I am an Associate Professor of Marketing at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. I teach e-Marketing Strategy, Consumer Behavior, and Direct Marketing.
I have been a Mac user since 1984 when the first Mac came out, an iPod Touch 2nd generation user since Oct. 2008, and now an iPad user since 4/3/10…yes, the 1st day it went on sale. :-) And I truly love my iPad. :-) I consider the iPad that went on sale April 3, 2010 to be 4th generation iPhone with a large screen. I do not consider the iPad sold on 4/3/10 as “1st generation,” since it is based on the iPhone hardware and software and came with an advanced iOS 3, i.e., with some features of iOS 4.
As a Mac user since 1984, I have become a very heavy software/app user over the years and I enjoy experimenting with new apps that may be of use to me in my work and, yes, play on a computer/iPad. Thus, I want to share some of my experiences with various iPad apps with faculty and students who have an iPad or are considering getting an iPad.
By the way, my iPad is my “school computer,” since I do not have a desktop or laptop computer in my office at school nor have I had one in the last 20 years. I have been a heavy PDA user, which I have carried back and forth to school and sync with my MacBook (laptop) at home. With my old PDAs, iPod Touch, and now my iPad, I can check and send email via WiFi where ever I am on campus; access various documents, including my syllabi, class schedules and grade sheets; surf the internet, read a book or play a game while waiting, check my calendar and ToDo list, etc. With my iPad with the larger screen and on-screen keyboard, I can now create/edit PowerPoint, Excel, and Word documents as well as iWord documents.
I consider my iPad as my “walk-about computer” that I can take with me to class, meetings, office…any where! Also, with a recovering back injury, I need to get up and walk around for a minute every 30 minutes or so. With my iPad in my home office, I just pick it up, start walking, and keep on working or reading.
I have experimented with a great many iPad apps and I have discovered that I can do most of my work on my iPad. What can’t I do on my iPad? Well, I cannot insert a DVD/CD and flash drive. But I can quickly transfer just about any type of file from my Mac to my iPad by WiFi or syncing to iTunes. And there are some specialized apps that I have on my Mac with no equivalent iPad app yet. So, yes, I still use my MacBook Pro 13″, but not near as much now that I have my iPad. Oh, I also have a bluetooth keyboard for my iPad that works great for extensive typing.
