Here at The Now Bunch, we would like to consider ourselves pretty up-to-date with technology or more specifically, ‘Information Technology’ and all of the bits and pieces that revolve around hardware and software.

We have all been running iPhones for a little while now as they enable us to do SO MUCH more than anything else we used prior.  And then recently, we all became the proud owners of iPads.  Now I genuinely believed that I understood the tech that is doing the rounds at the moment, at least I thought I did right up until I was hooked in on a webinar that explained some of the things that you can do with an iPad to make better use of your time and therefore manage your business better!

I have never been a believer in ‘information for the sake of information’ and so I have been tentative in the uptake of some forms of Information Sharing and Applications that seem to bombard you with info and are therefore difficult to manage.  That was then, this is NOW (as they say).  Since receiving my iPad and then watching the webinar, I have installed a range of applications that allow me to gather MASSIVE amounts of information and more importantly they provide me with the tools I require to MANAGE that information in a timely and informative manner that is  fun, exciting, educational, developmental and USEFUL!!!  And because I actually manage the information in a tactile manner (swipes, pinches, taps, etc), I am finding that I retain a lot more than I imagined!

The age of information is well and truly upon us and so there is no point in trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s knowledge.  You need to remain current and informed!  The iPad enables me to do this and it does so in an efficient, easy and intuitive way.  With the introduction of our new business, Social Media Now it’s important to be current at ALL times and so the iPad enables us to do that.  I am not suggesting for a moment that there will not be alternatives to the iPad (HP; ASUS; Toshiba and others are all madly scrambling to get theirs to market – another fact I learnt via my social media applications through my iPad) and I am not here to do a sales pitch on this particular offering from Apple.  However, after just a bit over a week with my new toy and I can tell you that I have:

• Discovered more useful info than ever before that relates to MY business (eg.  social media links and website coding plus STACKS MORE)
• Been able to reply to clients more quickly and efficiently (eg.  whilst on the bus I managed to post an advert in response to an email confirmation)
• Managed my time better (eg.  single calendar changes on a cloud ensure ALL my devices are totally current)
• Remained in contact with my family that are overseas & interstate better (eg.  skyped my sister in the UAE whilst on the bus, whilst posting pictures/videos of the kids for grandma & grandpa in SA so that they can quite literally witness the kids growing up as it happens)
• Caught up on all my latest sports news in approximately 15 minutes that would normally take me a couple of hours through a new app [Reeder – in case you are interested] – (eg.  the world of Formula 1 via blogs/posts/SM/RSS feeds)
• Taught myself all there is to know amount about Social Media and how to quickly and easily find and read relevant information (eg.  provided our IT Geek with coding that I was told about through a random website that generates information for ME based on my likes and dislikes)
• Remained in contact with a range of clients during ‘down-time’ (eg.  emailed people that I had been in touch with for a while whilst I was sitting in the Physio’s waiting room)
• Started reading a ‘self-help’ book that I downloaded

I could go on and on and on and on (some of you may feel like I already have)!  But I won’t as I might burst from the excitement (which wouldn’t be pretty…………….ok, ok!  which would be even LESS pretty)….

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I can honestly say that the iPhone has been the single biggest change in regards to my personal use of technology and I reckon it pales in to insignificance next to my iPad as this has become both a personal AND a professional necessity!!!  My gut feel is that I have not even scratched the surface of what I will be able to do on it and with the onslaught of cloud computing (Google it if you haven’t heard the term), the opportunities are endless.

So, the technology is here to stay.  That’s a given………

the question is……………are YOU???