Back in the 1970’s, I was amazed at a new small business gadget, the Bomar Brain. This little $40 calculator could add, subtract, divide, and do other mathematical functions. You could even carry it with one hand. Good by to the clunky adding machines whose tapes rolled under the desk across the power cord. Every small business soon had a handheld calculator, though the Bomar Brain faded into the techie sunset.
In the last few years, business has now come to another technological crossroad. Is the iPad necessary to run a business? According to Lauri Kulikowski in Why Every Business Needs an iPad?, it is necessary. According to the article, businesses can be flexible with product demos, videos, images in a mobile setting. This article did not surprise me since I have watched people in the entertainment industry use the iPads to show demos, head shots, and movie clips.
What has kept me from buying an iPad was Microsoft Office. I was told that iPad did not support Microsoft Office but had its own word processor, spreadsheet, etc.
However, this may have changed. Check out online.com. Apparently, Online.com provides an App (either free or $4.99 a month) that can bring the Microsoft Office to life. I have to try this out, but this could be the missing link for me and the iPad. Most of my work entails analysis, accounting, etc. The imaery doesn’t help very much.
However, if you are a small business Android lover, the Onlive Desktop bridges that, too.
Either way, what you must remember in a small business is that technology can open up opportunities and change how your clients see you. Small businesses must be vigilant with technology.