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Digital Communities
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iPad Surges into the Market (And into Government Service)
April 13, 2010 By Jim Stanton
The iPad launch is the death knell for Kendel - 300,000 iPads sold on day one in the USA alone.The day Apple launched its eagerly awaited iPad, Sony was running ads offering their top of the line Kendel Reader Touch Edition, featuring a 6" touchscreen display for $299.99. Down from $699.99.
Who wants a small, black and white screen, that really only functions as a book, when you can have a larger, 9.7" beautiful color screen iPad that lets you read books, manage your e-mail, send and receive photos, handle your Twitter and Facebook accounts, or watch a movie?
The 9.7" LED back-lit IPS screen (in-plane switching - the liquid crystals are aligned horizontally instead of at an angle providing almost perfect color reproduction) has a remarkably precise Multi-Touch screen.
Right now you will find over 1000 Apps available on-line at the App Store. The new iPad can run almost 150,000 Apps for iPhone, iTouch, including the Apps you already have.
Things open fast, scroll fast, load fast. Surfing the Web is a heck of a lot better than on the tiny iPhone screen -- first, because it's so fast, and second, because you don't have to do nearly as much zooming and panning.
It works with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or 2007, so you can get push email, calendar events, and contacts securely over the air. You can also search for messages in your inbox and on the server, create and manage calendar invitations, find directions to your next meeting, and search your Global Address List.
In addition to Exchange, iPad connects to open standards-based servers for mail, calendar, and contacts. Sync with IMAP mail servers and search the mail server from your iPad. Integrate with CalDAV-compliant calendar servers such as iCal Server and Oracle Beehive. And find colleagues fast by searching LDAP servers from either the Mail or Contacts app on your iPad.
At least on Washington State Emergency Management agency has ordered iPads for use by its emergency operations center members. They will have the iPad with them in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), it will be synchronized to the mainframe data.
When members have to leave the EOC, they can take the iPad with them. This is so much more effective that lugging around a three-ring binder of a CD that won't "read" at the most critical moment.
Cell phone manufacturers are also concerned about iPads. iPad users will incorporate VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) as their wireless link and will not need a cell phone. Skype and other such systems can look forward to expanded client interest.
Techies hate the iPad because it doesn't have a mouse, non-techies love it for the same reason. Love it or hate it, it is the future.
Have you ordered your new iPad yet?
Convergence in the context of media refers to the technology driven unification of different media channels. This column will help facilitate convergence in a way that will allow local (as well as federal and state) officials to operate collaboratively in a much more efficient manner, particularly under the dynamic stresses imposed by disaster management.
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The Future of the Desktop in GovernmentUntil recently, there was no alternative to the familiar desktop computer, and its expensive upgrades and maintenance requirements. For cash-strapped local governments, the desktop computer is quickly becoming an unsustainable option for future progress. Now, a technology known as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) offers an alternative. It can be significantly more affordable than buying individual computers for every employee, and it provides similar capability. This paper shows how VDI is the future of the desktop and is a game-changer for local governments.
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Twenty years ago I spoke to a group of land developers and realtors and told them that the Internet would be 100 times more beneficial than fax machines. Many of the older and more established and successful guests laughed at me but none were laughing a few years later. I'm now fully prepared to suggest that digital "books" with 3D images that can be zoomed into for minute detail will be available within 5 years.