As the CEO of a technology company, I am often asked about new technology, especially the latest techno-gadgets. You might ask, "What does the CEO of a company that does Software Development, Web Design, and Consulting know about techno-gadgets?" The answer is that I am a nerd at heart who is a slave to technology.

A techie geek at heart, I am often an early adopter of technology and often pay a price for early adoption in terms of time and money. The Apple iPad is one of those techie devices that I just had to have. Why would the CEO of a company that is a Microsoft Gold Partner want an Apple iPad? While I am a huge fan of Microsoft, I am a bigger fan of cool technology in general. However, while I like cool technology, my technology has to have a practical use. I do not believe in technology for technology’s sake. My technology has to not only be cool, but practical. In business, it has to deliver ROI.

iPad as a Data Consumption Device
I do a lot of reading, and at the time the iPad was first announced I was in the market for a reader. I also do a lot of listening to audiobooks. For a long time I have been looking for a way to get my audiobooks and magazines in digital or audio format. I had evaluated both the Kindle and the Sony Readers. I was just about to purchase the Kindle when I got wind of the iPad. There is a lot of fervor out there over the Apple iPad and rightly so. Certainly the iPad has a number of "cool points" as it is a very sleek and sexy device. After evaluating the iPad, it was the clear winner. In the end, I chose to purchase an iPad (64Gb, 3G) over the Kindle Reader because it offered so much more functionality than just a book reader. The iPad also has the following core features: Internet, Mail, iTunes for my audiobooks and music, Netflix, ability to read a PDF, Kindle Books, applications, and much, much more! As a consumer device it’s fantastic and I love a number of things about it. In fact, now that I own one, I would have a hard time getting along without my iPad. As a data consumption device the iPad Rocks!

iPad as a Business Productivity Device
However, from a business productivity perspective the iPad has severe limitations. If your standard desktop is a PC running one of the Microsoft Windows Family of Operating Systems and Microsoft Office, you will find that it does not have the abilities you are accustomed to, and integration with your desktop is challenging, if not impossible. I am sure there are some Apple Zealots that will hammer me and say there are ways to do it, but they are cumbersome and you have to jump through many hoops, hindering productivity. Trying to produce anything that is business-worthy like Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PDFs, or PowerPoint Slides is so arduous that I have given up. There are applications that mimic Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Acrobat such as Numbers, Keynote, and Pages, but you have to use a third party service to be able to get the files to your PC or email them to yourself. Worse yet, much of the formatting does not translate well to the PC, causing you to have to do double work. The input keyboard is okay, but long-term use is very uncomfortable.

iPad as a Notepad
One area that I thought the iPad would excel was in the ability to take notes. Currently, I have to transcribe my chicken scratch handwriting from pads of paper to Microsoft OneNote. When I got the iPad, I tried every note taking application out there, but nothing even begins to compare with Microsoft OneNote. Note taking is awkward, and many of the applications cannot handle you putting your hand on the device the way you do when using a notepad. You must hold your hand above the device and write in the air or use your finger.

Thousands of Cool, Cheap Applications
Another thing I found is that there are all kinds of cheap applications out there for the iPad. While they look cool, the reality is that they lack the polish and features of full-fledged commercial business applications. I have spent thousands of dollars trying numerous applications only to find myself severely disappointed. Many of those that were rated by "The Community" as 4 or 5 stars often lacked any real substance as business productivity applications. I soon learned that many of these ratings were done by individuals who really did not utilize the iPad as a business productivity device. The limitations are so severe that the iPad is ineffectual as a business productivity or data production device.

iPad as a Desktop or Laptop Replacement
Many of the people that have asked me about the iPad were looking for it to be a tablet to replace their desktop or laptop. If your primary network is Windows, you will be unable to connect to any file shares or participate in any Active Directory Security. Your only recourse will be to use an add-on application to access your desktop using Remote Desktop. Fortunately, you can use the built-in VPN if Remote Desktop is only allowed behind your firewall. If you email a file to yourself you will be able to open it, but you will not be able to save it. There is no way to create a folder and save files. All the applications are sandboxed and you have no way to output them. Some of the applications have third party online services built in where you can transfer files and then download them to your PC. Simply put, you will have to come up with a means to copy files between your iPad to your PC Desktop. For these reasons the iPad is not a Desktop Replacement.

Capitalist iPad
Another severe limitation is that the iPad does not support Flash, Silverlight, or Java plug-ins. This makes accessing web applications and sites that utilize these technologies non-functional. This means that you will not be able to use many sites that have Flash or Silverlight video. Additionally, things like Microsoft CRM Online, OWA, and other high-end web applications simply do not function or have such degraded functionality that they are not able to be utilized. A friend of mine who is an airline pilot for American Eagle wanted to use an iPad to access his schedule via American Eagle’s online web scheduling application, but it uses the Sun Java plug-in which will not work on the iPad. Apple states that this is because they are only supporting standards-based web applications. This is not for any noble utopian good, but in reality it’s for good old capitalistic reasons. Steve Jobs, the über hippie, is actually the biggest capitalist out there. Apple touts how great they are, and they have reason to be proud of their products. The level of integration they have achieved is only possible if you control the hardware, software, and operating system. This is how Apple is able to attain such perfect integration in their products.

Conclusion: iPad is the Hammer if Data Consumption is Your Nail
The one area where the iPad excels is as a data consumption device. I am able to process my email from my Exchange Server quickly and efficiently. Reading Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PowerPoint Decks, PDF Files, Graphic Image Files, Kindle Books, Magazines, iTunes Books, and Web Pages is awesome and efficient. Bottom line, as a business productivity device, the iPad fails. For this reason the iPad is not a desktop or laptop replacement. As a data consumption device, the iPad excels. So if you are looking solely for a data consumption device, then I highly recommend an iPad.