Entelligence: the iPad as a productivity tool
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted April 3rd 2010 12:51PM
posted April 3rd 2010 12:51PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
When Apple announced the iPad, Steve Jobs positioned it in the space directly between the laptop and phone. That greatly interests me because there are moments in my life where my phone is too small and my laptop too large. While the iPad clearly won't replace my phone anytime soon, my question is: Can it replace my laptop on occasion and serve as a content creation as well as content consumption tool?
A few weeks ago, I deliberately left my laptop at home for a week of heavy business travel. Instead, I relied mostly on three phones: an iPhone, a Pre and an HD2. And now I've been using a production iPad for the four activities that were difficult and uncomfortable on my phone. Here's what I learned.
Text Entry and Editing: While most modern smartphones are designed with mobile email in mind, I find that they're best used for email triage -- they're great to quickly check what's important, what requires an urgent response, and what to delete. Emails that require long responses, however, don't work well for me on phones. Likewise, while I've written in the past on small screens, editing and creating long documents on a phone is a challenge. For my tests, I used the iPad's email client along with iWork for creating as well as editing text. The large 1024 x 768 display made a huge difference in the way I was able to work. I was pleasantly surprised by the enhanced email views which made it easier to mange and mail and how the large screen facilitated writing long email responses. The larger screen made seeing and editing documents much more pleasant. I found the onscreen keyboard acceptable for both editing and moderate text entry, but when it came to writing long documents, I found it much easier and more productive to use the iPad with either the keyboard dock or a Bluetooth keyboard. (I had no issues with using both Apple's Bluetooth and keyboard and old Stowaway foldable keyboard.) Verdict? The iPad can be used for long document creation and editing with the onscreen keyboard -- but if I'm doing it on a regular basis, I'd want an external keyboard with me.
Working With Numbers: One task for which phones have failed me time and again was attempting to read fairly large spreadsheets -- I don't even bother trying to create them. This is where the iPad's screen came to the rescue once again. The crisp display made all the difference. I had no issues importing Excel files into iWork and seeing the data I needed at a glance. Creating the framework of a consumer survey was a breeze and I didn't even need to resort to an external keyboard. However, Numbers doesn't export natively to Excel, making a connection to iWork on the desktop necessary to share with Microsoft Office users. Verdict? I wouldn't want to build a monster five year revenue projection on it, but I'd have no problem viewing or editing such a document. Numbers and the iPad mesh well, although I'm looking forward to seeing how other third party Office apps fare with Excel compatibility.
Presenting: This is another difficult -- or impossible, depending on the device -- task to perform with a phone. Thanks to the iPad's support for VGA-out via an added dongle that costs extra, presenting should be a non-issue, but wasn't something I could try. Apple's dongle wasn't available for me to test, so this is something I'll need to revisit in practice. One issue I did find is that while Keynote works well importing many PowerPoint presentations, it's much like its big brother on the desktop, socomplex presentations will need tweaking – in some cases quite a bit – in order to be usable. Like Numbers, there's also no PowerPoint export.
Battery Life: While not an activity per se, one of the challenges of replacing your laptop with a phone is battery life. No phone I've tried could handle the extra workload I put on it with extended email and productivity use. The iPad's battery life is excellent. I haven't been able to test Apple's ten hour battery life claim directly, but I had no problem getting through full days of testing and use without a need to recharge. Given my usage, I could easily see getting through a couple of days of moderate use and at least a full day of heavy use on a single charge.
Bottom line? My first impressions of the iPad as a productivity tool are pretty good. The XGA display renders it much more usable than many netbooks and its performance proves quite capable of handling complex tasks. In addition to Office tasks I also used SketchBook Pro and PhotoGene to both create and edit graphics and photos. Both allowed a degree of sophistication not found in their iPhone counterparts.
