TOPIC: iPad

Another issue to consider with the iPad (the current version at least): The device does not contain a camera, nor does it have any means of connecting devices. As Dominic mentioned, it's not a content creation device, so this (kinda) makes sense. If a version were created for the iPad, there is still the hurdle of how you would be able to load additional content like photos to your inspection without a way to connect the camera.

Dan...
Not Long after the iPad was introduced there were accessories that attach to the doc connector that allow you to connect a camera, or use a card reader... your input is appreciated, but you're mistaken.

And on top of that with multitasking now available and their iWork programs as apps... I can make documents with photos integrated into them quite easily and they are beautiful high quality professional looking documents.

If people dont like Apple products... Doesn't bother me!
But there's no reason to spread misinformation (I don't think DAN was doing that) and downright hatred.
I have been a PC user most of my life, recently switched, and we're now an iFamily!  They Just Work!

Dom,
Hypothetically speaking... IF someone were to "jailbreak" an iPad how would he/she go about installing it on the iPad?

Obviously we like Macs. We're one of only 2 inspection programs out of over 20 that runs natively on a Mac. We'd love the iPad to bet a better device, but it's not there YET.

A few guys are using their iPad as a remote to control their home computer with HIP, but not many.

Even if you jailbreak the iPad there's currently no way to install Java on it (though there are many trying and I'm keeping a close eye on this). Because of this we have to write a new program from scratch which will mean about 6 months and tens of thousands of dollars of work. This means we'd need to sell a ton of programs to even come close to breaking even.

The other really big problem with the iPad is, how do you use it? Even if we developed a software program for it you can't walk around and use it since it's touch sensitive. It does not work very well at all with a stylus. This means that you have to hold the iPad in one hand and then use your other hand to type on the screen (very ineffective). It's also a very fragile device.

Add to this that the iPad/iPhone are still limited to what carriers can use it and it all adds up to financially not make a lot of sense. This means that the marker of inspectors that can even use it is limited. The home inspector market is EXTREMELY small. There's a max of 20,000 inspectors right now, spread across 3 main inspection software companies and another 20 small ones.

This doesn't mean in any way that we won't be developing for the iPad. In fact, quite the opposite. I expect Apple to come out with an iPad version that runs a full version of OS X in the near future. At this point we won't even need to build a new program, the current one will just work!!

If you really want a true Mac tablet, check out the ModBook from Axiotron and you'll be ready to go with HIP and a Mac tablet now.

Dom,
firstly,Do you own an iPad?  "Extrememly fragile?" not hardly! , more fragile than my 2go? yes. but that's where cases can come in very handy.

second, Axitron doesn't do that MOD them selves, local contractors actually do the conversion, and they are very hard to find!
you are the one who said a jailbroken ipad could run the HIP software...

third,
its not actually a from scratch program build...  apple seeds the project with the basic operating structure, so... 6months? for a text based software development? my nephew made a graphics heavy game for the iOS devices in less than two... Have you looked at the apple development program?  you're obviously coming at it from a negative slant to begin with.

Hi Donald,

Yes, I've been a member of the Apple Development system for about 7 years and have looked into iPad development heavily. It is definitely a complete rebuild of the program. Apple doesn't seed the project with anything. They supply basic packages just like every programming system (and I write over 15 languages!). We'd be starting off writing line 1 of the program. Writing a heavy graphics program is actually no harder than writing a program like ours as there's many packages to assist you with writing your graphics, especially with all the writing the program does direct in the PDF language and special formatting we do. The first release of Home Inspector Pro took over a year and was initially 50,000 lines of code and it was no where near as powerful as our current release.

A few people have commented on the program being jailbroken but I couldn't find anything from me (but it could be on another post). There are a few jailbreak solutions that would partially work but the program would not run properly at this point. If you REALLY want to make it work get a 3G/4G card and then

You're definitely missing the point if you think we're coming at this with a negative slant. We are the ONLY inspection software to run on Windows, Mac & Linux. We pride ourselves on being the most flexible program on the market and would love to work on every device. But right now you're asking the equivalent of you driving 2000 miles to do a $500 home inspection and in the meantime abandon all your other customers while you drive cross country. Would you do that?

We have inspectors asking us to make the program work on Blackberrys, Androids, iPads, iPhones, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Windows 98-7, Mac OS X, and more!! When/if enough people ask for a particular platform and it becomes cost efficient, we'll get it done.

Dom,
firstly,Do you own an iPad?  "Extrememly fragile?" not hardly! , more fragile than my 2go? yes. but that's where cases can come in very handy.

second, Axitron doesn't do that MOD them selves, local contractors actually do the conversion, and they are very hard to find!
you are the one who said a jailbroken ipad could run the HIP software...

third,
its not actually a from scratch program build...  apple seeds the project with the basic operating structure, so... 6months? for a text based software development? my nephew made a graphics heavy game for the iOS devices in less than two... Have you looked at the apple development program?  you're obviously coming at it from a negative slant to begin with.

Don, you sound like you work for Apple. Are you a home inspector? I would not want to use the Ipad, for the reasons already stated. I have a camera that is a touch screen and I have to turn it off after every pic so that I do not get accidental pictures. I would also want to be able to do more than one thing at a time, like do a search for info when an agent tells my client I am wrong. I also want something that is not so fragile, I have dropped a few cameras in my time and I am sure I will drop more, not to mention I would drop the Ipad. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have a tablet that I can carry at my inspections and most likely will have one in the future, but it won't be an Ipad unless and until they improve it.

We have a few guys using the iPad with the logmein and other remote programs and it's rumored they're working on a much more powerful iPad.