iPad Mania!

Unless you have been spelunking for the past 24 hours, you're well aware that Apple finally announced the launch of its new tablet device, the iPad (and yes that name has opened to mixed reviews). In fact, the device itself has been the focus of zillions of online blogs and tweets calling it everything from the next super-fast step in info-evolution to a giant flop as an oversized iPod Touch. Even Wall Street has weighed in. Ars Technica has a nice summary of the product and its specs.

As the technorati debate its pros and cons by blogging and microblogging away in the geeksphere (just do a Google search for iPad and you'll see what I mean), my geeky thoughts turned toward how this device might impact access to medical information in a clinical health-care or academic medical setting. Here a few musings on what might make the iPad a useful adjunct:

1. Screen size (9.7 inches). This larger screen should enhance viewing of apps, Web browsing, video, email, and ibooks.

2. Portability. It's a 1/2 inch thick and weighs 1.5 pounds. Will docs, nurses, and therapists carry it around like a clipboard? Or is a pound a half too heavy? 

3. Compatible with apps. It'll run iPhone/iPod Touch apps right out of the box, and will also have a new dev platform for apps that optimize the larger touchscreen. The initial demos looked phenomenal. As more medical apps are released this could become a dynamite device for all sorts of information, from educational apps to step-by-step protocols.

4. Web browsing. Tired of squinting at the Web on your smartphone or trying to view sites that aren't optimized or smartphones or mobile devices? How about that 9.7 inch screen that can quickly access all your favorite informational resources online (journals, books, point-of-care resources, institutional directories, etc) and allow you to click over to whatever you want to see? This is where the iPad may separate itself from other mobile devices. Now, will it be able to integrate with your EMR/EHR system? 

5. iBooks. Apple has a combined e-reader functionality with a full color graphic interface that supports links to other content, videos (except for Flash), and is already being called the Kindle killer. They will even have their own iBookStore. So not only can you purchase and read key texts, but medical students may use this as a textbook e-reader.

Of course at this point it's all speculation until the product is actually available and people see how it works in various environments. I'll be interested in your experiences and comments on how this device performs in your own medical settings. 

About the Author

Stephen Welch

Senior Vice President, Communications
Executive Editor, CHEST

This blog, "It Ain't Rocket Surgery" is intended to help busy health-care professionals find useful online and mobile resources that will enhance their self-education and professional research efforts, or point out important topics of discussion related to online information and content. The blog's title is a Yogi Berra style mash-up of two common phrases, "it ain't brain surgery" and "it ain't rocket science". I hope it will be casual, fun, insightful, and -- most of all -- educational.

You can follow me on Twitter. 

I currently serve ACCP as the Senior Vice President of Communications, as well as the Executive Editor of CHEST, the ACCP’s flagship journal. During my 15 years here, ACCP has focused on growing and developing the editorial, technological, and business aspects of the College. We are constantly striving to make the journal and other ACCP educational content as accessible and useful to clinicians as possible.

When not at work, I like to spend time scuba diving with sharks, collecting original comic book artwork, exploring the digital world, and searching for good BBQ.

Your feedback about the blog is always appreciated. So are tips on good BBQ joints.