Earlier this week, we covered the latest round of rumors about the possibility of Microsoft finally bringing Office to the iPad. This is something that has been talked about since the tablet was launched in 2010 and every few months there seems to be comment from an executive that reignites the flame.
This time it was an interview given by Microsoft's chief of marketing Tami Reller where she called the idea of Office on the iPad a "thoughtful decision." While this certainly got people talking, not all of the conversation was "finally it's coming!"
A recent article from CITEworld asked the question, is there actually a marketplace for Office on the iPad?
The piece argues that there is not. The iPad was created for a different usage scenarios than Microsoft Office. The strengths were portability and ease of use, will a large selection of single-functions apps. For many people, it is a secondary computing device: they use their desktops and laptops as their primary systems.
"Seriously, try and think of a viable use case for a touch-screen version of Office on the iPad," the article reads. "Are financial wizards going to enter data and run macros by tapping on their screens from the bed? Are marketers going to create PowerPoint presentations on the train? Are execs going to fire up the iPad version of Word during meetings so they can take notes with pretty formatting and change-tracking?"
Despite what the article states, there is a market for Office on the iPad, though it may not be as big as some experts believe. With the help of an IT consulting firm with that specializes in running an iPad deployment, any company can be ready if this change finally happens.
