I just sold my iPad on eBay. I really tried. I did! I even got rid of my laptop so there was no going back! I set up remote control apps for my office computer, just in case I really needed to do something that the iPad couldn’t do. I traded my non-3G iPad for a 3G version so I could use it anywhere and not have to live by the constraints of being connected to WiFi. The iPad worked flawlessly! So what happened?For starters, I just couldn’t do all the things that I needed to do when I was out of my office. The key issues were:
- Uploading and downloading documents. In real estate, we work a lot with pdf documents. There are a number of internet-based systems (Equator, Relay, Zipforms, etc.) that are used to create pdf documents, or are a repository for pdf documents. There is just no good way to use these systems when you’re on an iPad.
- No file system. Each app on the iPad appears to create its own environment, independent of other apps. Even if you could upload/download documents, there would be nowhere to put them. I tried several 3rd party file systems, but none of them did the job for me.
- No flash. Like it or not, almost all web conferencing and web casts use Adobe’s Flash to deliver content. Most education, at least in my business, seems to be delivered over the web. So, if I wanted to attend a Webinar, I HAD to be at my office, using my computer. I couldn’t cram it in between showing houses or other offsite meetings.
I ended up spending a lot more time in the office front of my computer, because I knew if I left the office, I wouldn’t be able to catch up later until I returned. So I acquired an 11-inch MacBook Air. Very cool. Less than 1 inch thick. About the same physical size as my iPad. Full sized keyboard. It can do everything my office computer can do. Today, I ran down to Starbucks to take in a Webcast from the California Association of Realtors on my new MacBook Air. Why? Because I could.
But I miss my iPad already. Maybe I’ll just have to have both!
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