next »

[perkiset]

This article leans towards why it's the iPad that's making the boardroom, but the more fundamental point is the form factor and how it's changing what people want to have in front of them. Honestly, this form factor is going to be huge and Apple's going to have a big part of it for a long time to come.

Could this be done with a regular OS and a flat notebook? I am doubtful. Part of what facilitates the operational ease is the appliance nature of the device - that's why Android based pads have a WAY better shot at competing (IMO) than windows mobile or other, more clunky OSs. People want easy easy easy when they cannot give the machine their full attention - they want it to be a simple adjunct to their brains, not something that takes a full time slice while they're in a critical meeting.

And I think there's good reason that the VC community has embraced the iPad for board meetings. Prior to the launch of the iPad, VCs would arrive at a board meeting and promptly set up their laptops. Anyone who's attended a meeting of laptop users knows that it is not the most conducive environment for discussion. Open laptops create a real obstacle to discussion. Perhaps it is the clicking of keys. Perhaps it is the physical barrier the laptops create. Whatever it is, the VC community has realized that an iPad lying flat on the table does not have the same effect. It is possible to pull up your calendar, browse for a piece of information, share relevant contact info (and, in all truthfulness, scan your email) with minimal interruption on the iPad. Less distraction. Less interruption. Better board meetings.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ipads-are-taking-over-the-boardroom-2010-6

[Phaëton]

Ive seen people with them everywhere and I've seen plenty of news reels where newscasters
are on the scene showing a video like, here's an example of what were talking about, using it as a portable
'square box behind the newscaster'....  the internet in your hands... no bootup, spwod/hour glass wait
for updates are waiting popup to finish its monopoly of your attention..., its just USEABLE...

no, 'yes/no' click boxes, awkward pauses while adobe reader update harnesses computer control , hanging
up for no apparent reason, send error report, etc..etc..

no tech guys necessary.

[nutballs]

also, there are a lot of collaborative apps that can be useful. shared whiteboard in particular. You can all face each other, while 1 person is drawing something out. You dont need to crowd around one screen, and you dont need to stand at a white board with your back to everyone doing the hokey pokey dance that whiteboard users do.

[nop_90]

Buddies comment sums it up

@Sammy the Walrus IV:
Toy is not meant to say that it cannot enter the public consciousness, be or remain popular, and the iPod doesn't really relate to the boardroom either. I also remember ten years ago when everyone in a meeting had an iPaq as opposed to a Palm. Things shift around and the newest, coolest toys typically get into the hands of execs quickly via non-personal funds.

About the only thing impressive is Apple's ability manipulate the news media and present numbers out of context .
Just for shits and giggles I got PDA/Smart phone sales from pre-apple era.
http://digital-lifestyles.info/2006/02/06/pda-sales-plummet-again/
In 2004, 9.1 million PDA where sold. So apple's sales figures are not that impressive , And it shows how quickly the market can shift from one platform to another. 10 years ago palm pilot was king, then it was ipaq type machines, now it is apple.

The school where I used to work at pioneered many aspects of e-learning. Magically the laptop in the classroom was going to change education. That students would be able to learn much more quickly etc. Yes the laptop is a very useful tool for a student, but s/he is much better off with a good instructor . And when we started the program most of the instructors would make very impressive power points etc. One of the best instructors I had did not use any of that stuff, he was from a former soviet country. Also he only had one arm so I think he had problems typing up power points . Basically for 10 minutes he would just talk off the top of his head about the topic. Then for the rest of the time he would ask students questions like "What does the instruction pointer do ?" after 1 student would give an answer. He would ask another student is he correct ?. Or to elaborate etc.

I am not saying the ipad is useless, i just get annoyed when people "hype" shit and say it is great because a certain group is using it. Actually judging how well American cooperations are doing, and all the american banks that have collapsed, probably saying it is being used in the boardroom is not such a good idea

[perkiset]

About the only thing impressive is Apple's ability manipulate the news media and present numbers out of context .

...

I am not saying the ipad is useless, i just get annoyed when people "hype" shit and say it is great because a certain group is using it. Actually judging how well American cooperations are doing, and all the american banks that have collapsed, probably saying it is being used in the boardroom is not such a good idea

Man you are so out of touch Nop.

There is no denying that the iPad is, in itself, a technological and operational feat. It is unmatched in the world of mass technology. Period. You can claim all you want about how stupid, or low tech, or "already been done" it is or whatever, no one else has. Period. That's why there are so many of them sold. Your notion that it is simply Apple's control of the media, or brain control or mass delusion is simply wrong.

And beyond that, it is a brilliant new device that defines, quite comprehensively, what can be done in a reasonably new form factor. Whether they (Apple) continues to dominate in that arena is neither here nor there - they did it and the market is rewarding them. I ADORE my pad, it is incredible and is never far from me at all. It is the connection device I've wanted for years.

