Two Months with an iPad and Some Surprises

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over two months now since I’ve had my iPad. Time has flown by. It’s also been over two months since I posted here on my blog. I’ve been primarily posting items to Twitter and Facebook, trying out some social media alternatives to blogging. I guess I’ve decided to come right back where I started – to this blog.

In any case, as I said above: I’ve been using my iPad for over two months now. It’s a 64GB WiFi model. Since I already owned a Cradlepoint 3G mobile WiFi hotspot I felt no need to wait for the 3G model. I did order a 3G model for my wife, which she has had for over a month now and dearly loves.

In any case, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share my experiences so far with the iPad. It’s surprised me in many ways – all of them good!

First of all, the iPad has become my primary work computer. I take it with me every week as I travel to IT management consulting engagements. As the picture above shows, I’ve got a Griffen stand and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard for use when typing large amounts of data into the iPad. One of the surprises, however, has been that the longer I’ve owned the iPad, the less I’ve used the Bluetooth keyboard and Griffen stand and the more I find myself holding the iPad in my hands to use it. I’m also using the onscreen virtual keyboard quite a bit. The onscreen keyboard works great for light-duty input especially in conjunction with the Apple iPad case, which allows the iPad to be positioned at the right angle for onscreen typing when placed on a table or desk. I tend to do just that for all but the heaviest keyboard input tasks.

The second surprise is that my old HP Mini 5101 netbook has turned into a companion device for the iPad. Now most mobile devices end up being used as companions to PCs, but mine is the reverse case: my PC is a companion to the iPad. This is because I can so easily access the netbook using the LogMeIn Ignition application whenever I need to accomplish a work task that requires a Windows-based program such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. In fact, I find a netbook to be the perfect companion for an iPad given it’s 1024 X 600 screen size. This screen size renders perfectly on the iPad’s 1024 X 768 screen and allows room left over for the icons and buttons that appear on the top and bottom of the LogMeIn Ignition screen. The HP doesn’t even have to travel with me – it can sit at home, left on and connected to our home network and still be accessed from the iPad through LogMeIn, no matter how far away from home I may be. I’ve even accessed it from an in-flight aircraft using Delta’s or US Air’s onboard WiFi services.

My third surprise is that I’m using LogMeIn, and therefore my “Windows companion”, less and less. At first, it seemed like most of my work day was spent using my iPad as a client to my Windows netbook and using Microsoft Office software predominantly to get my job done. Now I’m doing more and more of the work natively on the iPad. This has mostly been made possible by the Dropbox iPad application and its associated syncing and remote storage services. I automatically sync every file associated with my current consulting client between my HP netbook and the iPad. In fact, the files are also automatically synchronized with our large Gateway quad-processor desktop system, providing me with additional data redundancy. Now I often find that I use Dropbox to access a file that was originally stored on my PC and then importing it into one of the iWork applications on the iPad: Pages, Keynote, or Numbers. Alternatively, for PDF files I’ll end up importing the files into Goodreader. I’m also finding the new iPad compatible version of Documents To Go to be wonderful when working with Microsoft Word files, especially with its superb integration with Dropbox.

So much for the pleasant surprises – what more would I like to see improved in the iPad? Apple: please improve the iWork applications! Pages needs to handle more of the complex features of Word better, and will you PLEASE enable Keynote and Numbers to export files in Microsoft Office format!!! I still don’t understand why Apple allows Pages to export Office compatible files, but not Keynote and Numbers.

Nevertheless, I’m extremely happy with my iPad. It’s got a brilliantly clear screen, is small and lightweight and a breeze to carry when traveling, and it’s FAST! It has truly become my primary traveling work computer and supports all my needs, especially when teamed with its netbook companion. It’s also a wonderful entertainment and social media platform for use during the evenings in my hotel room. I’m especially loving the Netflix application!

iPad Coming to my House Saturday!

I got a notification that my new iPad is currently in the UPS facility in Lexington, KY, less than a 3 hour drive from my house. That got me to thinking – exactly what am I going to use the new 64GB WiFi-only iPad for?

Well, I’m going to try to use it to replace my current work computer: an HP 5101 netbook. The little HP has served me well, but I’m thinking that the iPad can do even better. Along with the  5101, I use a Cradlepoint 3G-WiFi router with an AT&T Mercury USB cellular modem plugged into it to access the net – which is why I didn’t purchase the 3G enabled version of the iPad.

I’m an IT management consultant who travels about 40 weeks a year. So, my work computer needs to be small and lightweight, yet powerful enough to create the products of my work: documents, presentations, and the occasional spreadsheet. I also create project plans – currently using Microsoft Project to do so. I also make extensive use of the Web, using Web-based email (Gmail for personal and Outlook Web Access for work), Toodledo for task management, and Google Calendar for appointments.

My work computer also serves as a general Web browsing platform into social networks, in my case Twitter and Facebook. I use them for two purposes: to stay in contact with friends and family, and as a source of technology news. Social networks have even replaced RSS feeds as my primary source of up-to-the-minute information on technology.

In addition, I use my iPhone quite a bit, for performing the same tasks as the netbook when I’m away from my computer. I use Pocket Informant syncing with Toodledo and Google Calendars as my PIM, DocsToGo to read and perform limited updates on documents, spreadsheets, presentations and even project plans (by saving my Microsoft Project plans to Excel for access by DocsToGo). It also serves as my travel manager using FlightTrack, TripIt, Siri, AroundMe, Point Inside, LocalEats, and Yelp applications, and as an entertainment device for listening to music and audio books, and viewing movies and TV episodes. I even play the occasional game on it.

So, how is the iPad going to replace the HP netbook? By using the iWorks applications for creating documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and using Safari to access my Web-based applications and for general browsing. I’ve purchased three accessories to help facilitate this: the Apple Wireless Keyboard, the Apple iPad case (which can serve as a stand), and the VGA adapter for hooking the iPad into a projector for presentations. In addition, I plan on using LogMeIn Ignition whenever needed. I already own it for my iPhone and have been amazed at how well it lets me access my monster desktop system at home. This system is a Gateway quad-processor with 8GB of memory, and almost 2TB of disk space, and with 2 attached printers. Anytime I might need a Windows application that has functionality unavailable on my iPad, I plan on running it remotely on my home system through the iPad. I can also use it to remotely access client systems using Citrix on my home desktop.

The iPad will also undoubtedly replace quite a bit of my iPhone usage. The ability to run iPhone applications on a much bigger screen, especially when these applications are rewritten to take advantage of the larger screen, will make for a much better usage experience. In particular, I’m really looking forward to viewing movies and TV episodes on a plane using the iPad.

So, what challenges do I foresee? I really only see one: printing!

Every single week, I need to be able to print out expense reports and receipts for faxing to my company’s office (yes, they plan on automating this process SOMEDAY!), as well as occasionally printing out a document or presentation for review with my clients. At this moment in time, I’m not aware of any way to print out iWorks documents, or other documents from the iPad. I own and use ActivePrint Traveler on my iPhone, but it only works with text files, pictures, and Web pages.

I do know that ActivePrint has announced plans for an iPad version of the program that adds support for printing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, but nothing about iWorks nor any details on exactly how these Microsoft Office documents are printed or even how they would be stored on the iPad.

So, I’ll only really know how well the iPad will work for me after I’ve actually used it for a while on the road. I plan on bringing along my HP netbook on my first business trip with the iPad as insurance, but I’m going to really try and make it work as my primary traveling work computer. I’ll try and keep you up-to-date on how well it works out.