Hi, I've had someone wonder about the post I just submitted. I actually wrote this a few days ago in Korea, but only just posted it online tonight. For those who know me and were surprised thinking I am still overseas, sorry. Got back last night, and it's great to be home with my friends and family. Later.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
iPad on my first business trip, a progress report
I'm just wrapping up a business trip through Asia with my new work supplied iPad 2. I've had the device now for approx 3 weeks in total, and for about 2 weeks "on the road." How's it gone so far? Very well! There have been a few minor hiccups, and I need to still further tweak the way I work with it, but I have little doubt that this device will become a regular part of my travelling kit, and my work in the office for that matter. One of the first things I did was track down a decent task manager and attempt to set myself up with a basic GTD workflow. I have raved about Mark Forster's Autofocus variants in the past, but I wanted to see if I could go digital again with my tasks. I ended up purchasing both Todo and Toodledo apps, but settled on Todo. I found the way it handles quick task entry, contexts and lists better suited the way I work and the fact that it can be as detailed and complicated or as simple as you need. My early impressions of Toodledo were fine, but it didn't seem to have the same flexibility, and just didn't feel right to me, which would probably stop me from using it as often as I should. Todo offers sync to Toodledo's web service, so it can still be used to back up your tasks, which I have chosen to do. I couldn't find my killer app, which would be one that syncs back to Outlook seemlessly. That would be the ultimate. Outlook, iPad and Blackberry all in sync for tasks. There are some ways to achieve this using various 3rd party utilities, subscription services etc, but nothing that is simple and secure in one app. Perhaps one day... I also grabbed a mind mapping app as this is my preferred way to make meeting notes, and plan meetings, reports and presentations. After some research I grabbed iThoughtsHD. If you are a keen mind mapper, stop reading this blog now, and purchase yourself an iPad and an app. This device is easily the much immediate, fun and effective way to quickly get a mind map together. I won't do a full review here, but iThoughtsHD imports and exports seamlessly to Freemind and a bunch of other mind mapping PC applications. It also makes nice pdfs for distribution to others, and the outlines are perfect to send out as basic meeting minutes. I am now literally mindmapping on the iPad in meetings live as points arise and can have the notes out in just a few minutes after I rearrange and tidy up the various branches immediately after the meeting. I also now add a picture of any business cards I receive in the meeting, taken with the iPad camera inside iThoughtsHD. This truly rocks. Others apps I grabbed? Documents to Go for Microsoft Office document editing and being able to open email attachments. For editing Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents, it is workable, but pretty clunky and can scramble your formatting. It allows you to get the basics done, but it is not sufficient to serve as a true Windows laptop replacement, at least not yet. Simplenote is a nice, basic plain text note editor, ideal for drafting blog posts like this one right now, and it syncs through the cloud to a web client and also PC desktops via Simplenote's free service. One bunch of notes everywhere. Excellent. There was one other standout however that has proved to be well and truly worth every cent, even though I didn't at first see how it was necessary. I only bought it on the recommendation of others. That app is GoodReader. It basically just lets you open and read/view files which doesn't seem like much at first. It can't even open many formats itself and has to rely on your other apps apart from pictures and pdfs. Where it really delivers however is as a central area for you to manage and view your various documents. It is almost like having a "My Documents" or Windows Explorer on the iPad. You can create folders, stick documents there, rename and rearrange them to your heart's content. Then, when you want to open something, simply tap on it and it will open either within GoodReader or the application that can edit them. This might seem like an obvious and simple concept, but for those of us coming from a Windows environment, it's perfect. In my case, I've created a bunch of folders like Current Projects, Forecasts, Market Information, Costs, Product Specifications etc, and I file in each a range of reference documents that are important for my work, so I can then find and open them at a moments notice. I also routinely maintain a folder of these important docs on my PC, predominantly as pdfs, and I refresh and sync these with the iPad during my weekly and monthly reviews. Without something like GoodReader, you need to remember which app a document came from and go to it etc, rather than have all your key material in organised folders, accessible from one app. In the first week on the road alone this has proved to be invaluable. When one customer asked me questions about long term production forecasts, I just pulled it up and referred to it in the meeting. Another one had trouble understanding our process, but I just quickly pulled up a flowsheet I had in there, zoomed in on the critical process step, and showed it to them. Simple. This was exactly what I wanted to use the iPad for. No more bulky meeting file with dog eared spec sheets and the like. If a customer wants a copy, I simply email it to them on the spot, directly out of GoodReader. If you are thinking of using an iPad for business, or as a storage device with easy access to reference documents, get this app. There are others I have purchased, but I'm not quite there with them yet. One is Notes Plus, an excellent notebook that allows you to write notes, just like a classic paper notebook and pen, using your finger or a stylus. It can record your handwriting directly, or you can enter text via keyboard, and it also has a zoomed in mode if you want really small writing that automatically advances along as you write. It is impressive, but I must admit it doesn't quite feel right when I handwrite. It is probably a perception thing, or perhaps my stylus doesn't quite have the right weight, I'm not sure, but will play with it further. It has a very enthusiastic developer who is constantly adding features as requested by users and I do think this will be one to watch. It already has very advanced gesture recognition to erase words, draw shapes etc, and I believe the aim is to eventually have it convert handwriting to text, but I'll wait and see how it goes. I thought I would use it for meeting notes, but it has quickly been killed off for that use by iThoughtsHD! Phew. I'm going to stop for now. Needless to say, the iPad has lived up to expectations so far as a travelling companion and for recording notes and providing reference material during meetings. I haven't even touched on how brilliantly it works as a media player for when I am not working... Next post, I'll report again on the iPad after my current trip is finished, summarising what has worked so far and what hasn't, plus mention a couple of other apps I've tried. As someone who was doubtful about these tablet appliances being much more than executive toys, I've been impressed with just how well this one has worked out so far. Later. 
