iPad usefulness

The iPad is a tool. Like any tool you need to learn how to use it. When used right, with the right apps you can boost productivity, but it has serious debilitating limitations imposed by Apple. The iPad is not a phone. It does not allow you to multiple-task in the way a laptop does (You can multi-task in the sense of running 2 apps simultaneous however this is not true multiple-tasking. For example you cannot watch a movie and email/chat at the same time. This sucks when I want to take notes or visit a web page whilst watching This Week in Google with lep Laporte). When you switch to email the movie stops. Bummer) -2points. You can’t tether to iPhone so you have to have 2 data sims -2 points. It’s not “smart” enough to know when to switch your blutooth between devices example: you’re watching a movie on iPad using BT headset, your phone rings – you have to disconnect BT from iPad then connect BT to iPhone. Bad news. Silly -2 points. So what’s that out of 10? 2.

In summary the iPad is a consumption device. You can type and everything however you tend to grab the laptop is f it’s there. If ou ever had a laptop nearby you would always dump the iPad and grab the laptop. The only benefit of the iPad is it’s mobility. It’s GREAT when you’re on a tram or at a cafe and want to watch a news video or use flipboard (awesome!!!) however when you’re at home or the office – why would you use an iPad? It’s good taking notes in church. I find that I can do anything I can do on the iPad on the iPhone. However I find that on the iPad I only use Mercury browser (for gmail etc) and occasionally twitter. I never use any apps. For example if I want a map I use my iPhone. If I wanted to produce (rather than consume) content (ie write a blog essay or newsletter) I would not use the iPad.

Also double-bummer no flash so 90% of videos don’t work. Yes YouTube works and ustream.tv however 90% of websites that have embedded videos don’t work.

Did you know google has released it’s own tablet that only has chrome browser? No operating system! That’s the future – everything i do in the browser. As I said on the iPad I pretty much only use a browser.

iPad 2 promises more. We’ll wait and see. For me I am going for the Chrome based Google Tab or Android phone and tablet, Xoom.

How do I get my business on mobile phones?

It’s interesting: when I started a mobile business, literally driving to businesses to wash their cars, Jonno’s Car Wash was a truly mobile business. However nowadays we all need to tae our businesses mobile. The stats are overwhelming more and more people are accessing Facebook, restaurants and all sorts of purchases via their mobile devices. Breakthrumarketing.com.au says that there are 1.8 billion credit cards in the world, yet there are close to 3 billion mobile devices. That’s a big market! And that’s a market we all want to be in.

With the proliferation of search (google, twitter, live search) changing the way we look for products and services mobile is the current big wave of change for all businesses.

Here’s a short list – to be added to later – of ways to get your business online.

1. Mobilisation of your website
2. Web applications
3. iPhone or Andorid development

Mobilising your website – creating a mobile friendly site:

The easiest and free* way to get your business website online is to “Mobilise it”. If you already have a blog or website and have developed your own SEO (Search engine optimsation – how to get found online by sites like Google or Bing) Easymobilizer.com/
will instantly, safely and almost freely make your website or blog mobile friendly. You can even test your site to see how it will look online. So if you’re already online, and popping up on searches, people with a mobile or smart phone will be able to see your site.

Benefits of Mobilisation:

Quick, cheap and easy

No ongoing development costs

Easymobilizer will add “touch to call” and “you tube videos” for free

No code required, or very little one line of code entered in to your home page

Creating a web application

A web application is different to a App. Wikipedia defines a Web app as, “an application that uses technologies such as Javascript, CSS, and HTML5 and is executed in a web browser”. An iPhone or Android app is different in that it is more like a program than a website. CSS Tricks has a great article on creating a web app: CSS Tricks or Lifehacker writes on the same topic.

Creating an iPhone App

Finally you can become an iOS (That’s Apples phone operating system. Google’s phone operating system is Andorid). Here is a site that will get you started: http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action

As a marketing strategist I am so strongly in the belief that good strategy is key. It’s not as simple as creating a web app for your business. You have to ask the questions:

Who are my customers?

What are they searching for?

What type of phone devices do my prospects use?

What features would my clients/prospects look for in accessing my site from their phone

Am I wanting to find new customers, or sell more to existing clients?

Only when you answer all of these questions and more can you even start to dream about what your next step is. If you would want to chat about the right strategy for your business contact me.

If you would like someone to design and construct a mobile solution for your business then contact me

Android or iPhone what to choose

Our phones are becoming more and more powerful. I remember asking my “Orange” teclo for a phone that offered email, video and in 2000 they said it didn’t exist. Now it does. I am living in the future I tell myself. I am surfing the web, watching video’s…doing anything I can do on a PC from my phone. However there is a Great Wall of Phones dividing two worlds – Android and Other.

Android is Google’s Free, Open software that manufacturers like Samsung are using for their smart phones. The benefit of Android for manufacturers is it’s free and easy to build on, and it’s open.
The benefit of Android for users is there are unlimited applications and uses – like the Web, android does not limit the user experience in the way iPhone does (iPhone’s operating system is iOS and limits what you can do. Android does not limit this which means greater risk for security, however greater opportunity). Android also means Google Platform, so whether you log on to your PC or your phone or a TV or freezer for that matter you will find all your data at the same place.

Cloud computing is fantastic for these reasons:
1. Speed – because your data is stored off-site
2. Convenience – everything is in the one place, online
3. Transferability – you can access it from any device

Cloud computing however has it’s challenges:
1. Bandwidth – it is limited by your connected to the Internet
2. Security – there are still concerns about wireless and hackers
3. Lock-out – if you lose your Google Account you lose everything

Android on Wikipedia
Comparison