iPad Journal Entry

Two weeks ago our team had our quarterly board meeting in the Cayman Islands and it was the first time in 10 years that I did not travel with my laptop. Part of our weekend encompassed informal reports on the iPad during our annual “Walk of the Elite” on Seven mile beach. Before heading to the Ritz I had to at least make sure all my energy was focused on my new travel companion, the iPad.

Here is a snapshot of my journal:

First I had to commit to another monthly bill. I headed to the closes AT&T hotspot which was about 2 miles from my home because I was prepared to shell out the $30 a month cost for an unlimited data package. The iPad is equipped with Wi Fi but I always must be connected no matter where I go so the hook up was a must. Keep in mind you do not have to go to a brick and mortar AT&T store connection to the virtual marketplace on the net will do.
Now this is important. Listen up because this is the single biggest draw back when owning an iPad at least during the first 6 months to 1 year of original launch date. I would really consider this a part of your decision making before you buy an iPad. When you pull out an iPad in public no matter if you are in an AT&T store, airport, or on your front porch be prepared to become patient or rude to all that are amazed with your iPad. Whether public opinion is that you wasted your money or you are a tech god people want to hold the iPad, ask you many questions, or in rare cases run off with it! Look up the article where a man lost his pinky finger because the bag that the iPad was in severed his finger. Be polite and if you are looking to get work done forget it because you will be performing demonstrations and watching someone else play an HD game on it. Maybe the coy pond or pinball game! Did you hear about the Scrabble game where the iPad becomes a game board and all of the player’s iPhones hold the letter tiles and you flick the letters from your iPhone to the iPad?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So first of all it is a must to have a keyboard and docking station to go along with your iPad. But if your iPad is for entertainment purposes only you can skip the dock and the keyboard. After hearing several Coaching Train team members report on their first 30 days of iPad ownership we have concluded that the iPad is primarily focused on our team as an expensive entertainment tool with some features that allow you to get “productive” work done. Just realize when you start using your iPad you won’t be able to do things like unzip files or use Flash player. Why are some of the most common features that are needed not available on our iPad? Ultimately that is for Apple to answer. But maybe Apple wants our tribe to be forced to continue to use our Mac books. You need a Mac book for true power working and surfing, and your iPhone to make calls, and don’t forget your iPad for entertainment.

We all seemed to agree that because the iPad is so light weight, we were willing to find work arounds for important emails and normal tasks that you would normally perform on your desktops. As far as protecting your device we tried out a Trapper Keeper like zip up, the leather notebook, and the “the all purpose pouch.” All carrying cases we reviewed were black. The pouch seemed to be adopted by most because of its overall versatility look and Velcro fold over. Most importantly the pillow like material seemed to protect our $1000 machine after all accessories are purchased. And finally we loved travel fact # 10, you don’t have to pull it out and open it up when going through security at the airport. You can leave it however you travel with it. Just stick it in the gray plastic bin so it can be x-rayed and no one will ask you about your iPad. At least to date having going through security a half dozen times by now with no problems so far.

In conclusion if Leonard Nimoy is using an iPad then you should too!