The iPad - Two Weeks Gone By

Biggest surprise after two weeks with the iPad? I haven't read a single book on the device. That's not to say I haven't started reading on the device. I have. I've downloaded a significant number of books, mostly free, from both the iBooks store as well as the Kindle store. And, I've read a few chapters of a few books. The reading experience is just fine and I don't find a lot of eye fatigue. Of course, I work on backlit LCD screens all day so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask.

In addition, I've downloaded the Zinio app which delivers magazines electronically. It's effective for what it does, but that's fairly limited. It is literally a one-to-one representation of the printed magazine. That's nice so you don't need to haul a stack of magazines with you when you travel, but the power of the device is far greater than just a printed page. I'm sure this is just the beginning.

But, back to my original statement. I haven't read a book. In my defense, I've been distracted. The iPad is really a very, very entertaining device. The web browsing is very fast and now goes anywhere in the house. The games I've downloaded such as Harbor Master, We Rule and even some of my old standby's from the iPhone are very compelling on this screen and in this form factor.

Last comment after two weeks? I originally bought my iPad with the Apple iPad case. Apparently, this thing is in amazing demand with multi-week back-orders nationwide. What do I think about it? Well, it's a good approach to a case, as it has a built in stand as you can fold back the cover to prop up the case in two different ways. But, the material has an odd soft, fuzzy feel and I have the feeling it's going to be a nightmare to keep clean. I also would prefer the edges to be a smooth wrap around style rather than sort of pursed together.

At this point it's better than nothing, and certainly makes the device much more stealth than it otherwise might be.

The iPad - Day 6

On Day 6 of the iPad's short life, the future was revealed. The iPhone 4.0 OS was revealed and since the iPad too, runs this OS pretty much all of the non-camera features should make it over to the iPad. Sadly, it sounds like that won't happen until Fall. Assuming, we're following the standard calendar, September 22nd is technically the first day of Fall. That's about a half year away at this point, but not exactly out of line for an upgrade cycle to a device just released. Still, the features are many and it provides some welcome changes including the multi-tasking updates, unified inbox, etc. These will especially come in handy on the iPad, though will require me to upgrade from my iPhone 3G to reap all of the benefits.

In other news, the Camera-A/Camera-B application pair that I mentioned on Day 5 was upgraded to use the standard iPhone 3G so I spent the dollar to get it. This was my first iPad application purchase. It is functional and it does bring a camera like experience to the iPad, but it is excruciatingly slow and I saw some stability and connectivity issues in my limited use. I'll be looking at it more over the next few days. 

I've also purchased my first e-book. Don't get me wrong, I certainly have a lot in my iBooks library as there were quite a few classics available for free plus the included Winnie the Pooh. But, I also downloaded the Kindle application for the iPad which is quite good as well. Amazon provides a quite a few free books and is very price competitive on both. So when I was looking for a book I needed for work, I checked the iBooks store first and then the Kindle store. Amazon was ten bucks and the iBooks store was $23. Guess which one I bought from?

Also, I can't quite figure out why the only place I can browse for books on the iTunes store is on the iPad. Why can't I search through iTunes like you can for apps, music and movies? It seems like a serious overhaul is in order for this aging application.

Process Re-engineering

As part of my MBA program, I'm taking a class on Information Technology for Management. While this is a topic with which I have more than a passing familiarity, I am finding myself picking up a great deal of information as well as new ways of looking at old problems.

One of the assignments for the class was to read a well known business book by the title of Reengineering the Corporation.

The last edition is from 2003 so it was updated relatively recently. It includes discussion of how to approach the difficult problem of re-making processes at companies that have existed for a long time. It is a powerful book that is a must read for any manager who is struggling to bring change to their department and improve productivity. 

It is an easy read, is just over 200 pages and I cannot recommend it enough. Buy it now and take it with you on your next plane ride, it will be worth the 12 bucks. I promise.

Why Does This Site Exist?

I currently have the role of Product Manager at my company. And while I'm not one to hide behind a title, there is a lot that does come with a particular role that you have to pay attention to. I was recently invited to our internal national sales meeting. Prior to the meeting, the Little Red Book of Sales was distributed and it came up quite a bit. It was used at the primary theme for much of the meeting.

My background really isn't in sales, so I enjoyed reading the book and spending some time learning more about the sales process we have instituted. The book was a straightforward, short (and fun) read. If you are in sales and haven't read it, you should pick up a copy right away as it is worth your time. That's not just coming from me, but from everyone at the meeting.

Ah, but look at me starting to digress again. One of the chapters in the book talks about selling yourself. In the Internet age, that happens offline as well as online. I was already on a few of the social networking sites, but wanted to put together a single place to locate my online persona. So, aaronhickmann.com was born. But, no one is going to visit my site without regular updates and so this blog will have that responsibility.

It will be interesting to see how this evolves. I had what most folks would call a blog back in 1999 on my own site, but I just got away from it over time. I'm happy to return and hope to blog at least a few times a week. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, shall we? :-)