TiPb's curious -- how do you use the iPhone for your job?
We want some real life stories, some real world experience. We want to know what it's like to use the iPhone in your line of work (and yes, being a student or caregiver or stay-at-home parent or even... politician, counts as work!)
1. Tell us what your job is.
2. Give us a paragraph or two describing how you use your iPad during your workday. Tell us the *story*.
3. Share any tips or tricks you might have come across. What about the iPad makes your job easier?
4. List the top 5, must have apps you use to get that job done.
And... That's it!
We'll be picking one reply every week or two and including it in a post right on the front page of TiPb.com. If/when your post gets picked, not only do you get your name (or username) up in lights, you get a sweet $20 iTunes gift certificate for your trouble! And yes, we will prioritize based on how awesome, how funny, how tragic, how well written, how inspiring, how disappointing, -- generally how memorable your entry is. So bring it!
So what are you waiting for, tell us how you use your iPad for your job?
This isn't a point-form contest. Tell us a story. Make it something you'd find interesting to read.
Bring the drama. Bring the comedy. Bring the joy. Bring the pain.
Here's a sample:
1. I'm the editor of a popular iPhone and iPad blog.
2. I wake up in the morning to an alarm -- on my iPhone. I grab it off my nightstand and quickly skim through my emails, delete spam, answer anything super-urgent, and make a note of fairly urgent stuff I need to tackle when I get up. Next is RSS. I want to know what news has happened when I was sleeping. Again, I skim for critical stuff first and fire off any urgent items via email. Last is Twitter, DMs and mentions, then a quick scan of the time line.
Once I'm up I'm syncing podcasts. I listen to a lot, especially if I have to drive around. Most of the other stuff, the gaming and web browsing, Instapaper and book reading has shifted to my iPad, but the iPhone is the feet-on-the-ground, moving, taking action device for the rest of the day. Oh, and phone calls.
I keep it next to my desk as a way to alert me to incoming email and tweets, and sometimes as a tiny companion device to use when my Mac is busy. The iPad is encroaching on this, but not replacing it yet.
At night, I set the iPhone as my alarm, and put on a 20-min countdown time for iPod sleep. Then its more podcasts until I'm unconscious.
3. If you forget to sync podcasts, iPhone can stream new ones right from the iTunes app. iPhone OS 4 makes this even better and less flaky. Use it.
4. Aside from email, I use a variety of Twitter clients but still default to Tweetie -- er, Twitter for iPhone. Its work flow just works for me. Reeder is my Google Reader app of choice for staying on the news and since its syncs, it keeps me up to date everyone. Likewise, I use SimpleNote combined with Notational Velocity for both Notes and Todos. Sync is king. Must. Have. That's why I also use DropBox as my main repository. Having my daily files everywhere is unbeatable. I've already mentioned a ton of built-in apps, but for third party I typically get lost so have some navigation software handy. I alternate between TeleNav for quick, on-grid to and fro, and Navigon for beefy off-grid anywhere access.
That's my typical daily use for the iPhone. Not an app for that, but a bunch that get the job done.
1. I work in a hospital, and I'm basically a shelf stocker.
2. During a typical day, I would use my iPad to fill order forms ported to numbers, use the notes app to make lists and pandora as a soundtrack mort of the night. I don't have a whole lot of interaction with the patients, and most of them I never get to know as I cover the ICU floors. The other night there was a little girl in a room in the pediatric ICU who wanted to watch Dora but the hospital didn't have any Dora dvds, so I brought my iPad in (I trust the nurse) and set up netflix to stream Dora season 1 and let her watch for a few hours before she fell asleep, so now that is another of my essential work apps.
3. Filling out forms through numbers and submitting express orders from anywhere with safari makes my job much easier.
I am the IT Manager for a Credit Union. I'm in charge of all the workstations, servers, network equipment, and phone system. I've had an iPhone since the 3G model was released and have been the proud owner of an iPad for about 2 weeks now. Since getting my iPad i've found it amazing how often I am using it for day to day work rather then my workstation. My current workstation is a Dell Precision M6400 and it is an amazingly fast laptop... but it's heavy, it's battery is something to be laughed at and the power adapter is bigger then most normal sized laptops. So the iPad has been a huge help to not have to haul this mighty beast all over. The apps that I use daily on my iPad to get stuff done:
1. LogMeIn Ignition
2. Jump (RDC client)
3. File Browser (check NAS drives and server shares. make sure backups have ran correctly)
4. Keynote (for making presentations and training staff)
5. Numbers (editing excel files and creating reports)
Don't know what I would do now without my iPad by my side. Truly a wonderful product for the business world.
1. I am an accountant for a well-known cancer hospital in NYC.
2. My iPad serves many purposes throughout my workday. The first would have to be my entertainment on the train ride in. I take the 7 train every morning from Queens to Manhattan, and tune out to my noise canceling headphones, music on my iPad, and the latest issue of the Wall Street Journal I download before I leave my house. At work, I usually listen to Pandora for most of the day at my desk while i do the most boring work on the planet: general accounting. Whatever work I do not finish gets put in an email to be completed later on "numbers," as most of it is spreadsheet calculations i can do straight from the iPad. Some more music/movies on the train home and my workday is over.
3. The iPad certainly simplifies my workday, allowing me to take anything with me without the hassle of lugging around a laptop. The battery has been great, easily lasting two workdays worth of heavy use. The best tip i can think of is turning the wi-fi off when you can. The battery is virtually endless with it off and listening to music.
I can't seem to make it useful beyond having a bigger screen
It can almost do what I need to use it while away from my desk at work - almost.
