Can you Run your Business with only an IPad?

That is the question my mentor, Paul Colligan, posed to us recently over Twitter:

Can I run my business for 30 days with nothing but an IPad?

What do you think? Can Paul do it?

I am personally interested in this challenge. Owing to the fact that the IPad is more of a content consumption device than anything else, this will be an interesting twist. I am curious Paul if you, being a content creator extraordinaire, will be able to pull it off with the apps available for the device. I know all the apps are there for you to use, but this will get interesting when you want to do video, take pictures, record your voice, and such. How will that work into your New Media Content Creation Model?

The interesting feature about the IPad, which I foreshadowed in my first post (The Apple iPad. Greatest thing since iSlicedBread?), is that Apple is purposely marketing this as a “content consumption device”. This device, as confused as you may be at this point, is for the content consumer not the content creator. Does anyone besides me and Paul notice this subtle shift?

If you want to keep tabs on what Paul is up to with this challenge and if it actually works, visit:

http://www.paulsipad.com/

The Apple iPad. Greatest thing since iSlicedBread?

It is a week after all the hubbub around the Apple press conference. Things have now cooled down a tad. Now its time for me to interject my thoughts…

Here they are:

The iPad is nothing more than a glorified IPhone, only bigger.

Yes, you heard me. That is what I think of it. Now, before you start calling me out on twitter, let me say a couple things. (Yes I know about all the jokes, but I am not posting them here)

First off, Scobles’ 16 year old kid agrees with me! Secondly, Paul Colligan, the tech guru that he is, ran the numbers on the iPad which proved to be quite interesting. Third, a college friend of mine has 27 reasons against the iPad. And finally, my good friend Harrison Painter thinks that the iPad will soon be coming to a WalMart near you!

Oh, and I haven’t even launched into the jokes yet! (Don’t worry, I’ll be breaking them out at the end)

In all honesty, lets go back to my original quote. It does everything the IPhone does, why do we need another thing to lug around? And by lug, I do mean lug! Don’t worry though, you won’t be getting flatter abs or bigger biceps with this thing anytime soon.

I am not convinced. I was really looking forward to what would happen with IPhone’s exclusivity deal with AT&T. And I REALLY didn’t like the fact that to add insult to injury that Apple goes ahead and throws in 3G on AT&T.

Now that you’ve heard the bad, here is the good side.

What I did like about the iPad was the option to have a bigger screen to see more detail. The 3G option is pretty neat as well. I did look at Verizon’s netbooks when they first came out but realized I would max the bandwidth usage in an hour with that I do, so the iPad just might be the answer to that problem. If only it had an iBall camera though!

I could see this device finally making use of the RPG gaming apps in the app store. Now you can actually see detail on a larger screen and have more options than be squished between your two thumbs.

I also liked the fact that this takes us another step in the digital media distribution medium. Looking forward to the day when we no longer read inewspapers, as “neat” as they once used to be, and iwalk around with a little tablet thing with all the news we need at the touch of our finger. That and the podcast options too.

If I do get my hands on the iPad, it very well may be version 2 or 3.0.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

iDone.

A $99 IPhone?

Here is Sunday’s post on Monday…

You heard me right. Apple is planning on coming out with a $99 IPhone by year’s end (2008).

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will begin selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone later this month, employees at several stores in the discount retail chain said today.

Of course, this is just an “official announcement”, so there is not much information beyond that. It could very well be a 4GB model of the IPhone, with a 2 year agreement, but that is just rumor. What do you think about this move? Comments are open.

Want dibs on the full article? Here it is:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9122880&intsrc=news_ts_head

Linux PC’s now offered by IBM

Hey all,

Thought this might be up your alley if you are a computer geek like I am.

IBM, which usually makes PC’s for Microsoft, has now come out with a new line of computers. They are now offering Linux for the PC instead of the default Windows. According to IBM, “…the system can save businesses $500 to $800 per user on Microsoft software licenses and an additional $258 per user “since there is no need to upgrade hardware to support Windows Vista and Office…”

My personal take on this? I am liking where the technology is heading, more open-source. Why? I seem to like the “anybody can improve” line of open-source. It also is harder for hackers to get into, in my opinion, as many people are working and improving the software. Whereas Microsoft and Apple have to worry about someone hacking into their “top secret” information and messing up the OS, Linux seems to not worry about it. The multitude of people working on Linux and improving it is impressive, and is shown by the quality of the OS. I toyed around with Red Hat, a flavor of Linux, in my younger years. It was a bit more code oriented, but I liked the feel and way the OS handled itself. More recently I have looked into Ubuntu, which I like alot more than Red Hat. First thing that blew me away, my jaw actually dropped, in Ubuntu was the look of it. Take a look for yourself if you are interested: http://www.ubuntu.com/

To read the full article about IBM offering a Linux line of PC’s, go to: http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212202109&subSection=Hosted+Software

#48 Sponsored by GoDaddy: Sales Tax on vacation, Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur, and Iphone Unlocked

This episode has been sponsored by GoDaddy. Get your piece of the Internet today and save 10% on your next order by using code POD11 or BLU11. http://www.godaddy.com

In today’s episode I reveal that sales tax does go on vacation. In Business you will find out about the confessions of a serial entrepreneur. And Technology talks about the IPhone unlocking software.

The articles used in today’s show can be found at:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/06/pf/taxes/taxbreak_shopping/index.htm?postversion=2007080613

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/may2007/sb20070507_959441.htm?chan=search

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/09/iphone-unlockin.html

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:59 — 11.5MB)

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