Using the iPad at work

[caubeck]

A lot of threads give the impression that the iPad is merely a device for media consumption with a bit of word processing on the side. This is not my experience.

At work I write and translate documents. The iPad gives me access to all the dictionaries and reference material I need, plus Google Translate should I require it. Of the six or seven apps I downloaded for writing I am using just two or three, which cover my needs, and the iPad is fast enough to switch between applications when I need to. The virtual keyboard does not slow me down, because I have typed quickly with two or three fingers for over ten years and am unlikely to change now. I have the iPad on a small wooden bookstand on my desk, which cost 10 euros.

Most of the documents I deal with on a daily basis arrive via email, and I was pleased to see Apple lets me open them with virtually any of the apps I have installed. I can covert docs to pdfs and vice versa and annotate on any format, I am not worried about receiving documents I can't deal with.

Between jobs I read or surf the net.

I only need to use a laptop for converting video files to MP4, torrenting and printing, so I can stay on the iPad most of the time and not take both with me. All of my other material is in Good Reader.

This is how the iPad has taken over from my HP 5101 netbook, which in turn substituted the laptop. The experience is more pleasant, the excellent battery life allows me to work in the café downstairs or anywhere else if I want to, and I like the fact that I don't need to tweak or configure anything in order to get things done. I'm not distracted by antivirus updates, java updates, Adobe updates, Windows updates, the battery meter or anything else.

I sometimes record lectures and classes (I teach English, too), and the app I downloaded for the task is perfect.

In my free time I am a writer and researcher and I study Chinese, so all the above applies to my leisure interests too.

 

[raremage]

Nice post. I find it to be a great addition to my business tool belt as well.

Now be prepared to get flamed with people telling you how you shouldn't be using it thatnway, it is just for media and playing around, not a serious productivity tool.

 

[Peter Harrison]

It seems that the iPad isn't simply good or bad for work. It depends on the job. And really, the same can be said about a laptop or desktop. They are great for some jobs, not for others. It sounds like the iPad is perfect for the OP and everything you're doing sounds great! (Except using Google Translate... yuk!)

For work on the device, my background is science/entertainment/Japanese language. I also want to blog on it and then all the normal things (video, games, email, etc). I still haven't got one yet, but I've played with other peoples and researched various apps and it looks like I might have a really handy tool for what I do as well.

For other people, the iPad will be fun but not much use for getting work done. Oh well.

 

[MacModMachine]

The iPad has quickly become indispensable for me, all of my repair manuals are on it in PDF, it has tons of usefulness to my daily work schedule.

It and my iPhone make my work day very easy.

It's a great work tool.a

 

[docal97]

I use the iPad at work to write medical prescriptions. The small form factor of the device makes it ideal for use in my office.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Virtually useless to me at work, but it is still really cool.
Can't access any corporate apps; no Java makes it tough.

 

[komquat]

two or three, which cover my needs, and the iPad is fast enough to switch between applications when I need to. The virtual keyboard does not slow me down, because I have typed quickly with two or three fingers for over ten years and am unlikely to change now. I have the iPad on a small wooden bookstand on my desk, which cost 10 euros.

Most of the documents I deal with on a daily basis arrive via email, and I was pleased to see Apple lets me open them with virtually any of the apps I have installed. I can covert docs to pdfs and vice versa and annotate on any format, I am not worried about receiving documents I can't deal with.

I am currently trying to get mine to fit well for me too. I would like to know the 3 most used apps for you at work, and which allow you to take documents out of emails and convert to pdfs.

Thanks

 

[anthonymoody]

Another in a growing list of posts fromm folks pleasantly surprised at how capable the iPad can be as a productivity tool, particularly if you're willing to work around some of the workflow issues.

My dream app: goodreader's feature set, with a UI more like air sharing's, air sharing's printing capability, and office2hd's ability to create, edit and save office docs. Priceless

 

[raremage]

I am currently trying to get mine to fit well for me too. I would like to know the 3 most used apps for you at work, and which allow you to take documents out of emails and convert to pdfs.

Thanks

You can open Docs and save them as PDF using Pages, though rumor has it there is some loss of fidelity versus doing the same thing in the full-blown version of Pages or Word on a Mac or PC.

I tend to use Goodreader for reviewing documents unless I need to edit, in which case I use the iWork suite.

 

[jimboutilier]

I travel a lot and used to use a MacBook Air as my primary machine. I love the MBA and its mobility and performance is terrific but it does have limits with RAM and SDD space that I bump up against (2gb ram and 128gb ssd) so it can't be my only machine.

Since I got the iPad I find that I travel with my MacBook (4gb/500gb) which tends to stay at whatever desk or office I'm working at, and it iPad goes to my many meetings with me.

