M’s the word: Second thoughts on riding the excitement
How I learned to love the iPad a little bit less
By on Jan 25, 2012I had been promised an iPad, so I was slightly disappointed not to find one on the desk when I got into the office on Monday morning. About 11 a.m., my administrative assistant came round with a box and the offending item. It was heavier than I had expected and shrouded in a protective plastic case that doubled as a stand. Neat. I called the IT support desk and fixed a demonstration.
It might be me, but I think not, probably most men do not read instructions. We would prefer to be guided by an expert who knows how to make things work the unorthodox way and will short cut all the useless guff about what the buttons can do and how to do boring stuff.
Well, Sven arrived, compete with anorak and a computer with suspiciously more USB ports than the average. Within seconds after sliding and pressing or vice versa, there was a full color perfectly pixelated picture of water on a misty window, with a couple of enticing icons. Seconds later and my emails started to appear like magic, slipping effortlessly across the screen.
Within seconds I was an expert, dragging, squeezing and sliding things across the screen like a fighter ace. And then Sven began to explain the limitations. At the moment, I cannot work on PowerPoint documents or Excel or Word. I cannot edit attachments. What I can do is read and respond with typed messages, see my email, send Macintosh messages, listen to music or watch movies. If I download additional applications, I can read attachments.
Of course, I will pay for each application and each costs only a midge bite. But if you have ever sat by a loch in June, you will know just how offensive and distressing it can be when there are enough midges biting you. And that is where I guess the sugar coating starts to wear off and I can taste the paracetamol underneath.
You see, what I want to do is everything I can do at the moment with this Lenovo thinkpad and more. I do not want to compromise the utility I have just for a silver sliver in a plastic envelope. I suggested (and here I tested the very limits of my geekdom) that perhaps a Blackberry pad, RIM technology or an Android would be better. And Sven smiled that knowing smile, one Geek to another. And he agreed with me. He muttered about file transfer, using iNotes … the sinister control mechanism installed by Jobs, which prevents you from attaching anything that has not been processed through iNotes. Which is something like going to a restaurant that charges corkage on every bottle of wine you bring in, regardless of what it cost.
He did say, though, that there are work-arounds, which reduce the inconvenience. Trust human ingenuity to make it work. I can load everything onto a Sharepoint portal and suck it down as I want to read it. And for those who really want to use the iPad, due to excessive concern for the weight of a conventional laptop perhaps or to a desire to look übercool on the airplane, I guess this compromise is acceptable.
Of course, it is also a compromise of security, as documents sent to a portal on Sharepoint can be accessed by anyone with the code. But there is probably a work-around for that as well.
For me, the real concern is the one I held originally. This is a slick toy, a gadget to while away the time while we wait for something more important to do. It is a toy that can perform some business functions, but a toy that will still be used primarily for watching Power Rangers, Transformers, or Cowboys versus Aliens while slumped on a sofa or sipping champagne on a plane. As a work device, I am ever so slightly concerned that the representative will draw it, covered in greasy fingerprints, excuse himself for the Facebook screen saver before he gets into the work process with his customer. So instead of looking more professional, he will reveal his taste in applications, tell something subconscious about his true personality, and dumb down the interaction before he has made his first slippery finger move.
As if to confirm this blurring of the edges, Sven let slip that he has already had to unfreeze an iPad locked by a two-year-old who somehow managed to enter a false password five times, requiring a reboot. Sven is encouraging me to adapt my working style and to test the machine to discover new and thoughtful things it can do, which the Lenovo cannot, and perhaps to move my business forward.
Now I am home, and I am typing this on my Lenovo. The iPad is sitting in a corner making plaintive beeps as emails download. I hope I remember to put it back in my briefcase tonight, as I have another IT friend coming to my office in the morning to see how I am getting on. I would hate to disappoint her.
For exclusive business insights, download eyeforpharma’s Pharma Emerging Markets Report 2011-12, Pharma e-Marketing Strategy and Pharma Key Account Management Report 2011-12.
For all the latest business analysis and insight for the pharma industry, sign up to eyeforpharma’s newsletters and follow us on Twitter.