22 Ways Apple’s iPad Video Mixes Fantasy and Reality

Only the marketing folks at Apple could compare the $500 iPad Air with a No. 2 pencil in a television commercial and spark consumer excitement. When CEO Tim Cook unveiled the iPad Air in October, Apple ran another inspirational video, called “Life on iPad,” showing all the crazy places people use their iPads. Six of the more than dozen examples are based on real cases.

CIO.com has been covering iPads in the enterprise since the beginning, and we know a little about where iPads end up and where most people would never dream about bringing them. And so we’ve taken apart Apple’s “Life on iPad” video to find out what’s real and what’s not. First, though, you might want to check out the video.

The iPad truly is a field service technician’s dream tool and has been spotted at construction sites, archeological digs and, yes, atop windmills. Even the Cablevision repair guy carries an iPad, often using Google Translate app to communicate with customers who speak a foreign language. These iPads connect to servers and provide reference information, instant feedback and process transactions. An assortment of heavy-duty iPad cases are available for all sorts of field service situations. For more, check out iPad Goes to Work as Troubleshooter in the Field.

[ 15 Ways iPad Goes to Work ]

In one of its more compelling images, the Apple video shows a SCUBA diver dropping down on a wreck holding an iPad in a water-proof case. She swims along the ship’s deck while checking the iPad, perhaps to enhance the dive with maps about the wreck, identify fish or compute decompression stops. The underlying message is that the iPad can go anywhere, as opposed to, say, the Surface Pro, whose name keeps it above water.

Quick, how much pressure can an iPad withstand? Most wrecks are at depths nearing 100 feet or more, so the iPad will need a pressure-equalizing $600 case, such as iDive. The case has a canister of compressed gas that pumps air into it the deeper the diver goes. So is it possible? Yes. But divers know water gets everywhere, especially on the boat ride out to the wreck site. Water is the No. 1 killer of iPads and iPhones. Even a little moisture can ruin it. We doubt many divers would risk bringing their $500-plus iPad Air below the surface. Check out a Shakespearean iPhone Tragedy of Epic Proportions.

It’s pretty obvious that Apple marketers have never worked in a restaurant kitchen. During the lunch or dinner rush, the kitchen becomes a steamy mess with bits of food, flour, sauces and hot oil splashing on everything. Pots, pans, utensils and dishes regularly get knocked over and crash to the ground. Who would bring an iPad into the kitchen? No self-respecting chef.

Side dish: If you’re a professional line cook who needs to look up pretty pictures of food orders while you’re creating them, or if you’re a waiter who doesn’t know the menu and needs to match the picture with the dish to pick up, then you probably need to find another line of work.

In another one of Apple’s case-study examples, master vintner Christian Gaston Palmaz of Palmaz Vineyards in Napa Valley, one of the world’s greatest wine producing regions, uses the iPad in the field to gather data on soil hydration, nutrient profiles, leaf moisture content, and cluster temperature.

“Together, this data gives us an accurate picture of the whole vineyard, allowing us to make informed decisions about how to tend our vines. The data helps us get better fruit,” Palmaz says in an Apple-written case study.

We’ve never tried Palmaz wines, but we probably don’t have a sensitive enough palette to tell the difference between grapes grown with an iPad and those that weren’t. However, it’s these kinds of business scenarios where the iPad excels: Data at your fingertips, knowledge where and when you need it. If the iPad really does make better wine, who are we to complain?

Ask rock climbers who’ve actually done this, and you’ll hear them tell a different story. They’re most concerned about the weight they’ll be hauling up the cliff face. An entire industry specializes in such light-weight yet reliable gear. Any electronics would be small and absolutely necessary. We’re still wondering what she’s looking at on the iPad. Even if she had connectivity (which she wouldn’t), she can’t possibly be checking Facebook, right?