> "Why do I need laptop? I'll just get an iPad". And those people are niche; if you can replace all of your computing with an iPad, then you may as well be using just a phone.
I was at a Parent Teacher Association meeting at an East London primary school last night. There were about 15 people there. 3 had iPads.
I was using mine to take minutes - really just adding notes to the agenda that was already in Word, via pages. Mainly just adding brief notes to discussion points, noting whether something had been carried. I used to use paper, but the iPad is more difficult to lose and I don;t have to re-type.
When the issue of the the next meeting came up, people used the iPad to look at the calendar - fine - that could have been done by phone. One member couldn't make it, but joined us via Skype on an iPad.
Meanwhile the Headmistress was keeping a check on the England Ukraine scores.
A question came up about the prices for a bit of equipment - a quick Google search found it in the meeting, rather than having to be discussed in the next meeting.
The thing about the iPad is that it isn't necessarily better than a laptop at anything, it's just incredibly convenient. It's the kind of thing you take along 'just in case'.
Oddly enough, just about the only thing I don;t use it for is consuming iTunes media. I rip videos for the kids to watch on holiday sometimes, but never use iTunes.
You mention checking calendars could have been done on a phone. But Googling for a price could have been done by, I guess, all 15 phones in the room just as well, better even, as those phones are more likely to have a net connection than an iPad, and are more likely to be carried "just in case" Same goes for taking notes on a doc to be honest, and Skype, and sports results obviously.
I've bought 4 iPads for family members (and a Samsung Galaxy Note for myself which is in many ways a mini-3G-tablet) and advised many more friends on getting their own iPads so I'm well aware of the benefits, but it seems people say the darndest things in their attempts to justify them.
I've seen iPads in meetings and I think it's not much more than conspicuous consumption. I enter minutes very efficiently in my iPhone with Workflowy (which basically instantly syncs to a Workflowy instance on my desktop). I find entering with my iPhone - ie the input method I use to send texts 20 times a day - a lot more natural than acclimating to the iPad's keyboard and bringing a jumbo screen to a meeting.
Well there you. I was trying ti be as inconspicuous as possible, personally, I find typing on a table with the iPad smart cover, much easier than typing on a phone. Knowing the people who were there, I doubt it was conspicuous consumption.
I was at a Parent Teacher Association meeting at an East London primary school last night. There were about 15 people there. 3 had iPads.
I was using mine to take minutes - really just adding notes to the agenda that was already in Word, via pages. Mainly just adding brief notes to discussion points, noting whether something had been carried. I used to use paper, but the iPad is more difficult to lose and I don;t have to re-type.
When the issue of the the next meeting came up, people used the iPad to look at the calendar - fine - that could have been done by phone. One member couldn't make it, but joined us via Skype on an iPad.
Meanwhile the Headmistress was keeping a check on the England Ukraine scores.
A question came up about the prices for a bit of equipment - a quick Google search found it in the meeting, rather than having to be discussed in the next meeting.
The thing about the iPad is that it isn't necessarily better than a laptop at anything, it's just incredibly convenient. It's the kind of thing you take along 'just in case'.
Oddly enough, just about the only thing I don;t use it for is consuming iTunes media. I rip videos for the kids to watch on holiday sometimes, but never use iTunes.