So what's missing? The required accessories. In order to make the iPad a real productivity tool capable of replacing your laptop, you're going to want a Bluetooth keyboard, the VGA adapter for presenting, and a copy of iWork (or another compatible office suite). Even then, you're still going to be missing some of the functionality that you're only going to get on a full computer. As for me? Given the iPad's relatively light weight, I can envision traveling with the iPad in addition to a laptop on long trips, leaving my laptop in the hotel room and using the iPad throughout the day and taking just a smartphone for evening use. For shorter trips of less than a week, my laptop's going to stay home and the iPad will be my new travel buddy. As everyone's case is a little different, I welcome thoughts from others as they receive their devices to let me know their use cases and productivity scenarios. While the iPad may look like a large iPod touch, in terms of computing, it's much closer in functionality to a PC than a phone. The net result is a framework for computing for the next generation of devices. In the long run, that might be what's most important.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
A few weeks ago, I deliberately left my laptop at home for a week of heavy business travel. Instead, I relied mostly on three phones: an iPhone, a Pre and an HD2. And now I've been using a production iPad for the four activities that were difficult and uncomfortable on my phone. Here's what I learned.
Text Entry and Editing: While most modern smartphones are designed with mobile email in mind, I find that they're best used for email triage -- they're great to quickly check what's important, what requires an urgent response, and what to delete. Emails that require long responses, however, don't work well for me on phones. Likewise, while I've written in the past on small screens, editing and creating long documents on a phone is a challenge. For my tests, I used the iPad's email client along with iWork for creating as well as editing text. The large 1024 x 768 display made a huge difference in the way I was able to work. I was pleasantly surprised by the enhanced email views which made it easier to mange and mail and how the large screen facilitated writing long email responses. The larger screen made seeing and editing documents much more pleasant. I found the onscreen keyboard acceptable for both editing and moderate text entry, but when it came to writing long documents, I found it much easier and more productive to use the iPad with either the keyboard dock or a Bluetooth keyboard. (I had no issues with using both Apple's Bluetooth and keyboard and old Stowaway foldable keyboard.) Verdict? The iPad can be used for long document creation and editing with the onscreen keyboard -- but if I'm doing it on a regular basis, I'd want an external keyboard with me.
Working With Numbers: One task for which phones have failed me time and again was attempting to read fairly large spreadsheets -- I don't even bother trying to create them. This is where the iPad's screen came to the rescue once again. The crisp display made all the difference. I had no issues importing Excel files into iWork and seeing the data I needed at a glance. Creating the framework of a consumer survey was a breeze and I didn't even need to resort to an external keyboard. However, Numbers doesn't export natively to Excel, making a connection to iWork on the desktop necessary to share with Microsoft Office users. Verdict? I wouldn't want to build a monster five year revenue projection on it, but I'd have no problem viewing or editing such a document. Numbers and the iPad mesh well, although I'm looking forward to seeing how other third party Office apps fare with Excel compatibility.
While the iPad may look like a large iPod touch, in terms of computing, it's much closer in functionality to a PC than a phone. |
Presenting: This is another difficult -- or impossible, depending on the device -- task to perform with a phone. Thanks to the iPad's support for VGA-out via an added dongle that costs extra, presenting should be a non-issue, but wasn't something I could try. Apple's dongle wasn't available for me to test, so this is something I'll need to revisit in practice. One issue I did find is that while Keynote works well importing many PowerPoint presentations, it's much like its big brother on the desktop, socomplex presentations will need tweaking – in some cases quite a bit – in order to be usable. Like Numbers, there's also no PowerPoint export.
Battery Life: While not an activity per se, one of the challenges of replacing your laptop with a phone is battery life. No phone I've tried could handle the extra workload I put on it with extended email and productivity use. The iPad's battery life is excellent. I haven't been able to test Apple's ten hour battery life claim directly, but I had no problem getting through full days of testing and use without a need to recharge. Given my usage, I could easily see getting through a couple of days of moderate use and at least a full day of heavy use on a single charge.
Bottom line? My first impressions of the iPad as a productivity tool are pretty good. The XGA display renders it much more usable than many netbooks and its performance proves quite capable of handling complex tasks. In addition to Office tasks I also used SketchBook Pro and PhotoGene to both create and edit graphics and photos. Both allowed a degree of sophistication not found in their iPhone counterparts.
