I always carry my iPad 2 with me, we all know how great it is to read, surf the net and play games, is definitely an entertaining device. But when it comes to do the real business and show it's real 'office' potential, really let's you (or at least me) down.

I'll put an example. I have all sort of apps on my iPad, one of my favourites is Penultimate which is to make notes and drawings. I was on my desk and a colleague came round to discuss something, he needed to write me something and I told him that we could use the iPad for that. Off he goes, there he was this guy trying to write with his finger and within second we scrap the idea and pass on to write on paper.

I sometimes wish that the iPad 2 had the same writing abilities as a windows tablet pc. I know he tried to write with his hand but I have bought two stylus and they are as useless as fingers...

I have read in the past few months a few articles, particularly female iPad 2 owners who have had the guts to ditch their laptops and replace them with an iPad. They write about the excitement when they pull their iPads form their purses while everybody else in the meeting room are anchored in the past with bulky laptops. They kindly of give the impression of how cool fashionable the ladies are.

No disrespect to those ladies but hey, I'm on my 30s I work in an office environment and you cannot replace s laptop with an iPad 2, yet. The iPad can't screen is to small for business, no ms excel, numbers is nice but I can't see myself dealing with one of my beast workbooks on "Numbers".

I love my iPad is this thread is kind of a rant to express my concern about the lack of business usability. It is clearly still early days. Tho is great to type an email on the train but if you are an accountant, forget about it, the iPad is of no use for Excel sheets. Plus the iPad needs to be connected to a server to make the most of it.

Sent from my iPad 2 hehe

Originally Posted by Bikie

I was on my desk and a colleague came round to discuss something, he needed to write me something and I told him that we could use the iPad for that. Off he goes, there he was this guy trying to write with his finger and within second we scrap the idea and pass on to write on paper.

Try a stylus. You don't do finger painting on note pads why do you try to do finger painting on your iPad?

I've tried a couple of styles but the don't work well. If Apple would have found an styles that worked I'm sure they would have produce one. Maybe on the iPad 3...

Originally Posted by Bikie

I always carry my iPad 2 with me, we all know how great it is to read, surf the net and play games, is definitely an entertaining device. But when it comes to do the real business and show it's real 'office' potential, really let's you (or at least me) down.

It comes down to individual requirements, and what you need exactly as well as how your business environment has been set up. I work in a highly mobile Agile development team, and several of us have iPads that we use at stand-ups, workshops and showcases, and while we still have our office-provided desktops and laptops, there's certainly no talk at all of ditching the iPad.

An iPad is not a substitute for pad and paper, nor a desktop unit. You don't use a screwdriver to put a nail in a board. There are just some things that electronics do not replace. And everything has it's limitations.

Seadog sorry i personwlly disagree with this. The IPad should cannot be limited to just typing, in fact apparently is great to paint. It needs to improve so that can be use to jot down notes in quick and clean way. Form my point of view it should definitely need to be made to replace paper. Don't y ou think?

Originally Posted by Bikie

Seadog sorry i personwlly disagree with this. The IPad should cannot be limited to just typing, in fact apparently is great to paint. It needs to improve so that can be use to jot down notes in quick and clean way. Form my point of view it should definitely need to be made to replace paper. Don't y ou think?

Can't speak for Seadog, but no, I don't think. I've tried just about all of the various hand note taking apps and not only do they not replace a legal pad, I don't think it's possible to engineer them to do so, at least not without significant changes in the hardware.

From my perspective there are two major problems.

() It is simply not possible to engineer software in a way that is as simple to use as a pen and paper. In the latter environment I can vary the color, size, and placement of information on a piece of paper without resorting to multiple touches, swipes, menu choices, etc. With enough practice, I can become relatively proficient with an app like Note Taker HD. It's a great piece of work. But I daresay I'll never be able to "jot down" notes as quickly and cleanly as I can on a piece of paper.

() My second problem is more specific to my own situation. I happen to be one of those disabled folks so discriminated against in this culture. I'm left-handed Trying to prevent my hand from touching the screen while I'm writing is almost impossible. For me, the placement of a "palm rest" (where touching the screen does not register) is in the wrong place. It should be above the space in which I'm writing, not below. So far I haven't found a single notetaking app that enables me to accomplish this.

If you doubt all this, consider the following hypothetical. Imagine that you grew up using an iPad (or any electronic device) to write. Then imagine that someone provided you with a legal pad, a pencil, a pen, and a marker. I suspect you'd be delighted by the extraordinary advance in technology your new discovery represents.

The iPad is not a complete replacement for the laptop. Absolutely true, and obvious. Not that I have anything against stating the obvious, as I'm about to prove.

The iPad is not ready for business (because it's not a laptop replacement?). You might as well say that your sticky notes are not ready for business because they won't replace a notepad.

The iPad is completely ready for business, so long as you treat it like any other business tool and use it when and where it is effective. Business is a rather broad category, and what one person does or does not do is a poor measure of the usefulness of any device or tool.

What he said...Kudos.

Actually, though, I think the title of this thread is somewhat misleading. I'd agree that the iPad has some significant deficiencies as a tool for many businesses. But I'm inclined to point to issues like security and IT management of devices rather than the deficiencies of note taking applications.

My iPad has replaced my notebook for about 60% of what I do in the office. I'm very pleased with that.

-t