While I certainly could not only use the iPad it makes a terrific mobile device that serves all of my needs while I'm away from my desk and that has provided an opportunity for a more powerful laptop for my desk.

Goodreader is nice, Pages is ok (except for the horrid lack of control in landscape mode), but I really like iAnnotate to review documents I convert to PDF's on my laptop and plunk on iDisk (they usually come in as Word docs with comments and change bars which unfortunately the iPad Pages does not support).

 

[mj1108]

I finally brought my iPad to work this week (after I've had it for a month, I know...). I work in IT for a rather large school district and we had been looking at different solutions so PE teachers could take attendance online and do grading online outside (all web based). Over the last year we've seen a fair number of netbooks and such and all had their share of problems (weight, bulkiness, can't see the screen, etc..). As it turned out, everyone here was impressed with the iPad for this task as it solves virtually every problem we had encountered. So now it looks like we're going to be looking at purchasing a few iPads for the district since I inadvertently sold them on it (and everyone here now wants one for themselves).

 

[poloponies]

It's a kick-ass desktop calculator (with an inflation adjusted price equal to the first TI calculators).

 

[Lucascsula]

As a Public Speaking/Interpersonal Professor, the Ipad is unbelievable. Why? When I lecture, I have multimedia ready to go on the device. I usually walk around and show students pictures or an example of a speech. The Ipad comes especially in handy when I need to check student assignments quickly...=)

 

[lilo777]

A lot of threads give the impression that the iPad is merely a device for media consumption with a bit of word processing on the side. This is not my experience.

At work I write and translate documents. The iPad gives me access to all the dictionaries and reference material I need, plus Google Translate should I require it. Of the six or seven apps I downloaded for writing I am using just two or three, which cover my needs, and the iPad is fast enough to switch between applications when I need to. The virtual keyboard does not slow me down, because I have typed quickly with two or three fingers for over ten years and am unlikely to change now. I have the iPad on a small wooden bookstand on my desk, which cost 10 euros.

Most of the documents I deal with on a daily basis arrive via email, and I was pleased to see Apple lets me open them with virtually any of the apps I have installed. I can covert docs to pdfs and vice versa and annotate on any format, I am not worried about receiving documents I can't deal with.

Between jobs I read or surf the net.

I only need to use a laptop for converting video files to MP4, torrenting and printing, so I can stay on the iPad most of the time and not take both with me. All of my other material is in Good Reader.

This is how the iPad has taken over from my HP 5101 netbook, which in turn substituted the laptop. The experience is more pleasant, the excellent battery life allows me to work in the café downstairs or anywhere else if I want to, and I like the fact that I don't need to tweak or configure anything in order to get things done. I'm not distracted by antivirus updates, java updates, Adobe updates, Windows updates, the battery meter or anything else.

I sometimes record lectures and classes (I teach English, too), and the app I downloaded for the task is perfect.

In my free time I am a writer and researcher and I study Chinese, so all the above applies to my leisure interests too.

While someone may find use for iPad at work your situation does not look like a good fit at all. Unless you spend more than, say, 3 hours working in the cafe (when laptop battery life might have entered into equation), it is obvious that the best solution for you by far is the laptop. With bigger screen, multitasking and real keyboard everyone would be much more productive at the kind of work you do. Then on the other hand I have some friends in Europe occupying government jobs who have very little work to do each day. I think they would not mind using an iPad. Productivity does not matter for them. In fact, the slower they work the easier it is to kill the time during the work hours I am not implying that this is your situation at all. And since you mentioned all those automatic software updates (which on average require one mouse click per month) I believe that you take productivity very seriously .

 

[blg123]

How does everyone use the iPad in meetings? Handwrite or tap out notes?

 

[danpass]

remoting in increases productivity further.

 

[AJayAgliolio]

How does everyone use the iPad in meetings? Handwrite or tap out notes?

Today was the first day that I broke the iPad out at our weekly meeting and I used the Penultimate app and the Pogo Sketch stylus and it worked great (albeit a bit sloppier than my normal notes.)

 

[bocomo]

While someone may find use for iPad at work your situation does not look like a good fit at all. Unless you spend more than, say, 3 hours working in the cafe (when laptop battery life might have entered into equation), it is obvious that the best solution for you by far is the laptop. With bigger screen, multitasking and real keyboard everyone would be much more productive at the kind of work you do. Then on the other hand I have some friends in Europe occupying government jobs who have very little work to do each day. I think they would not mind using an iPad. Productivity does not matter for them. In fact, the slower they work the easier it is to kill the time during the work hours I am not implying that this is your situation at all. And since you mentioned all those automatic software updates (which on average require one mouse click per month) I believe that you take productivity very seriously .

are you seriously telling him/her that what they have described from their own experience and preferences is wrong?!

makes you sound like quite a jerk

 

[fjfjfjfj]

are you seriously telling him/her that what they have described from their own experience and preferences is wrong?!

makes you sound like quite a jerk

I don't normally like to pile on or use such strong language, but I have to agree here, how can you tell someone else what they should and should not feel about a given product.

