Tag Archives: apps

Appy New Year: 10 Indispensable iPad apps you should be using this year (Part II)

30 Jan
Soundnote

More indespensable iPad apps

Here it is part dos…featuring some great productivity choices.  It really was hard to limit the list to just 10 favorites.

6.  Instapaper (Free)

What it does: Allows you to save interesting web pages you find for reading at a later point when you have time.

Why it’s great: Every day I find interesting web pages, people forward me interesting web pages, and I stumble on interesting web pages.  I don’t have time to read all of the “interesting” stuff I find during the day.  All I do is click on the “read later” button in my browser, and it is saved to my Instapaper account.  When I go to my iPad, click on Instapaper, I can then read the article at my leisure.  You don’t need an internet connection to read the article, but you do to sync your iPad to the web.

Worth noting: You are basically creating your own paper populated with the stories you want to read…how cool!

7. ReaddleDocs ($4.99)

What it does: A repository on your iPad for reading all of your downloaded   PDF documents.

Why it’s great: There are other PDF readers available, but none that do it so well.  It truly has become indispensible for me. When I want to have access to documents I have created, I save them as a PDF and store them on ReaddleDocs.  Bottom line, there are so many useful features to this product; I don’t have space to describe them all.  A must for anyone who downloads white papers, saves PDF documents, or receives PDF docs.

Worth noting: The key benefit to this product is how it connects your iPad to so many document sources such as Googledocs, Gmail, and even as a virtual drive on your PC.

8.  Teamviewer (Free)

What it does: Remote access and desktop sharing from your iPad

Why it’s great: When you need a quick and dirty way to logon to your computer at home or work remotely, it works seamlessly to give you access to your system.  I have gotten use to using my finger to replicate a mouse on my home PC…it really is great to email files you need when you are away from your computer.

Worth noting: There have been some discussion about security issues with remote access, but these are very rare.

9. Soundnote ($4.99)

What it does: This is a great app for taking notes on your iPad

Why it’s great: Soundnote allows you to both type your notes into your iPad while it records the information.  If you don’t get it all down, don’t sweat it.  Just tap on your text and the player skips to the audio portion that corresponds to your notes.  WOW…I could have really used that in college.

Worth noting: When you are done taking your notes, it is easy to share by emailing the audio and your notes as one document.

10. Quickoffice ($14.99) +GoogleDocs

What it does: Gives you MS Office capabilities on your iPad

Why it’s great: It is cheaper and in some ways more robust that the Apple offerings in this category.  Whenever you need to view or edit an Office doc you get as an email attachment, you can easily work in this program.  It certainly doesn’t replace you computer version, but it is very functional.  As well, it connects seamlessly to GoogleDocs for editing and sharing documents.  A great team!

Worth noting: If you want to use your iPad to do PowerPoints, you need this app to be able to project your presentations.

So here it is…my top ten.  I will add 10.5 by saying that Pinball HD app is worth every penny.  It really is like playing pinball…I love it!  Let me know what you think and if I missed a really special app.

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Ignore the Inevitable at your own Peril

9 Nov

U.S. News Ceases Publication

With its December issue, U.S. News and World Reports will cease to exist in its current print form.  In case anyone was paying attention, U.S. News stopped publishing its weekly edition in 2008, and then moved to a monthly version since.  It is still well known for its print speciality guides to colleges and hospitals which will continue to be in print…for now.  Subscriptions to U.S. News has dwindled to around one million.  While this may seem like a lot, in the crazy world of magazines, where subscriptions are almost given away in the hope of attracting a meaningful audience that will attract advertisers, most are losing money.  News weeklies, including Time and Newsweek, have struggled as well with the rapid movement from print to digital news.

Digital Readers Win

I remember when I got my first Kindle.  The feeling was similar to when I purchased my first iPod.  I recognized that this was a paradigm shift that was going to change my reading experience.  To be honest, it was a better experience including a built-in dictionary, easy marking, note taking, and the ubiquitous availability on my Kindle, laptop, iPhone, and iPad.  The printed magazine can’t compete with this arsenal of features.

I felt the shift again when I purchased my iPad.  Now I was getting digital magazines and newspapers that had enhanced features.  The reader experience in the Wall Street Journal is arguably better than the print.  I am stopping my print subscription.  And sure, I am an early adaptor, but the writing is on the wall.  We are moving inextricably from the hard copy print version of newspapers, magazines, and books to the digital equivalent.  This is an inevitable direction that everyone in business and marketing must grasp.

We Can’t Hold on to the Past

I have yet to meet a person, regardless of their pleading that they “love the feel of a book” or “need to turn the pages of a newspaper”, who hasn’t recognized the superior experience delivered by digital print.  And even if there is a sector of readers who will always want the book or the magazine, eventually they will fade away as a new generation of digital print savvy consumers take hold, similar to the niche who still prefer vinyl records.  We are just seeing the implementation of digital texts in schools and universities.  This will be a disruptive change that will create a whole new generation of consumers preferring to receive their printed media digitally.

Make Sure Your Business isn’t Left Behind

As a marketer and business person, you ignore these types of inevitable seismic shifts at your business’ own peril.  In our modern world, change is a given, and you either embrace it or face extinction.  Yes it is brutal, but we do not have the luxury of waxing poetic about quaint memories of obsolete technologies.  The job of American business is still business, and more aptly making profits.  To be profitable, you need to sense the change, not fight it, or hope it doesn’t take hold, but seek to understand it and learn how to adapt you business to profit from it.  So kudos to U.S. News for reading the writing on the wall and moving decisively and rapidly to change their business model.  They deserve our support and admiration.

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