Best iPad Apps

Chapter 1. At Work

Dare to ditch your laptop? Probably not for those of us deskbound dudes and dudettes who crank away on PCs each day, staring at mega monitors. But the road warrior world is starting to bubble up tales of those who’ve gone a long weekend or so packing only the ’Pad. A Bluetooth-capable external keyboard is the accessory of choice for most of these experiments, mainly for composing longish documents. You’ll find apps for that kind of work in the following pages. Other, similar Microsoft Office-like activities—spreadsheets, slideshow presentations—have iPad-friendly programs that do just fine with the device’s virtual, layout-changing keyboard. And it’s not simply that this dog can dance. In some ways, we’re beginning to see document design that gets better as we start putting hand to screen. To touch the thing you’re creating—to be able to point and push, instructing the tools at your fingertips to move this graphic right here—well, that starts introducing some serious power. You’ll also read about a host of other vocational activities that get darn near close to being fun when carried out on everyone’s favorite 10-inch touchscreen: to-do list management, outlining, note-taking (stylus-friendly apps included), and research. Worker geeks are in for a few treats, too. Remotely access your PC? Use your iPad as an external monitor? Ditch mobile Safari for a pimped out ...