When the iPad was announced in January, there was a palpable sense that the device wouldn't be that great for business uses. Now that we've all had some time to let the news sink in, let's reconsider the small business potential the device actually has. iPad App Developers lost no time in exploring a plethora of dimensions. While it's certain that the iPad isn't the best for massive amounts of word processing or multi-tasking, it does have some unique uses that aren't possible on other devices. Here are a few of them.

The iPad is a 1.5 lb paper eliminator. Your office is undoubtedly chock full of text in the form of manuals and procedure booklets. Instead of piling one sheet of paper on top of the next, you can store everything as an ebook. Imagine taking your library full of procedures and replacing it with a few iPads that you rent out to your employees. They can quickly identify the relevant parts and jot a few notes in the margins. Your office just got a whole lot lighter.

Many businesses are already using the iPhone to keep track of inventory. The iPad makes this even easier. Imagine running a wine store and ordering new wine while you chat with your customers. You can even load up a customer satisfaction survey to get the most of out your time. Just hand the iPad over to your customers and let them do the rest. You have taken two jobs and condensed them into one.

There also seems to be a great opportunity for restaurants that are willing to take a novel approach to ordering food. For years, restaurants have had to use the waiter as a liaison between the customer and the point of sale software. Now a waiter can simply hand over an iPad containing an interactive menu. The table then orders their food, and it immediately shows up in the restaurant's POS system. This saves the waiter from having to remember orders while freeing up time to help the other customers.

Not too many years ago, portable digital picture frames truly took off. The iPad is set to take it another step further. Small businesses will be able to use the device to show video demonstrations next to important or marked down merchandise. Customers won't just watch what's on the screen. They will be able to interact with it and learn more. The iPad is set to become one of the most versatile sales tools around.

And don't forget meetings and other informal gatherings. Many people like to organize their thoughts with free hand drawings and flowcharts. Text sometimes doesn't do a good enough job of capturing the essence of an idea. With the iPad, you can go to a meeting, create meaningful notes, and share them with the rest of your co-workers and clients. Others can then comment on your notes and add to them. Right now, we are at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to conferencing apps. We are certain to see many more unique ideas in the years to come.

Although the iPad isn't the machine you will use for hammering out reports or working on a large scale project, it has a surprising amount of practical business uses. It's no wonder 52.3% of those who were asked how they would use the iPad said they would use it for work, constituting the largest share of potential iPad uses. In the years to come, iPad app developers will invent even more novel ways to get the most out of the device. If the iPad really catches on, we'll soon wonder how we ever went to work without it.

If you have any iPad app idea and want it to be developed, Appiction's iPad application development team will be more than happy to help! Give us a call today.

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