I get that there is no impressing you with the tech or usage of the device. That is unfortunate, but says more about your disconnection from mainstream technology consumers than it does the practicality, impact and capability of a device.

Doesn't mean we don't love you though 

[nop_90]

You hit the nail on the head with these 2 statements

Man you are so out of touch Nop.
.....
That is unfortunate, but says more about your disconnection from mainstream technology consumers than it does the practicality, impact and capability of a device.

And it is because I see things as they really are . I have always seen things that way, and it is a curse and a blessing .

According to the internet the first revolving restaurant was constructed in 1961. People where amazed and said how brilliant it was blah blah blah.

In the 1920s my great grandfather designed and constructed a 3 story mansion. The entire mansion was round and like a 3 layer wedding cake. On the second floor all around the edge of the house was a swimming pool. So the pool was a ring. My great grandfather liked to swim laps, but he did not like to go back and forth. So this way he could swim continously, and never go back forth. My great grandfather when he was inventing things always liked to have during the winter months sunlight shining through his study window. Unfortunately the sun moves. So his solution was to build the house, so the entire house would revolve. That way the house would follow the sun. After the house was constructed everyone was saying how stupid the house was. What a waste of money it was etc. Later after the communists siezed power, they published books about the "capitalist pigs". An entire book was dedicated to my family. That house was listed as an example of capitalistic extravagance. The book seemed to forget to mention that my family was the first to implement various worker rights in thier factories. The first to allow labour unions etc, and that my great grandfather was a self made man. His problem he was 60 years ahead of his time .

What you do not understand my dear perks, is there is technology. And there is human exceptance to new ideas. Quite often the technology is available. But people will not adopt this technology.

So a working practical ATM machine was invented in NYC in ~1900. A few prototypes where put into place. As history shows it was a failure. No one at the time wanted to get money from a machine. Why would u need to get cash 24 and 7 .

Even the first computers where viewed as "useless". Why would you need to be able to compute numbers so fast. Probably if it would not be for WW2 and the need to compute for the Manhattan project, compute the ballistic tables for the new american battleships and to break german codes, we still would be using adding machines. The first xerox desktop was a "failure" people where just not ready for it.

The only place where this does not hold true is when it comes to finding new ways to destroy humanity. The birth of the american nation takes place not in USA, but with the humble british archer. Also if you can see why most noble men included the british themselved hated archers, you will see my point .

[perkiset]

That's an extraordinarily cool story gout your parents and inventions. Bravo. But it has very little to do with my point.

I've never said that the iPad is a brand new invention, the likes of which the world has never seen - but it is a technological  marvel, unmatched in the world of mass technology. You see, inventions are only kind of cool. The ability to take something to market is at least an equal challenge, if not greater. Not necessarily as part of the art itself, but as part of the entire endeavor.

To do what Apple did with the iPad takes an extraordinary amount of corporate discipline, creativity, team work, operational excellence, superb manufacturing, religion-esque marketing capability and a boatload of other skills. So what if someone managed to create something akin to it in their basement? I couldn't buy it. Apple did it. And consider also the path they took over the years to teach me that I am ready for it (to your point) - another part of the brilliance is to know when something is acceptable by the public. I'd say Apple has that pretty down

There's very little original thought - most things are an incremental improvement on something that already exists. In this case, Apple took a whole lot of incremental steps, combined them into a viable package and it's a huge success. It's a success because it's got it all, my friend - not because Apple claims it is.

[nutballs]

also not to be a nitpicker, but... first rotating RESTAURANT was 1961. Your GGP was obviously a loony genius, but twas not a restaurant. Cant change the definition of a piece of basis info while in the middle of trying to prove a point.

[nop_90]

@NB who would want to eat in a restaurant that goes round . Also everyone knows that restaurant food is full of germs, who would want to eat in a restaurant in the first place . Anyway we are having a discussion, as opposed to an argument.

The ability to take something to market is at least an equal challenge, if not greater. Not necessarily as part of the art itself, but as part of the entire endeavor.
....
It's a success because it's got it all, my friend - not because Apple claims it is.

I hear words like "cool" and "It's got it all".
"The it's got it all" statement baffles me . It has all of what. Nothing can have it all. These are the ideas that pop into my head

The "cool" word baffles me the most. It reminds me of when I was back in grade 1. Some boy showed me which I guess now we would call an "action figure". I don't think we had that word ~35 years ago. He said to me "it is cool". I was rather perplexed, all I saw was an idiotic plastic male doll of some sort. I asked him "why is it cool ?" He said well it is "Incredible Hulk" (honestly i can not remember the name of the idiotic doll). And the doll is very amazing because it can do all sorts of amazing things. I think he had another one of these dolls, and we would play with the dolls together. Being the polite young child I was, I went along with the game. I then proceeded to be bored shitless for the next 1/2 hour as he was telling me that this doll could transform itself etc. I think I asked the boy how is the doll able to transform itself ? I did not receive a satisfactory answer. I was rather disappointed, and was perplexed why was the boy self deluding himself. (my 6 year old vocabulary did not contain the word "delude", but the idea was there).

