A Tool for Content
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As others have noted, the iPad is best treated as a tool for
consuming content, rather than creating it. That's reflected in the versions of
Apple's iWork applications that the iPad can run; although they offer some very
basic functions, for anything beyond some very simple data entry and
formatting, documents have to be moved to a computer with a "real"
presentation, spreadsheet or word processor.
Although the iPad can run most applications that were designed
for the iPhone, it's not a terribly satisfying experience. The default
presentation for these is at the same resolution of the iPhone, but one can
enable an enlarged view of 2x, which takes away all the smoothness of the
original app's design. The only advantage I can see to this is that a mildly
nearsighted person might find this preferable to digging out a pair of reading
glasses.
Applications that are designed specifically for iPad offer
users a much more appealing visual presentation, and as I noted above, their
number will increase with time.
As one might expect, the iPad can be managed in a business
environment using the same tools that Apple provides for the iPhone. The free
iPhone Configuration Utility covers both devices, and can be installed on
machines running Mac OS X or Windows. Although the manageability of both
devices is expected to improve upon the forthcoming release of iPhone OS 4.0,
the tools that currently exist are straightforward and cover a good deal of
IT's concerns.
With the configuration utility, one can set up provisioning
profiles for cellular carriers, WiFi networks and VPN access. It's also
possible to configure e-mail access to POP- and IMAP-based services,
CalDAV-based calendar servers, and updated Microsoft Exchange 2007 servers.
Exchange sees iPhone OS clients as if they were ActiveSync
devices, and this allows IT managers to remotely wipe lost or missing devices
from within Exchange. "Wiping" in this case is a bit of a misnomer; what
actually happens for the more recent devices is that the data encryption key is
securely erased, making the data unrecoverable by conventional means.
When I tested the wiping feature, it took just a few seconds
from the time I activated the wiping to its execution on the iPad; the connection
was over a local wireless network, but would be equally effective over a wide
area connection, being delivered by e-mail. There's no guesswork to this; once
the remote device is neutralized, an e-mail message confirming the wipe is sent
to the administrator, along with instructions on how to reconnect the device if
it is found.
Perhaps the easiest way to back up data on the iPad is to use
iTunes; restoring data including system configuration and user data took just a
few minutes following the wiping tests.
Because Exchange's ActiveSync offers some duplication of the
policies that cover features such as passcode requirements, managed iPhone OS
devices are configured with a merged set of policies. The more stringent
requirements are applied to the managed devices, no matter whether those come
from ActiveSync or from Apple's configuration tools.
Finally, the iPhone Configuration Utility can be used to
centrally manage access to applications and content, and bar connections to
"explicit" media. Devices can also be individually set up with these barriers,
as a form of parental control.
In all, the iPad is a pretty
amazing device, packing a lot of punch into a slab that's no heavier than most
of the books I own. Although nobody sane would recommend the iPad as a
general-purpose device, it is already making inroads into business use, and
with the expanding pool of applications, its usefulness increases with every week.
But by promising an updated OS in a few months, and by leaving out features
such as a camera, Apple's already raised the bar on itself.
