A Farmer and His iPad
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We’ve featured several articles covering the different ways people use their iPads at work and we recently discovered another interesting example. Gary Chambers, a farmer/realtor in Drumheller, Canada, will be using his iPad and iPhone 4 (if he can get one in time) to keep him connected during this year’s harvest.
Farming isn’t the quaint tradition you sometimes see on TV. Farming is a billion dollar business and farmers have some of the best high tech toys you can find. So, it’s no surprise to us to see Chambers use several Apple products to stay connected with grain buyers and other clients, all while sitting comfortably in the cab of his John Deere STS.
On his blog, Chambers was nice enough to put together his list of three Top Harvest Tech Tools that will stay with him during the long hours in his combine.
- An iPhone is his “primary voice and text communication,” along with a few additional items iPhone accessories like the Kensington iPhone Holder and the OtterBox Defender case.
- An iPad offers lots of great features. The on-screen keyboard alleviates problems caused by dust, the size fits perfectly under a seat or in a drawer inside the cab, the battery life is great, it’s durable in the OtterBox Defender (one of our favorite cases) and all the great apps.
- A Two-Way Radio provides “old school” communication at a great price and cuts down on the cell phone bills.
When the iPad was introduced, it was hearlded as a new third class of device. Many analysts were dubious that the iPad would live up to its hype as they thought people would struggle to find good uses for Apple’s new gadget. Chambers obviously doesn’t have that problem saying “in my opinion, the iPad will become one of the most valuable tools to the modern farmer.”
