aNewDomain.net — BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins not long ago stated that the use of tablets will be dead in five years and IT investments in such mobile devices “are not a good business model.” A lot of observers wondered what he was smoking. It was a bold statement, for sure. You’ve got to wonder what logic and stats Heins is basing this on.
Image credit: Ant Pruitt for aNewDomain
The BlackBerry CEO had few scraps of data to back up his comments, but he talks, of course, of the popularity or lack thereof of his own company’s smartphones.
I work in IT — and I’m a happy Nexus 7 owner. It’s a lightweight tablet that makes a lot of sense for portability. The form factor is ideal for my days so flooded with meetings and conference calls.
Take my tablet — or whatever is the right tablet for you — and couple it with a few apps. Now you’ve got a great IT-pro solution that’ll really keep you on track. Why would the tablet be dead in the enterprise? If anything, usage in the enterprise will only grow. No more lugging a laptop computer from conference room to conference room or worrying about the cord. Tablets have great battery life.
And not only will it fit inside my sport jacket pocket or even in my business slack’s pockets. I’m an above-average-size man roaming the hallways and conference rooms, sure, but I’ve seen Nexus 7s fit in almost any style of clothing.
Note-taking apps like Evernote and SpringPad are perfect for going over the details of the current SDLC for a project manager.
With corporate WiFi or hotspot connectivity, I just use these note-taking apps to sync my notes to the cloud. Say I note it and prepare to discuss it accordingly with project stakeholders. The notes are accessible on the tablet as well as on my personal computer through the Web thanks to cloud sync. What’s not to like?
Of course, the laptop or traditional desktop in some iteration is alive and well. You need a heavier device with a real keyboard and display. Sometimes. Not always. The tablet will be alive and well, too. Heins needs to take a real life look at what’s going on — not just BlackBerry-wise.
My name is Ant Pruitt and this is aNewDomain.
Based in Charlotte, NC, Ant Pruitt is an IT pro, a columnist and the podcast captain at aNewDomain.net. Look for his Smartphone Photographers Community and Yet Another Tech Show. Follow him @ihavnolyfe or on Google+ and email him at Ant@aNewDomain.net. See all Ant’s articles on aNewDomain.net by following this link here at https://anewdomain.netauthor/ant-pruitt/
Completely agree with the note taking ability of the iPAD; taught all classes this past year using nothing but an iPAD and Notability for lecture notes.
Notebooks like the MBA are increasing similar in weight and size to an Ipad with Keyboard but are much more functional.
Big markets for both down the road.
wc21
Thanks for reading and your comment, wc21!
I never thought I’d get as much “work use” out of my device as I do now.
-RAP, II