Since 100% + is what I can do with my other (cheaper & smaller) personal electronics (sadly they have smaller screens) then it is there so I can amuse myself while long compiles run.
I work for a local network management company, and my iPad is now a critical tool for me. Here is how iPad has improved things for me:
Remote management: I use LogMeIn injector all the time to log in to my work laptop remotely where I run tcpdumps and analyze packets with wireshark. The data plan is much cheaper than the $60 I would need to connect my laptop, and the 6+ hour battery life with 3G (10+ hours without 3G) gets me through the day whereas my laptops 2 hour lifespan keeps me tethered to an outlet. It is also much more convenient to carry around a flat ipad than a bigger notebook where I have to find a good sitting area to use it. I have console macros created that lets me easily start a dump with just a few keystrokes once I am logged in.
My note pad: I take my ipad with me everywhere I go to take notes when speaking with engineers. I record details on their topology and other data where I access the information on my laptop using Evernote. It's all synced. It is MUCH easier to carry around my iPad. With my laptop I used to have to take my laptop or a piece of paper to their desk, open it up and start working. Now I just walk to their desk and immediately take notes. I don't have to set anything up ... I just "do".
My document reader: Since I carry around my iPad all the time, I use it to carry tech PDFs with me wherever I go for reference purposes. I use it to read product documentation and access network topology maps saved as PDFs or powerpoints. I can pull up my ipad, and within a few seconds bring up a network topology to answer engineer questions ON THE SPOT without sitting down or having to uncomfortably carry a laptop. Also, while moving around and going to meetings I never run out of battery life with my iPad. My laptop ALWAYS gives out. It NEVER lasts the entire day without being tethered to a power source.
My device monitor: While connected to a work VPN, I am able to monitor device status through safari and INSTANTLY get the information I need. Again, I just pull it out like a pad of paper and read the information then and there ... on the go.
On break entertainment: When my iPad and me are not busy working, I love to listen to music, watch a video or two, or play any of a number of different games. I LOVE the Bruce Lee game right now with graphics that meet or exceed what you have on PS2.
In short ... you cannot pry my iPad from my hands. It is now an integral part of my work day and also plays a major part in keeping me sane when dealing with network management issues. I LOVE my iPad.
1. I'm a freelance photographer and travel journalist
2. I'm currently living in a campervan travelling Australia, review hostels, experience and generally bantering about life as a backpacker for various travel companies and blogs.
I got a wifi only iPad shipped over from the US to help me along. The extended battery life means it's excellent for being on the road, and i simply hook it up to my JB iPhone for internet access.
It does everything I need to do. The camera kit allows me to upload photos after a shoot, apps allow me to edit them on the spot, email them and distribute them as I need.
3. It's apps that make it my new office though. I photo edit, blog, find hostels and communicate through the apps I've downloaded. I've done what in my mind the iPad is designed for - personalising it for what you need it for.
4. My top used apps:
- Skype (for communicating with family, friends and my editors
- Hostel Hero (for finding places to stay)
- Wordpress (for blogging on my personal site, inc offline drafting)
- Photogene (for editing my images - it does what I require!)
- Balance (for a quick look at my funds!)
- Echofon (for twitter updates and follow travel events)
- Facebook (to make all my friends jealous!)
- Zenbe (i'm useless without my tick lists...it keeps me in order!)
- Games in general (great for passing the time!)
2. I use my iPad throughout the day to take down notes on new class information as well as any information I find to be relevant that I don't want to chance "remembering". I also use it to study for advancement tests. I converted my power points into pictures and placed all those photos into albums and just let them do a slideshow to some intense music while I read and memorize everything!
I also recently enrolled in an online college to earn my bachelors in Electronics Engineering. I have been using ToDo to keep track of everything such as registering for class to write a paper and everything else school related. Also I use note pad to take down notes (who would have thought lol) on important things to remember for a paper or quiz/test.
3. I have found that if you lay the iPad on a table (in landscape mode) it is so much easier to type. I can type like that just as fast as i do on keyboards at work. It is much easier than trying to hold it with your legs while crouching. It is much more pleasing with your wrists to do this method and plus your wrists will thank you when you don't get carpal tunnel!
4. 1) ToDo (work/school)
2) GoodReader (work/school)
3) Note Pad (work/school)
4) Netflix (full of total awesomeness of course!!!)
5) Let's Golf (I find that I am WAY better than Tiger Woods AND my wife doesn't chase me with Golf Clubs )
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Apple TV 2010 iPod Classic - 80GB Black MacBook Pro - 250GB Aluminum Unibody
As an architect, I knew as soon as I saw the iPad it would be helpful for my young business, and maybe give me an edge over some of my competition. Right of the bat, I realized that it was the perfect presentation tool for showing clients my work. Unlike a laptop, the client can hold the iPad in their hands as the photo album's built in slide show showcases my portfolio. It's hard to describe the difference, but it's somehow more "personal" when they can hold the images in their hands in addition, its less awkward than a traditional photo portfolio as well. But once I got started with it, I realized that that was the tip of the iceberg.
On the go, I can bring drawings with me as PDFs, and reference them at meetings, something I used to do with my iPhone but which is even more useful on the iPad because of the larger screen. The adobe ideas app and the penultimate app have been incredibly useful for sketching out concepts and notes during presentations and meetings. I've been able to work on proposals and written specifications using pages and both the on-screen keyboard and a Bluetooth keyboard. In the office, it has become my defacto email and calendar machine, allowing my desktop to become almost a true dedicated cad station.
The iPad is already more useful to me than I hoped it would be, but even better, I can see there is so much potential for better and better apps to come. I can't wait to see what people come up with for this great device!
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