Joe the Plumber (with a tablet)

The business case for tablets

In a PCWorld article, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, insists that tablets like the iPad lower the cost of entry for computing.  This means people can save money by investing in tablets over traditional desktops and laptops.  The same holds true for businesses.  The benefits are numerous – cheaper devices, cheaper software (apps), lower IT maintenance costs due to lack of viruses for tablets and other user-inflicted harm.

Imagine a plumber (named Joe) showing up to fix a leak under your kitchen sink.  Joe uses his tablet to take a picture of the broken part in question.  The picture is automatically sent to his company’s database.  The database sends back a schematic drawing of the part.  Joe shows you the drawing, rotates it, and zooms into exactly the area of the part that is broken.  Joe taps on the area and gets a list of options to fix.  A button to Replace the part is also there.  Tapping that button, Joe shows you a 10-second animation of how the part will be replaced.  Tapping another button, Joe shows you a list of local stores that carry that part and their prices.  He also tells you how much you can save if Joe goes through his supplier of choice.

I’d hire Joe.  Not only did he fix the problem, but he gave me options and educated me about the process.  This was done using the latest technology, which tells me Joe is a person who is current with trends and how to take advantage of them. Chances are that if he’s current with technology trends, he’s also current with the latest advances in plumbing.  As a person looking to fix a plumbing problem, I’m hiring a smart plumber.

So, how can a tablet help your business?  Send us your thoughts.