Travel Tuesday:11 tips for making the iPad the perfect traveling companion

Three months and three million iPads later it looks like Apple has a winner on its hands.Yet very few still seem to really know what to make of it (“I can make a hat, a broach or a pterodactyl”).Can the iPad can be used as a serious business tool or is it just a coffee table accessory targeted at parents/grandparents of tech-savvy individuals?

I think it can be a valuable tool for the business traveler, particularly on short trips.Some, like Steve Rubel, are experimenting with making the iPad their primary computing device, but limitations in current capability and IT departments everywhere conspire against that goal.

I think it’s perfect for the business traveler, especially those of us who have to fly coach and deal with little to no room to open up your laptop on the plane (and I’m not even talking about if the person in front of you leans the seat back a millimeter). Reading an analyst report, reviewing a presentation or reading a book or watching a movie are very pleasurable and natural activities while on the plane. And the 10+ hour battery life is unbeatable.

I recently took a cross-country trip, used the iPad almost the whole time (including playing music over the iPod app in the background) and finished with more than 50% battery remaining. So here’s some advice on how to make the iPad a viable business travel companion: more