I still trying to figure out where tablets reside in the grand scheme of computing. My wife is enamoured with the idea of getting an iPad and is desperately trying to justify using it for her work. I have neither tried to disuade her or encourage her. I have been dropping little tidbits of information for her to check out but I dont know if she is really looking into the info. My wife is no spring chicken. We are both well into the primes of our lives. She travels almost every week and does own a Nook Tablet (less than 3 months old) which she uses for book reading but not much else.

I know that many of you have tablets and I would like to know what you use them for and if that use is business related, how you use them?

 

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if she travels every week, entertainment value she can get on airports and planes will be enough reason for her to purchase the ipad IMO.

Nook tablet ereader or nook color? if you root nook color, she can get similar effect as ipad.

tbh, I can't seem to do much work on my tablet unless it is writing a short email that can be done with my phone. If I were to use any tablet for extensive work, I will need a keyboard attachment option.

If her work is similar to tour guides/sales that needs internet on the run for their job to load up orders and other things, getting 3G on it would be worth it.

lastly, what phone does she own?

 

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She had a nook eReader that she lost (forgot it on a plane) and we replaced it with the Nook tablet, not Nook Color. It is a tablet.
She performs audits which require a lot of note taking. As far as entertainment is concerned she spend the on ground time catching up with her work and her in air time she spends either sleeping or reading with her Nook Tablet.
I hate to see her spend $600 on something she "thinks" she can use for business only to find out it nothing more than an expensive version of her Nook Tablet.

 

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I haven't really found a good use for a tablet in a work environment. I know people try taking notes on tablets, but that is such an awkward experience, I find pen and paper far superior in speed and accuracy. I really haven't come up with anything that my laptop isn't really better for at work.

At home the tablet is a great reading and content consumption device. I browse the web a lot with it. Read Twitter and different news apps. Read manga and sometimes ebooks (tend to like my eink device more for long book reading). And watch YouTube and quick videos.

Does Nook Tablet has proper app store on it now?

If you just look at the big picture

anyway, if the nook tablet has the full android capability, ipad won't do much more rooted nook other than having access to better apps and bigger screen

if you think you can take notes as fast as one writes on ipad, she won't.

if she really wants an ipad and money is issue, look into getting ipad 2 instead of hot ipad 3. I never used ipad2, but even ipad 1 seems to be on par with my galaxy tablet unless one wants to run unreal engine on it.

If she needs 3G for her work, than she will need ipad/galaxy/xoom/etc with data plan from either Verizon or AT&T

there are apps that allows her to remote desktop into her computer if she has internet connect, but that is available on nook too (might have to root it)

Get her a netbook if she wants a portable working computer IMO


Lastly

Does she have a blackberry, android, or iphone? If she owns a Macbook and iphone, it probably will help her work better than nook tot.

 

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I manage a global team and travel frequently. The name of my game is good communication and access to information. I have found my iPad to be invaluable in both these areas. I spend the majority of my days reviewing emails, attending Webex meetings, editing business proposals and technical documents, and providing customers with training and tech materials. Additionally, I also conduct technical training to groups using PowerPoint presentations.

I have found that I can do ALL of this, easily and quickly, with my iPad.

* The email is obvious, my iPad is an instant-on device so I can check and reply virtually instantly anywhere with 3G/4G/Wi-Fi access. I use Outlook almost exclusively to manage my time and since iOS Mail, iCalendar, and iOS Contacts sync perfectly with our Exchange server, I am ALWAYS up to date.

* Webex. Cisco made an excellent app allowing me to attend any meeting with NO loss of functionality anywhere with 3G/4G/Wi-Fi access.

* Editing documents. Now, I will be the first to say that I do NOT like creating content on an iPad. Yes, it's possible with a keyboard and I have certainly done it while on an airplane, but it is not my preference. However, lets not overlook what I just said. Even though I prefer not to, I have done so meaning this is yet another thing your iPad lets you do! In the few cases I have done so, it was of significant importance to my work. Now, what I do far more often is to make minor edits to documents based upon a personal meeting with a customer. These frequent meetings tend to result in discovering minor (sometimes major) efficiencies so immediately after these meetings I can make the edits and get them off to my Tech Writers to get the document revised and back on the street. This ability to make changes to corporate documents while still in the field gives my company the agile edge we are famous for.

* DropBox. Between DropBox access (one of the first apps you SHOULD load on your iPad) and access to our companies SharePoint library, I have every single document I need at my finger tips. This allows me to keep my customers happy by ensuring they have the very latest in tech documentation no matter where I happen to be.

* PowerPoint training. I frequently provide this type training to groups ranging from 5-200 people. While I create my presentations at home on my computer, my iPad allows me to make changes while on the road. My business is EXTREMELY dynamic so the ability to incorporate current changes into training materials and tech documentation is absolutely vital! It is a common theme for me to get an email with a new change an hour before a scheduled presentation. I simply make the edit in my iPad and am ready to go. I even carry a cable that allows me to give my presentation right off my iPad and have done so many times. As long as they have a working projector, I am ready at the drop of a hat to give virtually any training my customers can possibly need.

* TeamViewer. This is the ultimate wildcard. This is the second app you should load on your iPad! This is by far the best remote control app out there and gives me full control and access to any computer I need. My corporate desktop, my desktop at home, my laptop back in my hotel room, even production servers!


When the iPad first came out I was a bit skeptical. I had a feeling it would prove useful at work but my purchase decision was really made by its ability to deliver digital entertainment content. I figured the ability to watch movies, videos, listen to music, surf the web while on travel would make it useful. After purchasing it and integrating it into my business arsenal I find it absolutely invaluable. When I travel, I take my laptop and iPad. The laptop remains in my room and only gets used for serious content creation and gaming. My iPad goes everywhere with me and serves all my travel business needs. Gone are the days of needing a seat near a power receptacle and waiting for my laptop to boot up. Now, I simply have access to everything I need with no hassles.

Now, not every job is the same so it should be obvious that some will lend themselves more to tablet use than others. But, I do get a chuckle out of all the people (None here, mind you) that constantly try and tell me that my iPad is nothing more than a status symbol and brings nothing to the table of corporate America. My advice? Do NOT allow the lack of creativity and imagination of others to influence your decision making process. If you, or your wife, THINK you can integrate it into your working process then my guess is you probably can.

Just my 2 cents of course.

 

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We have an Ipad 2 and a netbook at home. Id take the netbook any day for most business use, keyboard input is just too much of a hassle with the Ipad, but it is great for info access. Some of the newer netbooks have good resolution, and some pretty impressive battery life.

If an intended major use is a lot of note taking, I suspect she'd find the Ipad frustrating for that

Otara

My group manages mobile devices. We currently have 2 ipads that we are testing with a few directors. So far the ipad has been a novelty for us. It's not good at taking notes, users don't use it for editing documents, they pretty much use it to check email and entertainment.

Now what I want us to try, but I doubt we will because of money, is cisco has a tablet coming out (if it's not out already it's been a while since Ive checked on it) that you use a a VM View connection device.
So pretty much instead of having a Clear cube, or wyse box that connects a user to their virtual PC, you have this tablet that docks, then when you go to a meeting you undock and have your VM on your tablet to take to your meeting.
I don't know how it works, but IMO that's the only way our company will spend money on a tablet.

 

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I wasnt aware that Apple products played well with Microsoft products. Do you need a translater of sorts or do you have an Apple version of PowerPoint installed on your iPad?



I have used TeamViewer many times when assisting my father with his compter issues but I thought you needed someone at the other end to assign a session number and then give the password. How does that work with the iPad with you on one end and no one on the other end?

 

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