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Some good points, but some misses as well.
#2 (Digital Signage): Sorry, but I don't see an iPad as the best choice for this. Even leaving out any dedicated digital signage solutions, any company can get a better buy on, say, LCD or LED TVs. For $399, you can get at least a 25" TV, if not a 30-35" TV. Bigger screen = easier to read, which is better for your customers.
#3 (Product displays): Possible potential here, although it's wasted on shoes, of all things. I could see this for larger, big-ticket items...like, say, a new car, where the iPad would replace the window sticker & be able to show the meaningful information you need when purchasing a car. But brand-new sneakers? It's just an expensive gimmick. Unless the product has a high enough price point, or the product tag needs to convey so much information about the product that a paper tag won't do, most businesses should pass on this.
#4 (Conference Room Scheduler): If I'm understanding this right, the company is paying at least $399 each for an iPad to be mounted on the wall outside each conference room, and then tie it into the existing Exchange server... so that people won't overbook the rooms? So you're telling me there's no existing method (software or hardware) that will hook up to an Exchange Server or Google Calendar & do the same thing, while costing much less? And that's assuming the building already has an existing Wi-Fi network to hook up to (i.e. no additional cost to install/maintain the network)...not to mention the cost to ensure that no one "appropriates" the iPad for themselves.
#6 (Loyalty Rewards): This is a great idea...provided that they ask the customers first. Unless they have a policy in place where the customers grants them authorization to maintain those records, they can't actually do it. But as long as they take care of that, it shouldn't be a problem.
#8 (Restaurant Wait Lists): First of all, there's no way I'll even consider eating at a restaurant that will make me use up my SMS minutes just for them to let me know that my table's ready. That's what their PA system, or even the existing "pagers" they're already using, are for. Second, considering that most restaurants tend to have unique seating arrangements, and that the assignment of tables to customers is not just based on which tables are open & how many are in the party, but also which waitstaff members are available, means that any app would need to be heavily customizable. And then you have the question of how much time (& therefore money) the app plus the cost of the iPad truly saves the restaurant, versus the existing table assignment method. There's some potential there, but I don't think it's quite ready yet.
#9 (Time Clock): I'm sorry, but I'd have to see some data showing that a $399 iPad, plus the required Wi-Fi connection, is actually cheaper than a true time clock. Oh, sure, maybe in a factory or other "blue-collar" setting, you might find this would work as a replacement. But for a lot of office settings, the "time clock" is already electronic, in that it either automatically notes when you log into your PC/phone system, or makes note of when your ID/security badge was swiped to allow you access. Spending a few hundred dollars on top of an existing system, just to duplicate existing function, doesn't make a lot of fiscal sense.
#3 (Product displays): Possible potential here, although it's wasted on shoes, of all things. I could see this for larger, big-ticket items...like, say, a new car, where the iPad would replace the window sticker & be able to show the meaningful information you need when purchasing a car. But brand-new sneakers? It's just an expensive gimmick. Unless the product has a high enough price point, or the product tag needs to convey so much information about the product that a paper tag won't do, most businesses should pass on this.
#4 (Conference Room Scheduler): If I'm understanding this right, the company is paying at least $399 each for an iPad to be mounted on the wall outside each conference room, and then tie it into the existing Exchange server... so that people won't overbook the rooms? So you're telling me there's no existing method (software or hardware) that will hook up to an Exchange Server or Google Calendar & do the same thing, while costing much less? And that's assuming the building already has an existing Wi-Fi network to hook up to (i.e. no additional cost to install/maintain the network)...not to mention the cost to ensure that no one "appropriates" the iPad for themselves.
#6 (Loyalty Rewards): This is a great idea...provided that they ask the customers first. Unless they have a policy in place where the customers grants them authorization to maintain those records, they can't actually do it. But as long as they take care of that, it shouldn't be a problem.
#8 (Restaurant Wait Lists): First of all, there's no way I'll even consider eating at a restaurant that will make me use up my SMS minutes just for them to let me know that my table's ready. That's what their PA system, or even the existing "pagers" they're already using, are for. Second, considering that most restaurants tend to have unique seating arrangements, and that the assignment of tables to customers is not just based on which tables are open & how many are in the party, but also which waitstaff members are available, means that any app would need to be heavily customizable. And then you have the question of how much time (& therefore money) the app plus the cost of the iPad truly saves the restaurant, versus the existing table assignment method. There's some potential there, but I don't think it's quite ready yet.
#9 (Time Clock): I'm sorry, but I'd have to see some data showing that a $399 iPad, plus the required Wi-Fi connection, is actually cheaper than a true time clock. Oh, sure, maybe in a factory or other "blue-collar" setting, you might find this would work as a replacement. But for a lot of office settings, the "time clock" is already electronic, in that it either automatically notes when you log into your PC/phone system, or makes note of when your ID/security badge was swiped to allow you access. Spending a few hundred dollars on top of an existing system, just to duplicate existing function, doesn't make a lot of fiscal sense.
Posted by spdragoo@...
29th May
