Amazon have shown great humility as well as great business sense this week with the announcement they are to list the Apple iPad, competitor of the Amazon Kindle, on their web site. The only online retailer to list the iPad other than Apple, they are obviously looking to dominate the eBook market with their popular Kindle format. The Kindle application works wonderfully on the iPad offering a great reading experience for users and potential profits for Amazon.
Since buying my iPad I have found my use of the device has escalated, and more than this, it has become the default device for Internet access at home. But it’s not jut about browsing the web and reading.
The iPad starts it’s day at the breakfast table. A quick email check, then a flick through Twitter using Osfoora, my Twitter App of choice. I then read my version of the days news using Reeder, an App that pulls through my Google Reader feeds. Anything of direct interest that may be useful to others I Tweet directly from the App, longer articles will be sent to Instapaper for reading later.
In the office the iPad acts as an extra screen but it’s real potential is in meetings. I will often be showing email marketing or web page design examples. In the past I would have printed off reams of paper only for them to be binned by the end of the meeting. Now I can pass the iPad around the room, show multiple examples, as well as access further documents quickly should I need to.
Out of the office the mobile capabilities are huge, using WiFi or 3G I access the office through the Citrix App, allowing me to use Lotus Notes, Word, Excel as well as access our aged IBM iSeries, a central ‘green screen’ database. I use DocsToGo to access my Google Docs, Evernote for note taking, Insight for access to Basecamp projects and the WordPress App to post to my work or personal blog. Dropbox allows me to share files with all my systems and others whilst 1Password gives me access to all my passwords no matter what device I am using.
I have recently downloaded GoToMeeting and WebEx but am waiting for my next webinar to try these out.
Did I mention that if I do need to print, I can do so with the Print n Share App which connects wirelessly to my network printer.
Even in my downtime the iPad is at hand, Winnie the Pooh is a popular bed time story found by default in the iBooks App, whilst I personally prefer the Kindle App for reading. In fact I now do all of my reading on the iPad and the only frustration is that some books are not yet available in Kindle format, some publishers are surely losing out?
When I am not reading I love studying chess and the iPad has a number of great chess Apps. In my opinion tChess Pro is the superior chess App for study due to it’s flexibility in how you can load previously played games. The iPad Shredder Chess App is also great, especially it’s puzzle mode.
Other notable Apps are Ebay, BBC News and the Telegraph newspaper. It shouldn’t be forgotten that browsing the web on the iPad is also a great experience.
The iPad for me is far from a fad or a ‘device to be seen with’, it is both a practical business tool and leisure device that compliments rather than replaces a standard Mac or PC. The fact that my 3 year old can use it just as comfortably as my 65 year old Father in Law is an added compliment to the simplicity in design achieved by Apple.
How do you use your iPad?