The marketing part reminds me of when I got older. I have always been fascinated by bars, I love watching the herd behaviour as women pretend they are in the bar for other purposes then to be picked up. And as men go to the bar to act all macho, and then somehow impress women with thier silly behaviour. Being in the military at the time, the bar was a place to hang out on friday and saturday nights, since it was better then being in baracks.

Anyway women that go to bars seem to go in pairs. In the military I had a friend who was similar to me. When you pick up women in the bar, you just go and talk to them. Then you tell them stupid shit like they are pretty etc. Tell them silly jokes etc. So initially we used this technique. But sometimes you would have to go talk to 3-4 pairs of women before you would be successful. Of course my friend was lazy like me. We had to talk to 3-4 women which means we could not sit at our table etc. Being lazy we soon deviced a new method. There was another guy we knew his name was John. After 3 beers he became more stupid then normal. So while we where sitting at our table, we would scout for likely pairs of women. After we saw a pair we liked, we would say, John go talk to those 2 women over there. Then we would observe what was happening. If the women would not talk to John. We would send him out again to another pair. We would then wait 5 minutes, then walk up to the women and say "Ladies is this guy bothering you ?". It worked every time

It is possible to pickup women in bars by yourself. The same technique still works, talk to women tell them they are pretty and all the crap. The only problem is that the women are in pairs. So you have to attempt to split the pair. This worked very well until I got this one pair. One of the women happened to be bi, but her friend did not know it. So anyway the bi girl had the idea we should have a 3 some. After that no longer thought it was a good idea to pick women up in bars.

Point of the amusing story is that yes marketing is the most important thing. And once u understand how people think, it is similar to training a dog. But then again most people appear to have a hard time training dogs In the case of apple, the ipod/iphone/ipad it is a relatively harmless device. At least with one of those devices there is the remote possibility that they might see an independent news source and better their mind So to be honest I see little amazing about apple's marketing. Billy Graham is much more amazing, he sells a nonexistant product .

About the only challenges I see when taking things to market is the ability to keep a straight face when telling people things. And the ability to truly see how illogical human beings really are. Just take a look how many people support the republican party in USA. Take a look where the majority of the support comes from, basically working class joes who have to most to lose when thier conservative policies are implemented. USA is not unique in this area, pretty much in all parts of the world it is the same .

[perkiset]

Interesting stories but at the end, intellectualized horse poop.

Way beyond Apples marketing juggernaut and the incredible power of the buzz they create:

For many people, me included and clearly many VCs and other boardroom folk:
The iPad is more efficient than a notebook.
The iPad is instant on.
The iPad has a supernaturally long battery life.
The iPad is more convenient than other form factors.
The iPad is more portable than notebooks.
The iPad is easier to use than other OSs.
The iPad is a good bargain for the price.
The iPad has access to 100k apps instantly.
The iPad is the only thing like it in the world ATM.

Simple facts related to why there have been so many sold. Marketing only creates buzz and mindshare, it can't force people to open their wallets. Plenty people have done plenty due diligence on the device before they purchased.

It passed muster. It is what I describe. Apple deserves the market success they have achieved with it because they did, in fact, create The Next Big Thing.

[isthisthingon]

I notice more and more people with iPads that show up at meetings, meetups and other events these days.  I've noticed that instead of being engaged in the event they are constantly staring down while others are either whispering to them in excited envy or completely distracted by the numerous and unrelated side-shows these pad owners are constantly engaged in. 

The board meeting sounds a little different where the pads are on the table.  But in any audience setting and especially when the lights dim for a presentation up front I find this to be pretty annoying, distracting and really not helpful at all for the intent of the event 

Perhaps if people were voting on issues on their pads in realtime or some other interactive approach to an event that would be different    But pretty soon I expect to see short films in theaters saying turn off your damn cellphone and your damn pad 

[perkiset]

Rude people will be rude, whether it's farting in an elevator or laughing at a funeral. It's still a total curiosity, there'll be quite a bit of that for a while ... Just like the first cell phone users.

"iPads don't annoy people, people annoy people." 

[Phaëton]

nice. this goes along with my predictions/observations of people sitting in the same
room all antisocial, twittering one another from across the room....about being lonely.

[nutballs]

they are just as annoyihng as laptops in meetings. at least you dont have everything hiding behind screens, since they cant...

[isthisthingon]

they are just as annoyihng as laptops in meetings. at least you dont have everything hiding behind screens, since they cant...

I could see where they might be less annoying than laptops in meetings for this reason.  The issue for me is that laptops just don't find their way into movie theaters, like iPads do