Saturday, May 7, 2011
iPad 2 - initial thoughts
2. I haven't personally owned the original iPad, but I did get one for
my wife last Christmas, and while I couldn't quite justify one for
myself, I was rather impressed with the silky user experience, and it
seemed to be a fantastic way to consume media, like watching movies,
surfing the web and the like. I was however a bit of an iPad skeptic. I didn't think it made sense
for me as a regular laptop user. If I already have my work laptop, why
would I bother with a tablet as well, iPad or otherwise? As it is I
also already have a Lenovo net book, but must admit my usage of it has
been rather sporadic. I have mainly used it as a light weight desk top
PC at home that can be unplugged and used elsewhere running Mint
Linux, but haven't really used it for light weight computing on the
fly. More recently however, I started thinking about how I could make use
of a tablet or iPad in my job as a marketing manager. I typically
carry around a bulky file with me that contains our product
specifications, some basic company presentations in hard copy, sales
forecasts and background market information. When I meet with
customers, I will sometimes refer to the file to ensure I have my
facts straight or I will show the information to the customer. I have
one basic introduction to the company as a printed PowerPoint
presentation which I sometimes pull out and step through. This bulky file works well for me, but it is also a pain to lug
around, and it requires a fair bit of effort on my side to keep its
contents current. During my weekly and monthly review, I'll turn over
the documents that need updating, but it is still relatively easy for
some items to be missed, and then be caught out when I go to refer to
it during a meeting. It occurred to me that I could replace this file with a tablet. The
documents could be kept in it as pdfs and they could be quickly pulled
up and shown to clients. It would also be easy to keep photos of our
operation, our products etc and quickly show them as required. Yes,
the same could be achieved on a laptop, but they tend to be larger to
carry around, don't last long between charges and they take time to
start up. Most tablets, including the iPad are instant on, last for
ages on a charge, typically days at a time and are slim enough to be
slipped into the thinnest of brief cases, or portfolios. Another area where a tablet could suit me was for recording notes in
meetings through mind mapping. I mind map regularly, both for getting
my thoughts together for a project or report, and as a way of
capturing points raised in a meeting. Mind mapping on a PC or laptop
is fine if you are not rushed, such as when outlining the main points
for a report, but it is not all that quick to try and do it to capture
points live in a meeting. A colleague told me they had seen someone
mind map on an iPad in a meeting, and it seemed to be very quick and
intuitive, simply tapping on the screen to create each node and
quickly enter some basic text before an idea is lost. Later, it can be
transferred to a PC and the key points enlarged upon to finally end up
with the key nodes as bullet points for meeting minutes. The more I thought about it, the more I could see how to make an iPad
or tablet work for me in my job so I posed the question to my employer
with a justification, and they gave me the go ahead. I could have just
bought one myself, but it was better to do it through work so that it
could be properly included into the company network so I could have
access to my corporate email etc. The geek/hacker in me was curious about an Android device. The idea of
an open system appeals in that like Linux, it would possibly encourage
a broad range of applications, and potentially result in some really
useful tools being available. I was also mindful that an iPad means
being tied up with iTunes and Apple. I'll always prefer an open system
if I can have it. The fact is though, every Android tablet I have
played with just hasn't had the same consistency of user experience
with the various applications, typically having more of a "home brew"
feel about it. So I went out and sourced an iPad 2, Wifi only, 64 Gb. I went for the
64 Gb so I can load it right up with docs and photos, although I
probably could have survived with 32 Gb. I avoided the 3G because I
already have a 3G modem card for my laptop, and I didn't really want
yet another 3G data account to maintain. I instead have taken the SIM
card from the 3G modem card and placed it in a small mobile wifi box,
which I can turn on anywhere and establish a small radius internet
access hot spot for use by my laptop or iPad, or both. It's basic, but
it works well and allows me to use the one data account for either
device, rather than having one for each. I have only had the iPad for a few days and am still getting it set up
to meet my requirements. Early impressions are very favorable. It is
very easy to get around the various applications, and it is a sheer
delight to use. I'll come back in my next post, explaining some of the
applications I have installed, and how I am using it in my work, and
at home! Stay tuned...
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