So I have to say, I was sacred. I know, it's not like I can't go back anytime I want, but I made a commitment to myself to do this so I am taking it pretty seriously. I'm not talking about expanding into a new product line, acquiring a business or even hiring a new employee...I'm talking about getting rid of my MacBook Pro and going exclusively to an iPad.

Earth shattering? Maybe not to you...until you try it, of course. I do have a valuable asset in my corner on this one, a little inside baseball if you will. My COO, a self proclaimed gadget geek took the plunge months ago. Watching him move about the offices with everything at his fingertips, all the time, created a little envy within me. The thoughts of long battery life, touch screen and ultra portability, not to mention it's just damn cool to run your business from a 9" handheld device.

A couple other benefits of using the iPad are: Bluetooth keyboard allows me to type in different positions than on a computer...better for my back. Battery life. On Monday I grabbed my fully charged iPad at 4am and left for New Orleans. I used it all day, on four plane flights and at a three hour client meeting and at 10pm, it finally pooped out (16 hours).

One does not just jump into this lightly though, research must be done as to the apps needed to make a smooth transition. Here are a few of my favorites and a couple of others that have a "wow" factor, that I haven't mastered yet.

Required:

Pages and Numbers (Word and Excel if you must)
Pages works just as good as or better than on my MacBook, as the touch screen interface of the iPad allows for thoughtful interactions with the document. One example is bolding the word "required" above. Simply highlight the text and touch the "B" on the screen, no need to go menu hunting to find a command. Same applies for Numbers, touching the document is refreshing and fun...something that spreadsheets have needed for a long time.

Awesome Note (with Evernote to cloud sync)
I am a note guy, a to do freak and a task master...and this program is my salvation. It uses Evernote to sync to "the cloud". Since I am on my phone (iPhone 4) a lot, I love the fact that lying in bed I can grab my phone, write a to do or make a note and it syncs with my iPad. Technology is great, but nothing beats a sticky note, and Awesome Note provides the best electronic sticky notes and more.

BeeJiveIM
Fat Atom uses iChat all the time and Bee Jive provides me the same functionality of iChat but on my iPad. Anytime we can communicate through chat rather than email we take it.

Reeder
RSS rocks with Reeder. How do you keep up to date on the latest and greatest? Reeder sits on top of Google Reader and acts as an interface...a very nice interface. I also have this on my iPhone, which makes it twice as nice.

iDisk
My cloud based file system. Every document I have, spreadsheet, pdf, everything is on my cloud. I can easily access, update or use anything I ever created thanks to iDisk.

Power Apps:

OmniGraffle
Need a flow chart, website wireframe or a cool diagram? This is your tool. Expensive ($45) but well worth it after you see how powerful it is.

UPAD
A notebook on steroids. This beast lets you write directly on your iPad and, a whole lot more. Look cool in meetings and have fun writing at the same time...double bonus.

For Fun:

Ticket to Ride
A strategy based game for anyone over 10 years old. This game involves the players completing routes across the Untied States, Europe or Sweden, depending on the game you are playing. The graphics are second to none and game time is ten times faster than playing the board game. A fun game for the entire family or when you need a quick break.