Is the iPad Bad for Business?

Yesterday I had a brief Twitter exchange with Damon Brown (@browndamon) of BNet after he wrote this article: iPad 2: No Matter What Jobs Says, It’s Still Not Great For Business.

His main reasons for why the iPad is not great for business came down to hygiene, a lack of USB, no Flash, and traditional software not being available in app form. 

Are those really the best reasons he could come up with? Is the iPad really not good for business?

While I don't fundamentally disagree with Damon's later clarification that big businesses tend to be slow to adopt new technologies, I take issue with the reasons he listed for their slow adoption of the iPad among businesses. 

Hygiene

There's a lot of talk about iPads being used by health care providers, but Damon cites hygiene as a concern in their use in hospital settings. Naturally, hygiene in hospitals is important, but with the existing threats of staph infections, MRSA, and other nasty things patients tend to pick up without exposure to the iPad, I somehow doubt using iPads in hospitals will be the death of patients. For one, they can be disinfected with a wet wipe, unlike paper charts.

Also, most of the bacteria on iPads in Apple stores that Damon offers as a cautionary example likely comes from people not washing their hands, or rubbing their faces and then touching the device. Hand washing has been repeatedly shown to be one of the best ways to stop the spread of bacteria and infection. If we assume that doctors (who know about things like disease transmission) wash their hands between patients and disinfect the iPad regularly, I have a hard time believing that risk of infection would be a primary factor keeping hospitals from adopting iPads, especially given the benefits.

Add to that the fact that in the years before iPad, other technology companies had been working on tablet solutions with and for physicians. Presumably risk of infection from using a tablet wasn't a major concern then. A bigger factor was probably usability and usefulness for HCPs. In terms of usability, it's hard to beat iOS. In fact, recent surveys suggest that the iPad is hugely popular among physicians. 

No Flash

What business is dependent on Flash these days? Aside from Adobe, I can't think of a company that can't live without Flash, at least on a mobile or tablet device. As for web video, back in May 2010 already 66% of Flash video was also available in the iOS friendly H.264 standard. I have a hard time seeing no Flash support as a dealbreaker.

Traditional Applications Not Available

This is probably the best reason in the bunch. As awesome as it may be, the iPad isn't a perfect replacement for a laptop or desktop computer just yet, and admittedly there is a lot of software that doesn't offer the same or even a comparable experience to desktop computing. Then again, precisely because the iPad is acknowledged to not be a total replacement for a computer, we might assume for the sake of argument that businesses are not trying to duplicate the desktop experience on an iPad. 

If that's the case, then there are plenty of ways in which businesses can use the iPad to complement their operations. And in many cases iPads provide capabilities that never existed before (mobile inventory tracking, point of sale terminal, better customer interactions/experience, etc.). 

Of course, with companies like Good Technology offering corporate solutions for iOS and the fact that companies can create their own internal applications for the iPhone and iPad, it's hard to argue the iPad is bad for business. But it does require some creative thinking. And isn't that what makes for a good business in the first place?

No USB

There is, in fact, a USB and smart card reader available for the iPad. Granted, it's not built in already, but if this is a strict requirement for your business, there's a workaround. Unless you're a photographer, though, I'm having a hard time imagining who else absolutely needs a USB port. Companies are moving more and more data into the cloud. Moreover, keeping sensitive corporate data on a laptop or iPad can be quite dangerous in the case of device theft, which is another benefit to cloud storage. If 73% of the Fortune 500 already use Box.net, then maybe cloud storage isn't as revolutionary as Damon suggests.

The Bottom Line

Admittedly, corporate intransigence and the reluctance to be a new technology guinea pig can slow companies' adoption of cutting edge devices and software, but it's hard to argue that the iPad is not great for business. I happen to personally know two Fortune 500 CEOs (who are not Steve Jobs) who use the iPad as their primary (and in one case, only) computing device. When staid executives at the top of very traditional businesses embrace the iPad in such a way, I think one could argue it's crossed the chasm.