tablet device usage

We had discussed business proposal for iPad in our previous post. Now even WSJ takes a look at the case for Ipad’s in India. follow on:

How the iPad Model Can Work in India
This was first published on the India Chief Mentor blog.
By Alok Mittal

While Apple Inc. has focused its sales of the iPad in the West on home users, the most interesting market for iPad-like tablet devices in India could be small businesses and start-ups. Many of these businesses outside India’s tech sector haven’t adapted to the PC platform because of high initial investments, weak infrastructure and unreliable connectivity. Their usage could lead to improvements in management and efficiency.

These factors have been a stumbling block to the development of small businesses. The perceived intrusiveness of PCs has kept nontech businesses behind other countries in terms of using technology as a tool. For example, many small hotels use paper registers to manage reservations; some doctors have refrained from using PCs to record patient data; and the use of laptops in classrooms is almost nonexistent.

How the iPad Model Can Work in India – India Real Time – WSJ (21 May 2010)
read further: http://snipurl.com/wluht

iPad for business

iPad, apple’s touch table is an indicator of similar devices expected in the market. for rest of the article, i’ll refer to the group as Touch Tablets or TouchTab. Also, iPad has created enough controversy for me to use it.

For a normal user, the device is perfect. Needs no in-depth knowledge of computers, no need to know how drivers work, how to configure printer, how to configure mail client.. in short it a simple plug and play internet device. browse, mails, songs, movies, books and some apps (120K to be precise) – if you think one needs anything else then TouchTab is not the device. However, my recent transformation from a student to a professional has taught me that this is all I need. Having said that, the same needs could be  met by a net book, which might not have a touchscreen, but definitely more features, and a good physical keyboard.

Success in the consumer segment is somewhat granted, given Apple’s brand value and the hype around it, unless they device performs poorly on expectations. However, are businesses ready for it? It would for sure not replace the desktops. Mac in creative fields and windows elsewhere will still rule the office space, albeit with faster/efficient processors and bigger screens. Office IT hardware business is more focused on performance than on the size of machines. But there are still many places where an TouchTab can come in handy.

Conference rooms – replace those big desktops with a sleek TouchTab. connect it to projector, and it’ll do most of the things a regular conference room desktop/laptop/netbook does. The problem is, a smartphone can do the same as screen size and keyboard is not a big constraint.

Field engineers handbook – or should i say, hand-ibook. Field engineers, architects and professionals can easily carry the device and replace the maps, books, regulatory guides with an TouchTab for quick reference. Net books can’t serve the purpose as they need a base to be kept upon, while a Touchtab provides flexibilty in use.

In-flight entertainment – This is an obvious one. It provides a wonderful device to be replace those crappy touch screens in flights.
There are def hundreds of applications for businesses, but that would become clear only when the device becomes public. Please let us know if you have any ideas for the device.

further read:

• http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/31/ipad-moms-next-computer/
• http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/apple-tablet-full-coverage/
• http://blog.codeguru.com/blog/2010/01/the-best-ipad-review-yet—and.html