000). Hmmm, can i really make a business case for iPads for flexible workers?

 

[THFourteen]

Maybe it's my age (only 25), but I do not understand what the deal is with people worrying about wth others might think when they break out their iPads at work, in meetings, etc.

Earlier this week we had a vendor put on a "boot camp" for our company and it finally gave me a chance to put the iPad through its first note-taking, business-setting test. And I can promise you when I whipped it out, while everyone else was setting up power cables and wifi cards, no one thought I was a "gimp".

In fact, at one point in the presentation, the speaker lost his wifi connection and asked to use my iPad, which was still connected, to show examples. So I allowed him to pass it around the room for others to view on!

Who cares, you spent your hard earned money on it, why not get everything out of it.

actually i just started a new job so i'm being careful to make a good impression this week.

That and the fact that i'm relatively junior and a lot of the meetings i go to are with senior portfolio managers, who are essentially our clients.

I can't have people thinking that i'm not taking the meetings seriously / taking the piss. maybe when they are more prevelant i can use one, but at the moment very few people in emea have em!

 

[ScrewTheDaisies]

I use it for editing, which got a lot easier after I jailbroke it and installed BTstack Mouse. The touch screen works awesome for most things, but when it comes to editing 80,000 words of press releases down to 4,500 words of news, point and click is a godsend. The only other thing I really wish for when I'm editing is a word processing program with a "change case" function.

I'll also be writing PHP code on the iPad after I finish a few projects I'm working on.

I'd like to find a nice app for keeping track of what advertising goes where when and the production schedules for our various media. I haven't taken the time yet to see if there's anything that could do that (in a way that I can work with--that's always the tricky part. )

 

[Scuba-EMT]

I do program management for the Navy...I use sound notes extensively to record the audio of meetings, while I type my version of the minutes. Sound notes allows me to revisit the meeting to catch the salient points that I missed in my notes ( I do information everyone that I am recording the meeting ). Also the ability to place huge PDF files in IDisk and then open them for review is a huge plus. Having the ability to keyword search an acquisition or contract regulation in real time is one of the reasons that I bought an IPad in the first place. I find new business related tasks daily that I am migrating to the IPad.

Cheers,

 

[iLuvMyMacToo]

I'm a freelance professional makeup artist. My iPad will be used to carry my portfolio, store appointments, note taking during production meetings, sketching out ideas, emails, web, etc

 

[zoman504]

actually i just started a new job so i'm being careful to make a good impression this week.

That and the fact that i'm relatively junior and a lot of the meetings i go to are with senior portfolio managers, who are essentially our clients.

I can't have people thinking that i'm not taking the meetings seriously / taking the piss. maybe when they are more prevelant i can use one, but at the moment very few people in emea have em!

Yea, I can understand if you are just starting out. And my response wasn't meant to be directed at you personally. I've heard it a lot of times on this forum, that people were afraid to break out their ipad or felt embarrassed. Just enjoy it lol!