So what's missing? The required accessories. In order to make the iPad a real productivity tool capable of replacing your laptop, you're going to want a Bluetooth keyboard, the VGA adapter for presenting, and a copy of iWork (or another compatible office suite). Even then, you're still going to be missing some of the functionality that you're only going to get on a full computer. As for me? Given the iPad's relatively light weight, I can envision traveling with the iPad in addition to a laptop on long trips, leaving my laptop in the hotel room and using the iPad throughout the day and taking just a smartphone for evening use. For shorter trips of less than a week, my laptop's going to stay home and the iPad will be my new travel buddy. As everyone's case is a little different, I welcome thoughts from others as they receive their devices to let me know their use cases and productivity scenarios. While the iPad may look like a large iPod touch, in terms of computing, it's much closer in functionality to a PC than a phone. The net result is a framework for computing for the next generation of devices. In the long run, that might be what's most important.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
Sounds like he needs a dell mini 5 phone instead. Can do all of that plus be used as a phone on a nice 5 inch screen :D. Now that is portability!
Lenovo, pls. get the U1 (netbook with removable tablet) on the market, and create some competition. For even more productivity, the Ultramobile tablet/convertibles are coming but why does it take so long? HP, Toshiba etc.?
Right now I'm at my office trying to get documents onto the iPad. I downloaded an App called FileBrowser but you have to take over one file at a time!! This is horrible for my files (about 5 gigs of Word and PDF files).
Then I get a few on there, I try to open a 14 page spreadsheet. Really slow to open, but once opened it takes an hour to change pages. It was horrible. Not sure if this was FileBrower's fault or the iPad.
I now have a few files on there so I tried to open up with Pages. It says nothing to open, there are no files available. So I guess the Apps don't speak to each other?
I'm really confused at this point. Anyone know how to get all my files onto the iPad? Best way to view them quickly?
How come no one is talking about these issues... this is the REAL stuff business people want to know.
@Broncsx3
I'm not an iPad owner, but i believe you can sync the documents between your PC and the iPad throudg iTunes. That would be for .doc files, though. I have no idea how PDF files should be handled.
@Hamaki Yea, you are technically correct.
Here is the problem. You have to drag over a file one at a time. So for a guy like me with thousands of files, you can't like drag over a bunch. Worse, you can't drag over folders. So if you say want to bring over 100 word documents, they will just go in one large Apple folder. No sub-folders, no organization, nothing...
So while every office in this country has organized their files in a reasonable way on their computers, the iPad just allows you to add all Pages compatible files to one large Pages folder. Then when you have edited that file you can't save it under a new name, your option is to replace the old file or e-mail it. That's it. It's ridiculously stupid and impractical.
I'm an attorney so maybe my needs are different than most, but this will NOT work for me in it's current form.
My dad was curious about whether an iPad would suit his needs. I linked him to Engadget and he immediately found this article. He said, "The web site you sent me is GREAT! Wow, articles will sometimes exceed my knowledge, but some are also "within range". I scrolled down this morning and am reading this one that directly addresses my issues". It seems you are asking the right questions and finding the desired answers!
So, if for the most part, you will need a keyboard. Why not just travel with a 13-inch, or smaller laptop. Personally, I think this product is useless. I think this is Apple's most unnecessary product ever.
I work for a It department. I have all these idiots asking why they get the lego blocks on their site. They are so upset when they find out that their ipad does not support Flash. I love crushing them.
I'm an Apple fan, but not so much persuaded by the iPad. One of the key factors that will get me to purchase an iPad is how dismal this "review" was. I'll just have to buy an iPad and iWork, take it with me to a conference for the weekend, and do the productivity suite justice.
I actually plan on using my iPad as my primary computer and using my regular computer as a backup hard drive and banishing it to a dark corner of the house.
Before I make this move, I have to figure out one thing:
1. Should I get a book hold and a wireless keyboard so I can rotate the screen at will while typing?
2. or. . . . should I get the Keyboard Dock and just always use it in portrait orientation?
It's basically going to be a iMac Jr. and instead of the Camera Connect Kit I will get an EyeFi WiFi SD Card and have the pictures wirelessly load to Kodak Gallery. I know there is an iPhone app for that so I can sync pictures to my iPad that way.
