Technology in Architectural Practice

I tried to back search and did not find the discussion from earlier on the use of I Pads or tablets for job site and meetings.  It seemed to lean strongly toward I Pads.

We are a small seven/eight person office.  After the round of discussions earlier this year about taking a mobile device to the project sites and to meetings I proposed I Pads to the office (at 60 hauling large roll of drawings and a couple spec books is getting harder).  After the first mixed response they came back in favor of tablets based primarily on the google world the firm is sliding into after switching to gmail.  Our computer guru likes the goggle world and is trying to get me to move to the cloud but we have enough problems with a hard server and bandwidth.  The other consideration the office has is the device cost and screen size.

Sorry to ask but what is the recommendation of those who have moved forward.
 

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Robert Carlson AIA
Principal
Carlson Design Team PC
Iowa City IA
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I searched "ipad" and "tablet" in the search box on AIA KnowledgeNet and got:

Re: Ipad

Re: iPad in Architecture

Re: iPad2 in Architecture Practice

Re: Ipad Tools

Re: Punch List

Re: ipad use in architectural practice

Re: ipad use in architectural practice

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Kathleen Simpson
Manager, Knowledge Communities
The American Institute of Architects
Washington DC
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About a year ago, I purchased an Android Tablet instead of an iPad.  There were three reasons:
1. At the time, website developers were still using flash for web pages.  Flash usage is dropping because of the Apple / Adobe childishness.  So, this is less important than before.
2. I am not overly excited about highly propriety hardware and software.  I have found Android to be more open for third party development than Apple products.  I also believe that the android is a little more complicated than an iPad.  I can say this, only because I am my only IT support.  If I had little IT experience or I had to support many tablets, I may have opted for the iPad.
3. iPads charging and output via cables (HDMI, VGA, etc.) are all through one port.  Some tablets have a separate charging port from the video out.  I use my tablet for presentations and streaming video all of the time, and I do not have to worry about whether or not it is charged enough to complete the task.

Hope this helps.

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Kent Steen Assoc. AIA
Associate, Architectural Designer
Davis Design
Lincoln NE
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The question I would ask you is what is the proposed use of the Tablets in the Field? Is it primarily to do meeting minutes, field reports, and be more accessible from the field? Transport and View Construction Documents, Specifications, Etc while on site? Is it a mixture of both?

If you are moving over to Google for everything an android tablet will be better and less costly; however today there arent as many relevant apps for Architects on Andriod as there are for the iPad. The iPad, in my opinion, has a better screen resolution which makes viewing construction drawings on site much easier as the screen size is larger. Google mail can work with either device pretty easily in my experience. The big question is cost for a firm your size the price differential for a WiFi only device could be $1600 - $2000 total to outfit an 8 person team.

I have used both and favor the iPad as the User Interface is very intuitive and there are many more apps. In addtion for the iPad there are some apps out there that let users compose mobile Field Reporting, Meeting Minutes, Contractor Reports, and view project documents.

Lastly, in regards to moving to the cloud I would say that it isnt something to be too worried about as many services are now delivered that way. Cloud Computing and Cloud Software usage is expanding and will continue to expand as internet bandwith increases. Our company delivers products over the cloud and we havent had a complaint to date.

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Caleb Morrow
Director of Sales & Marketing
ArchitTrek
Baton Rouge LA
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