Last article I ripped into the decisions Apple made with regards to missing critical features and capabilities of the iPad, now let us take a look at why the iPad is truly going to revolutionize the way on-the-go entrepreneurs are going to interact with their clients, co-workers, and establish a visual and interactive ubiquity with the world around them.
First, let us reflect quickly on the vision Apple has so elegantly set forth in our world with regards to usability, interactivity, and simplicity in design and in function of their entire line of product. The iPhone was a shining example of Apple’s direction, a user experience so easy, fluid, and intuitive, that children and grandparents alike are just as easily learning to use the iPhone like the pro users you, and I are. The iMac, in its simplicity, is an all-in-one desktop that supports its sealed-in hard-to-tweak stature with a stable OS, lots of hardware performance, and incredible connectivity and software options. The iPad is the next evolution, the next logical step for Apple to take, as it heads into a greater revolution of intuitive interactivity and content management.
Beyond all this beauty, many industry leaders in smartphone and portal computer have denounced the iPad for its lack of allure to the working individual. How could business, small or enterprise, use the iPad, with its lack of multi-tasking, soft keyboard, USB or Display port, or other features that would guarantee its success in the workforce? I believe, just as the iPhone was a perfect example, users simply need to get their hands on it and use it to fully understand and appreciate the power of this device. Again, I go back to the words I used: Ubiquity (everyone has an iPhone), simple, elegant, intuitive, easy, fluid, so thus we must think that way as well. So many of us are used to calling IT (having them learn all about Windows for you), downloading Firefox instead of IE, opening a folder and digging down for five minutes, and generally doing so much more in so much more time to do all the simple things we just want our computers to do!
I work in photography semi-professional, and to me, the iPad SCREAMS success to me. Why? Let me demonstrate, and business peoples, please listen closely:
Here is a beautiful example, as simple, elegant, and easy as I can make it 
, of how the iPad is going to revolutionize (or just make it so much better) my interactions with my clients, and your interaction with your clients as well.
I walk into a coffee shop and look around for what I am told is a tall, slender, dark haired girl with a tattoo on her left shoulder and a septum-piercing. Not too hard to locate I would image, and indeed, sitting in the corner with a latte and a netbook is my prospective client, Ginelle. Approaching the table she stands up and smiles, I can already tell she won’t be shy in front of the camera; we introduce ourselves, shake hands, and take a seat. Ginelle, as forward as she is with her smiles, is just as forward with her business, she asks, I did not get a chance to review all your work, I hope you brought something to show, if not, I have my netbook here we can use to browse your photos online, and maybe take a look at some ideas in other galleries?†I respond, as I mirror her smile (just a little bigger) while pulling out my iPad, In fact I have, I brought everything we need to throw ideas around, get some on paper (per-se), and show you the best of my work. I turn on my iPad and open Photos, flip it 1800 and tell her to browse through my photos. Just tap on a gallery you think looks interesting to you and go ahead and browse. She does just that, in fact, she needs no other direction than what I have her, she just GETS the idea, and in seconds is browsing my entire gallery quickly, noting all the images she likes.
I then ask her about what sort of ideas she has in mind for a shoot, she says she knows a few great photographers that have really unique concepts on deviantART, so I open Safari and connect to deviantART within seconds and we find the artists work, I decide to save a few of the images she likes on there, and we move on.
I think you have a good eye for what you want to achieve with our shoot! I say, she is delighted. Should we set a time to shoot this week? I ask. She fidgets a bit in her seat and takes another sip of her coffee, I can see where this is going, Well, what sort of packages do you have? I pull up a beautiful pages document that outlines all of my services and ask her to check off whatever package and details she likes, so she does just that, tapping on the check boxes as we talk about what each can offer her for end product. She chooses a full day session, photo manipulation, and prints, specifically she likes canvas.
I then have some questions of my own, and ask her what her experience modeling is. She details that, and I ask her if I can jot this information down for future reference. She agrees and I open a numbers workbook I have with all my clients, already set up for data-input, I put in her name, and check modeled previously and I ask her to slide her finger across the stars to indicate her level of experience with posing. She slides her finger, just as simply as that, across four of the five stars, and tells me she feels she’s got it, but definitely is not pro of the pro. I tell her I am going to append the images she liked on deviantART to her information in numbers, so I won’t forget the style she is after, and its easy to come back to afterwards.
She is very impressed with how easy and quick our meeting is going, so she agrees to shoot with me and we decide to set a date. I pull up the Calendar app, take a look at all my shoots and work schedule for the next month, and we pick a date, I enter it into Calendar and it’s done.
So you see, after only moments of working on the iPad I can have a completely organized array of information in multiple applications, no losing notepads or paper, no forgetting which photos she liked, no missing the critical information, no waiting for Windows to load, no hard to see photos on a screen with a low color gamut, and all the while showing her how professional and obviously lucrative I am as a photographer!