Additionally, I am going to order the iPhone stylus from ThinkGeek.com because I think it would be useful to have a stylus for SketchBook Pro and other picture editing program (I haven't got that one yet).
I don't like not being able to print so the forsaken computer will become a printing station. Multitasking is iffy. I mostly focus on one thing at a time for personal computer use - I'm more of a multi-tasker at work. However, I'll be patient for iPhone OS 4.0 this summer. The rumors are that multitasking will be coming then.
Also, with Skype and a Bluetooth headset, the iPad has become my home phone service that travels with me if I happen to take it. I have the WiFi model now but I plan on giving that to my mom and get the 3G version later.
What I want is a carry-it-around communicator that is forever incapable of running the MS Office suite. iPad to the rescue!
I ordered a keyboard in case I have trouble with the soft keyboard. And I can't wait to draw with my fingers in Keynote!
I find all this anti-iPad discussion very interesting. Almost all comments come from people who have little or no experience with the iPad, seem very threatened by the iPad, and do not seem to understand what the iPad is trying to do. And HP, MS and others do not understand what the iPad is trying to do are miserably missing the mark. Everyone is focused on specs, but not on usage, especially by the end user.
Working in Aerospace and IT, and having put the iPad to use I see this as a winning product.
Some points:
* Stylus? You want a stylus? Yuck!
* Flash? Many problems and issues with it. Yeah you folks complain this is a major problem, but over 85 million iPhone, iPod Touch and now iPad users do not find this to be a problem, or they would have abandoned ship on this issue.
* Netbooks? Cheap underpowered laptops and be honest on this. Get a real laptop to do content creation.
* You guys keep talking about great "future" products and visions from HP and MS, but, um they are just concepts, taking a bit to implement and are simply not intuitive.
* My iPad case with built in props, makes it very easy to view.
The iPad presents a very intuitive, easy to use environment to interact with content, enter data, and do modest productivity and presentation work. And there is nothing like it.
I did a demo the other day building up a satellite for NASA and the Air Force via the iPad. I touched and evolved the design quickly, easily and intuitively. No netbook could come close to doing what the iPad did. I watch the Windows people try to do the same thing - build up and interact with a satellite design, but it was far from intuitive and interactive - and they could not get the job done. FYI - they had to use a more powerful PC to try to do the job. Netbook? For get about it.
Either way I could go on and on, but people in the Windows universe do not seem to understand the iPad.
In the mean time, I will use my iPhone (other firms are still trying to catch up to it) as it has its place, and I need to make calls, use my laptop for mobility in content creation (presentation creation, detailed analysis, proposal writing, etc) and the iPad for very efficient content viewing, intuitive presentation of information, and very sophisticated vertical applications that are very easy for the end user.
I let my competition use the netbook - I win contracts and head on competition bids all the time, since I do not use toys.
Flash is only a problem on apple machines. Just because iPhone users have managed to live without it doesn't mean they're happy about it. Or that their productivity isn't diminished because of a lack of it. Writing off flash is as stupid as writing off the future potential of the iPad. You do your argument for the benefits of the iPad a great disservice when you can't admit it's huge short comings. It comes off as another blind fan boy willing to piss into the wind.
I got play with an ipad at work for a bit and I liked it. I really want one. But at $879.00 CDN I'd be crazy to buy one. I love my Iphone 3gs, so much so that I bought my first mac (a macbook pro) just a few weeks ago. But I still have to dual boot windows to get most of my day to day work done. An ipad doesn't solve any of the problems I have with computing on the go. It just creates new problems. It can't print, it doesn't do flash, doesn't connect to external hard drive, I'm going to have to spend a small fortune on poorly built apps to get multi format document support that will still require reworking on a proper computer, and realistically isn't anymore portable then my current macbook pro. I may not be waving my macbook around in one hand but who is really going to be doing any real work that way anyway?
I wanted the ipad to be something that could replace my macbook in a few years. Perhaps in a few years it will be able to. I'm sure they'll have a improved version out in 6 months. But currently it just can't compare to my macbook (which I wouldn't have bought without the ability to dual boot) and vomiting out line after line of fan boy rants won't change that.