iPad apps at Agile 2010
Recently I attended Agile 2010 in Orlando, Florida. It was a wonderful conference where I had some wonderful and insightful conversations with people from all over the world. I was able to help connect people and make introductions as well as meeting some interesting people for the first time. One thing that kept sparking new conversations was seeing someone else with an iPad.
The first question, interestingly enough, always seemed to be “How do you like your iPad?” I think people look for reassurance that spending that much money on it was a good thing. The second question seemed to often be “What apps do you use?” Then I thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be great to compile a list of apps people at an Agile conference would use!” So for your viewing pleasure, here is the list I came up with along with a few notes.
1. Corkulous – This is a really cool tool that emulates a corkboard. You can add sticky’s to it or check box notes, quickly change font sizes, etc. It is extremely intuitive and after a minute you will be comfortably taking notes in a brand new way.
2. Penultimate – Would you like to take notes the old fashion way but have them saved on your iPad? Or just doodle and sketch diagrams. If so, this is the app for you. The one downside I found was that I didn’t have a stylus of my own. The apple store near me didn’t have any and suggested I order online. Rumor has it that you can build your own styles with some notes from the Internet. I might try this if the online one is too expensive.
3. Connect – Memeo Connect Reader allows you to connect to your Google Docs and have everything local on your iPad. This is great for us 3G only users.
4. Flipboard – Your not really looking for iPad apps if you haven’t heard about this one. Image your twitter account with those links and graphics that people you follow add to their tweets. Now, imagine a glossy magazine in your hand with the content and images from those links in the twitter feed. The result is a fantastic new way to view your social networking.
5. MindMeister – Mind mapping application. You can login to their system and save your mind maps there. Easy to use.
6. Note Taker HD – This might be a better solution for me the Penultimate. You take notes by writing with your finger. It has a couple of view options and writes quite well. I haven’t spent much time with it myself but others seemed to like it.
There is most likely, many more that people were using at the conference but with all the iPads there it would have taken up a lot of my time to ask everyone. Here instead is a small sampler to get you started. If you have some must-have productivity apps that you use then let me know.
