It was fun, it’s no chore to admit it. Doing a Keynote presentation on my iPad was a fun thing to do. But, if I had a serious presentation to deliver I would leave my iPad toy behind. Here’s the two main reasons why:
1. Nothing.
There’s nothing visible on the ipad’s screen once you start your slideshow. Wait, I take that back. There is a black screen with arrows and a count of the slides left in the show. This, outside of the most rudimentary navigation needs, provides me, the presenter, with no way to see what’s on the screen unless I 1) turn to look behind me; or 2) print a list of the slides; or 3) memorize the presentation. No, I take that back. Even with the last two options I don’t know what’s showing. Printing or memorizing the show would help with knowing what’s supposed to be on the screen but the ONLY way to confirm is to look behind, and frankly, that feels unprofessional.
2. Nowhere.
[pullquote]Doing a Keynote presentation on my iPad was a fun thing to do. But, if I had a serious presentation to deliver I would leave my iPad toy behind.[/pullquote]I can’t use a remote control on the iPad for Keynote so I go nowhere. I am completely/utterly/totally tethered to my iPad. This isn’t to much of a problem if you’re presenting at your weekly managment or staff meeting, sitting and showing, but for people like me, for whom movement and proximity is a way to help connect with a room full of people who don’t know me, it makes me look and feel stiff.
Those are the two reasons I consider the iPad useable only for simple, short, semi-casual presentations. There are only two but both have to do with how I feel. Unprofessional and stiff are NOT what I’m trying to communicate. I want my presentation tools to fade into the background and let me do my thing.
Apple’s Keynote on the desktop is, for me, worth the price of switching to a Mac. I feel creative when I’m designing and confident when I’m delivering. It works. Keynote on the iPad is, well, not quite there. It’s fun; it’s a novelty. But if you delivery presentations for a living it’s like having a dull blade on your power saw. It’ll get you there but it might not be pretty and it might get dangerous.
Have you ever tried pairing an iPhone to it via Keynote Remote app? You can see both your slides and the presenter notes on the iPhone, be mobile during your presentation and advance to the next slide all from the app.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3325
Howzit Dan! I should probably right up an update because ever since that remote app went bluetooth I’m loving it! I’ve used the ipad/iphone combo for a couple of 1/2 day and full day presentations and, outside of losing connection a couple of times, it worked great. I particularly like the fact that I can leave my ipad in the bag during airport security checks. Call me lazy but I appreciate not having to drag my laptop out and about
Let me know how you like using it.
Aloha, Kaala