Idea Flight takes off: Utilizing iPads in Presentations

I was recently part of a client meeting, where three out of the six present used an iPad during the meeting. The other two had their laptops open to PDF versions of our presentation. Meanwhile, we had spent time and money on printing large, colorful reports to pass out.

This got me thinking: what if our meetings became digital? What if there was a way to save all that paper and ink, and just have colleagues follow along on tablets or laptops? Not only would this be a more economical and eco-friendly option, but think of all the multi-media options you could easily include.

I soon stumbled upon an iPad app developed by none other than the magazine publisher Condé Nast, called Idea Flight. The app, which has been downloaded 85,000 times since its launch in June, let’s one person (the pilot) control up to 15 users’ (the passengers) iPad screens remotely while running through a presentation. This allows the pilot to control what slide is being shown at one time, and keeps it all in sync. It is supported over a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, and can be unlocked at the end of the presentation so that users can go back and revisit certain slides.

With the use of iPads and applications like Idea Flight, office presentations could be taken to the next level with a streamlined way to control speed and user engagement. Instead of pulling up a projector and tinkering with stagnant graphics at your next meeting, think of using an iPad to make links, videos, and illustrations come to life.

While iPads come with a steep price tag, their ease of use, transportation, and flexibility offer pretty enticing perks. However, if iPads are not a viable option, most people own a laptop. With a cloud-based presentation, everyone could follow along on their computer. Thus saving paper, time, and creating a more meaningful presentation. I will look more into cloud-based presentation apps in my next Daily Axiom.

Photovine App Grows A Photo Story

Google recently went live with a new picture sharing application for iPhone called Photovine. The app offers users a way to share pictures in categorized threads called vines. These vines have themes such as “sunsets” or “sleeping cats” as determined by the original creator. Users then take a picture that matches the theme and adds it to the vine, thus creating a growing photo story. Hence the apps tagline: “Plant a photo, watch it grow.”

Users can add comments, "like" photos and see vines in either a single, slideshow format, or grid view. There are also three different ways to sort the vines: Fresh, popular and watching. Users can also find and follow address books, as well as Facebook and Twitter contacts. Because anyone can upload to vines and view photos, the app can feel a little impersonal, which is why the “Activity” tab is nice. It shows all new photo-related activity from friends, making the app a little more intimate.




I am surprised to learn that Photovine is so far an Apple exclusive app. There’s no Android app yet, which is a curious move to say the least. Google doesn’t usually exclude its own mobile platform with new product launches. Also perplexing is the exclusion of an option to add your Gmail contacts. Is Google just playing nice with Apple fans? Why exclude its own services?

I have no doubt that Google will launch an Android version of the app soon, but until then, Apple bears the fruit of this "vine".