iPad Global Road Warrior Experience, Six Months Later
Six months ago I wrote the blog posts iPad Global Road Warrior Experience I, II and III. About 1MM iPads had been sold compared to an estimated 8-10MM today. Re-reading the posts reminds me of how fast things are changing and yet how much of that change is not visible to the great majority. As I shared on Facebook today: “Holding on to the past is easier then imagining the future”. Never had that problem.
We rarely as a society go back in time to check if what was said, forecasted or just imagined have become true. In all meanings of the word. So why not, with a great bottle of Chateau Langoa Barton 1997 and a couple of minutes to spare I’m inclined to make that journey.
Below are the “shortcomings” I found when on the road with the iPad for the first time and what has happened since then:
- Exporting to PPT in Keynote was added a few weeks ago and makes a difference when working with enterprise clients
- Editing Google Docs online was released today but the offline experience is still very limited to downloading and editing but no really good upload or sync. Rumors say that Memeo is working on updating their Connect for iPad
- Skype introduced free calls over 3G a few months ago which works amazingly
- iOS 4.2 Beta (to be released November 24 to the public) introduced multi-tasking which enables Skype to run in the background for inbound and outbound calls
- The new native Google Voice app makes inbound messages (calls and SMS) easy to monitor and act upon - wherever in the world I am
- I did buy an iPhone 4 recently to use as on-the-move and pocket-friendly mini-iPad. The camera / video recorder is really the killer app with associated photo apps as well as the most basic communication tools
- I was tempted to buy the new Air to be able to download files and edit Google Docs on the road but thanks to iCab (an iPad/iPhone browser) and today’s new mobile editing I’ll stick to my iPad and iPhone
- And I did install the iPad in one of our cars using a ProClip mount, for road trips when Google Maps and other apps add value. Took 5-minutes and is just beautiful
The only of my “shortcomings” that hasn’t been solved as of yet - without jail-breaking the iPad - is to demo web apps or mobile apps live on an external screen via VGA out. The first is solved by iCab, the latter only for Steve Jobs or individual app developers by adding a string of code leveraging the built in mirroring in iOS.
Things are happening faster then we think! ;)
Travelling w/o My Laptop
I get a lot of question on how to stay productive, agile and still keeping it simple when on the road. Here are a few thoughts as it relates to apps. General travel trips in another post.
The problem I’m trying to solve is avoiding schlepping around my Air (yes, it’s the lightest thing available but still doesn’t fit into my jeans pockets). I’m also trying to keep it real by using as few apps as possible. Simplicity leads to genious as per Fiat’s latest car ads.
My favorites:
- Docs2: Syncs brilliantly with GDocs and has offline file mgmt, lacks doc sharing, could be faster, access to all my docs to read and edit in the palm of my hand is critical
- Camera: I use the camera to take visual notes from whiteboards (one picture is more than thousand words) and share travel photos with friends and family
- Byline: Syncs with Google Reader and caches all feeds for offline (flight) news reading, email sharing, xlnt way to catch up and stay up to date
- Foursquare: Great to let friends know your in their part of the world and to get travel recommendations, it’s also very entertaining while on the road
- Things: The best task manager available, wish it had iCal integration
- iCal: Syncs with Google Cal feeds, just need to setup feeds for flights and hotel stays for offline usage
Room for improvement:
- An app that aggregates all my status updates across all social networks, like Tweetdeck or Silentale
- Hotels: Lack Remember Me, in general a bad user interface, lacks calendar feature
- Kayak: Great new interface, tricky to book or cancel trips but that’s not their fault, United should create an app with quick checkout
- OpenTable: great but lack inventory outside the US
- Skype: Really great but I’d prefer GV to leverage my GV number, well see what happens with the Gizmo5 integration
- Contacts: Duplication and l10n is driving me crazy, updating my AB as well, Plaxo was onto something but too early, a shared cloud-based AB like Goggle Apps would be awesome
What I really lack is a price / convenient comparison app for airport transfers and local transportation. What is the fastest, cheapest or most convinient way to get from LHR to my hotel in Notting Hill? What are the services offered? Food, WiFi, coffee et cetera. Google Maps is heading in that direction.
The cool thing is that this all works but forces you to change the way you think about productivity. In reality it means fewer emails and leveraging apps to schedule meetings, take notes, share data et cetera. Everything becomes realtime. The Meeting Minutes are available right away and not another to do on someones schedule. It’s all about giving access to all knowledge to accelerate the conceptualization process. Being on the road should not slow or hinder that process.
In the bigger picture what we are really doing is connecting our minds. Technology is there to enable collaboration and delivery.
[From Tom’s Deli in London]
