iPad “Best Thing to Happen to Meetings Since the 1960s”

Ben Brooks is right about the iPad as a device for meetings:

There is an artificial barrier between you and everyone else because of those damned laptop screens.

The iPad changes all of this, it can sit slightly angled on the table and not be a a barrier to anyone, or even completely flat on the table mimicking a notepad. Further, because the screen is not staring you in the face, participants get a more open sense about how you are using it — that is people can see what you are doing on it. This is crucial to making the other meeting attendees feel like you are actually paying attention.

The real difference, though, is once again made by apps: easy-to-use yet powerful software like Screens, iFiles, Omnifocus, Dropbox and FileBrowser can turn the tablet into a killer machine for business purposes. “Apps” is where the competitors will need to catch up with.