 

[lilo777]

are you seriously telling him/her that what they have described from their own experience and preferences is wrong?!

makes you sound like quite a jerk

Name calling aside... Don't you agree with me? When someone is telling me that when working at the desk, he/she is more productive using iPad than laptop aren't you curious how that is possible? Maybe someone knows something about iPad that I do not. I want to learn.

 

[GamecockMac]

are you seriously telling him/her that what they have described from their own experience and preferences is wrong?!

makes you sound like quite a jerk

More like an trolling Apple-hater (just read this person's past posts) than a jerk, but basically you're in the ballpark.

 

[caubeck]

While someone may find use for iPad at work your situation does not look like a good fit at all. Unless you spend more than, say, 3 hours working in the cafe (when laptop battery life might have entered into equation), it is obvious that the best solution for you by far is the laptop. With bigger screen, multitasking and real keyboard everyone would be much more productive at the kind of work you do. Then on the other hand I have some friends in Europe occupying government jobs who have very little work to do each day. I think they would not mind using an iPad. Productivity does not matter for them. In fact, the slower they work the easier it is to kill the time during the work hours I am not implying that this is your situation at all. And since you mentioned all those automatic software updates (which on average require one mouse click per month) I believe that you take productivity very seriously .

At work I often need to make fast translations or corrections, and lifting the iPad from my bag or off the desk, click to email, then open in, say, Pages or iAnnotate, do my thing and then send it back finished, is more pleasant with this device. Having used everything from a desktop PC to a PDA, I have enough experience to know what feels better in my hands.

It certainly isn't slower this way. I would not say it's faster either, except that booting up Windows or hoping the netbook/laptop comes back from sleep or hibernation without acting sluggish becomes a thing of a past with the iPad's instant-on. Yes, PC automatic updates and the battery meter annoy me, as does using the laptop on low power just so it lasts longer. I love the simplified, reliable user experience this new device provides day in, day out. But don't think it's dumbing me down: I have enough opportunity to waste time retweaking and configuring the laptop at home, which is my real work horse and database.

Reading texts is an important part of my work, and of my life in general. Having computing power in a device which has more in common with my Sony eReader than a traditional computer makes sense to me.

I spend plenty of time working away from my desk (I give English classes in public places, bars, restaurants, etc.) but I always need to be available for urgent emails. In my free time I sit in cafes to compose my own articles or read, which probably comes from years of living in a country where the weather allows that. A few nights ago I was sitting at a table outside a café at 11:30 pm, reading and answering emails. The iPad certainly makes it less of a hassle to set up.

I had hoped to find a suitable Windows slate, but this year at least Apple won my cash.

 

[caubeck]

Name calling aside... Don't you agree with me? When someone is telling me that when working at the desk, he/she is more productive using iPad than laptop aren't you curious how that is possible? Maybe someone knows something about iPad that I do not. I want to learn.[

I work in a large department on a single floor where I don't need to sit at my own desk all day and spend a lot of time sitting next to other people, and in a meeting room, as well as the public places where I give conversation classes to English learners. I'm not tied to a table. I'm sorry if you are, it's the luck of the draw I guess.

 

[gopherhockey]

My work experience with iPad has been both good and bad, the bad being largely because of our being very wintel centric from the documents we use to even our wireless network. (by policy we do not allow a device on corporate wirless if it isn't a member of the AD domain, and our guest wireless requires a userid/password every day and is off limits to employees)

I primarily use it going from meeting to meeting... instead of dragging a laptop around, the iPad does the trick for looking up emails or even viewing documents. If the meeting requires creation of content I have to revert back to a PC. While my job relies on large excel and visio files it will be tough to get away from a PC.

It is a bit of a distraction in every meeting though since its so new still and everyone seems to want to spend the first 15 minutes of a meeting talking about the iPad. Its been fun but its getting old now.. and while I like to help sell the device at some point I just want to use it.

 

[lilo777]

Name calling aside... Don't you agree with me? When someone is telling me that when working at the desk, he/she is more productive using iPad than laptop aren't you curious how that is possible? Maybe someone knows something about iPad that I do not. I want to learn.

I work in a large department on a single floor where I don't need to sit at my own desk all day and spend a lot of time sitting next to other people, and in a meeting room, as well as the public places where I give conversation classes to English learners. I'm not tied to a table. I'm sorry if you are, it's the luck of the draw I guess.

That's the part that was missing in your original post. Whether it's a good or bad luck not to be tied to a table is of course a matter of preference