I was sat in a meeting last Friday, which was looking at a spreadsheet showing data, and going over a presentation that will be made this week.
There was a couple of things that I thought were interesting. I was using my iPod Touch to view the spreadsheet, and my colleagues were using printouts and scribbling on them. When we got onto the presentation 4 people were taking the same notes going over what should be said. You could argue that this wasn’t the most efficient way to conduct a meeting, but imagine this future.
We are sat around discussing the spreadsheet, and I am able to make changes on the fly on a tablet, which are then reflected in the others versions they are looking at on their screens. When we get to the second bit, everyone can write notes about the presentation and these are reflected on all the screens. One person taking notes and that person can change.
I guess you can probably do this now, but a small tablet, a bit bigger than an iPhone, would be a great form factor. Not too big to stop you bringing it to a meeting, not so small that it is hard to manipulate. Using fingers and being able to type on a screen based keyboard also gives you a lot of flexibility that a tablet system cannot. Sounds like a large iPhone to me!
Sharing could be similar to the iChat screen sharing facility. Easy to set up and powerful.
Now image that at $600, just the right price point for a company to buy all their employees. A paperless, environmentally friendly office at a relatively small intro price. Now image Apple finally in the corporate environment!