So, I bought an Ipad. (ipad 3, wifi only, 32gb)

So, let’s be clear …

I’m a technophile. I buy “Stuff For Men” magazine and salivate over the latest tech, most of which just has fancy glitzy features – the practicality, or lack of it, goes over my head.

But I still WANT!

Like many of us today, personal budgets limit us to differentiate want from need.

We simply can’t buy it all.

Frustrated with the constantly changing windows operating systems, more complex work arounds and the increasingly gargantuan processing power demands of running applications, not to mention tired of lugging an oversized 17” screen around in a laptop bag day after day, to work and from work. I needed portability, I demanded reliability and I was chasing speed!!

I started looking for something else, something that didn’t sound like next door’s hairdryer and that would last longer than 12 months without needing to be upgraded. I am conscious of the over zealous Apple fanboy/hipster attitude towards Apple products and and I don’t like hearing friends and family lambast Windows operating systems as Windows was all I knew, but I needed something else.

So, I bought an Ipad. (ipad 3, wifi only, 32gb)

As a working, self employed business owner I wasn’t going to use this just to play candy crush…..heavens forbid! I needed the ipad for everyday use in my store.

But how could I manage without Excel programs? “Cloud ON” App delivers excel sheets to my ipad with full functionality and ability to edit, filter and create! All achieved with added ease by connecting a €45 mini keyboard to the ipad…..this was now a mini laptop to me, but with speed, reliability and comfort.

Photos of stock are taken and uploaded directly to our online store, Facebook page etc, edited, cropped, brightened, perfected and ready for my customers without painstakingly waiting for windows to recognise file types, rotate photo’s and then pray internet explorer doesn’t require a new java/flash update.

I’ve handed the ipad to customers, allowing them to like our FB page or follow us on twitter from within the store when I have them directly infront of me.

I’ve sourced stock for customers with ease, without wasting their time waiting for IE to load pages and pictures.

I could go into a long and babbling store about individual app’s available … but safe to say, if you can think it … there’s an app for it.

The ipad has my entire customer network, stock control, files and records both personal and business all stored inside its sleek and inviting design.

There is no scary learning curve to it’s use … its instinctively there at your fingertips. Also, its probably worth remembering that the windows environment was originally used on Apple’s products – so its not as different as you maybe imagine.

My favourite personal usage apps?

Number one has to be Sky Go.

As an avid football fan I can watch any game televised literally anywhere.

Netflix, Youtube, all Irish TV stations by virtue of their “Player” Apps.

If outside a wifi area, I can tether the the 3g connection on my iphone to the ipad creating a personal hotspot, which means I now have internet access anywhere!

This may sound basic to the average technophile … but have any of you ever watched a Premier League game while sitting on Howth head on a summer’s evening?

I could go on and on about how the Ipad changed my life, well, made it a whole lot easier but honestly, like most things in life you will only appreciate it by trying it yourself.

It’s not just for fanboys, gadget freaks or victims of hipster pressure … it’s for everyone.