it is a very interesting and promising device
How is device?
Hi,I am technical director at a software company. It has been a long time ago since I did my last programming, and nowadays I am doing mostly Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, Powerpoint presentations and Pdf document reading. Why all MS Office an Pdf ? Because 100% of our customers and suppliers use it.I like the iPad because I am truly a gadget fan, and I wanted to study its application to real business.My conclusion is that the software which is available for the iPad is still not mature, even tough the concept derives from the ipod/iphone, which have been around for a while now.From a hardware point of view, the device is quasi-perfect. Performance is great, size is OK (albeit I would prefer 16:9) and technological concepts behind the interface are very good. But again, almost everything is inherited from the ipod touch and the iphone. So from the hardware point of view, it is nothing revolutionary. An USB port would be a real plus.From the software point of view, there is much that needs to be worked out:The Numbers appliction, doesn't save files in Excel format, doesn't let fou open/save spredsheets from "internet disks" (WebDav Servers), with the exception of [...], which is really used for sharing documents and doesn't allow editing. So for working with Excel spreadsheets and sharing information for editing on the move with your co-workers, the Numbers application is useless.The Keynote app has exactly the same problem. No saving in Powerpoint format and no way of sharing the files for editing with your co-workers.The Pages app better, since it can save in Word format, but still no access to "internet disks".There are other offerings for MS Office compatible Suites, but I have evaluated 2 of them and both have big problems saving the spreadsheets, loosing the format and formulas when doing so. Result: Useless with the spreadsheets I use daily.The Mail Application is good enough, even tough you cannot send multi file attachments, so you will have to send the attachments one by one.The Browser will not render flash content. Until HTML5 becomes a widespread standard, this is also a minus, since flash is sometimes required for my business research.And as the last issue, there is not real printing support. Sure, there are some apps out there, but most of them uses "tricks" to print entire documents (like using a master pc for example: not really mobile).The iBooks application works very well if you are capable of converting pdf docs to the iPad format. Now I can read 500 pages technical specs on my couch instead od sitting endless hours sitting in front of my laptop (alltough I could use my laptop on the couch, believe me it is not really confortable).So my perception is that it will take some time until the available software matures enough, so that the device is ready for use in real business.As a home use gadget, it is a very interesting and promising device. But be aware: It is an ipod with a larger screen, which has it's advantages, since it can be used for tasks for which the ipod was not well suited to.As the time goes by, I will do more tests and post my findings 