davidnimmo.com Life, The Universe and Everything

Going Paperless for a Month with iPad

Step 1 - Preparing for Paperlessness

Timeline

• March-April - Prepare for Paperlessness
• May - Paperless month

This Friday the iPad 2 will go on sale in Australia! I held off moving into the iPad world with the iPad 1, largely because the lack of cameras always seemed like such a deliberate omission on such a mobile device...

For a little history - I have been attempting to go paperless for a few years, for a number of reasons. It's about more than just eschewing paper however. It's about travelling lightly. It's about accessing resources from anywhere, anytime. It's about having a portable window into my digital world. Critically, for me at least, it's about finding a digital replacement for the analogue tools of pen and paper.

For a time I was the proud owner of a Fujitsu p1610 8.9" tablet convertible laptop. I found using this device with Microsoft OneNote a revelation. The use of digital ink with the amazing abilities of OneNote to organise allowed me, for a time, to work almost paperless. The main drawbacks in the end were the bulk of the device, the ever decreasing battery life, the decreasing performance (something which consistently seems to happen with Windows), and the noise associated primarily with the cooling fan. For whatever reason, Microsoft devices, despite the early attempts at slate and UMPC form factors, did not realise the potential of an early lead in this area.

For the record - I still believe OneNote is unequalled as a virtual notebook and organising tool... which is why I have been especially excited of late to witness the entry of Microsoft OneNote into the iOS world... albeit on the iPhone (and only in the USA) initially. I have high hopes for the development of a tool as useful and flexible on the iPad platform as I found it on the Windows tablet platform... but with all the benefits of a true tablet device.

So, what is my plan?

My objective is to experiment with going fully digital / paperless for a month, and report on the experience on this Blog.

I have started this Blog specifically for this purpose (my more established Blog located at www.davidnimmo.com).

'Going Paperless' Defined

I'll define 'Going Paperless' as:

1. I will print nothing for my own use (handouts for others in meetings? I'll consider that and attempt to avoid that and use data projectors where I can. If I can avoid printing completely for a month I will consider that a bonus, however I'll still consider myself successful so long as I have avoided printing for my own use).
2. For reviewing documents, I will either electronically review the originals using existing functions (eg review functions in Word), or I will export to PDF, and use pen PDF annotation tools.
3. I will only read books, newspapers etc in electronic version. I'll plan to make extensive use of the iPad for this purpose. I may use my Kindle for book reading, to preserve iPad battery life, and due to some benefits of using digital ink in certain environments (eg high-light environments, bedtime reading [apparently use of back-lit LED screens at bed-time is not conducive to good sleep]).
4. I tend to write notes on pieces of paper for lists and the like when shopping or doing jobs on the weekend. My plan there is to use my iPhone as my 'satellite' device, to take notes with me on the go.

Tools

1. Targus iPad Stylus [Officeworks] - As mentioned previously, while Steve Jobs may perhaps consider the appearance of a stylus next to the iPad as a sign of failure, I personally consider this to be currently one of the most natural and historically ingrained ways for a human to interact with an information capture medium. I have read many reviews of 'inking' experiences on the iPad. I am under no illusion that the experience will match my experience on the Windows device in terms of accuracy, fluidity and natural hand position. However, I believe this issues will be offset by the quietness, long battery life, and dimensions of the device. I do have hopes, based on Apple patents and experiments (refer Ten One design's Blog), that hardware and software combinations may emerge which will drastically improve this situation. For now however, I have acquired through a Targus stylus. Thus far I have only experimented with the stylus on my iPhone, and it seems to work very well (within the limited confines of my iPhone screen).

• Portenza Notepad iPad 2 Case - with Stylus Holder [Portenza] - As a professional Business and IT Consultant, I want to portray a professional image whilst maximising my use of effective IT solutions whilst working with my clients. To this end, I was searching for a case for the iPad 2 which would protect the device, whilst minimising it's impact when using it during meetings. I looked at the Dodo case, but various reviews suggested that this product did not hold the device very securely. Reviews of the Portenza case on the other hand, demonstrated that the case held the device securely, whilst allowing for easy removal. The case has a Moleskin journal style appearance, and the product is handcrafted in the US. When combined with the Targus stylus, the use of the iPad 2 with this case for taking handwritten notes during meetings should not appear much different to taking notes in a regular paper journal. I currently have this case on order, and will provide further review on it when it arrives.

• iPad 2 - Sort of obvious as part of the solution. As I mentioned, the device is not released in Australia until this coming Friday. I plan to pick up a top of the range 64GB 3G + WiFi device to provide the most memory and flexibility with connectivity on the move. Colour? I think I'll have a look - Black is pretty business-like, but white harks back to classic MacBook / iPod style. It's a matter of taste and has no real impact on the solution from my perspective.
• 3G Data Plan - Since I don't own an iPhone 4 (and therefore can't use my non jailbroken iPhone as a WiFi hotspot), I'll need to equip the iPad with it's own 3G data plan. In Australia, it appears that Telstra has the best plan for my needs, with a 12GB / 12 month expiry plan for $150. At 1GB / month, this should meet my data needs when away from WiFi hotspots. Telstra are reputed to have the best coverage, so that is an additional bonus. (As an update - the initial purchase of the micro-simm is $3o for 30 days with 3GB. You can then choose the 365 days / 12GB / $150 when recharging)
• Apps - I'll go into my initial list of apps in my next post - including apps for handwriting, reviewing documentation, planning, mind-mapping, data synchronisation, documentation, presentations, remote desktop access, book reading and other uses.