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Executives Exercise Flextime Options With iPads

Who knew a slim computer with a 9.7-inch display would be such a big hit?

It turns out businesspeople are fond of their iPads.

It’s been four months since Cupertino-based Apple Inc. introduced the telecom-connected, touch-screen tablet computer. By now, several San Diego executives have moved into their pads and are conducting business through them.

They include Dan Shea, who is about to open a new restaurant. The Donovan’s Steakhouse owner has a venture called Circle of Fifths, located in the Fifth Avenue storefront that used to house Bondi, an Australian-themed restaurant. Circle of Fifths opens this month.

Shea, who has had his iPad tablet for two months, says he needs a portable computer because he splits his work time among three offices.

“To really be effective, I read a ton of PDFs (PDF-format documents) and spreadsheets,” Shea said. “That’s not possible on a BlackBerry.”

The restaurateur says he prefers the iPad’s nearly 10-inch display for spreadsheets over the small display offered by the smart phone.

Numerous Benefits

In addition to spreadsheets, Apple offers word processing and slide show applications.

To catch up with financial markets and the world at large, Shea makes it a point to review USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post daily. He does it on his iPad. There’s an extra benefit to looking at online versions of the newspaper, since they all have video content.

A data synchronization feature means iPad users can update the contents of their computers. Shea says he can mark his stopping place in his Kindle book reader and go back to the same spot if he continues his electronic book on the iPad. Kindle is a product of Amazon.com Inc.

Shea also likes going to his iPad because it’s available right away. There’s no five-minute lag, as on a laptop, while the computer boots up and the cellular modem gets running. The iPad’s sleep mode, combined with long battery life, gives the impression that the machine can boot up immediately.

Shea has 300 employees locally. In addition to Circle of Fifths, he runs Donovan’s Steak & Chop House locations in La Jolla and San Diego as well as Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Shea’s Paradigm Investment Group LLC is the second-largest franchiser of Hardee’s fast-food restaurants in the world, running 87 outlets in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.

From Cool Toy to Key Tool

A new Apple iPad hasn’t replaced the desktop computer for Jari Niskala, chief executive officer of software writer KaDonk. Niskala still prefers many features of his Windows-based work computer, including its two extra-big screens. But the lifelong Windows user and former Nokia employee admits to being increasingly attracted to Apple.

At first, he viewed his Apple tablet as a “cool toy.” Then it started being part of his workday. “It’s really a productivity tool,” Niskala said, adding that his iPad has become a means to get a little something extra done while sitting on the couch in front of the television.

He says it’s an excellent tool for searching the Web, either for work or out of personal interest. And it’s good for a quick e-mail, though Niskala prefers in-depth correspondence from his main computer. Niskala is now toying with the idea of getting a conventional-sized keyboard to hook to the iPad via a Bluetooth wireless link.

He also uses his iPad as a book reader. With its multiple uses, he says, the iPad seems like a better value than a single-use book reader.

KaDonk is a six-employee Poway company that makes project-management and collaboration software. KaDonk hopes to eventually bring out its own software for the Apple iPad and iPhone.

Not Just for Kicks

Mark Fabiani, special counsel to the president of The San Diego Chargers and leader of the ballclub’s effort to build a new football stadium in the San Diego region, is an avowed Applephile and an iPhone owner. He got the iPad by mail order when the machines first came out.

“Basically for me it’s a laptop replacement,” he said. Fabiani’s previous travel computer was a MacBook Air.

Fabiani says he can use his iPad to surf the Internet, answer e-mail or draft a document. Its ability to connect with a 3G cell phone network means he can get on the Internet nearly anywhere in the world. Only certain models of the iPad have the 3G feature. All iPads can hook up with Wi-Fi connections found in eateries and certain stores.

Fabiani finds his iPad is a great travel companion, in more ways than one.

On a trip to Italy, France and Spain this summer, he used the iPad to entertain his school-age boys. Fabiani reports that his children are good travelers, but there were long airport waits where the iPad provided some welcome entertainment. It’s good with games and movies, he says, and can go across the Atlantic on a single electrical charge. Running as a video player, the iPad has a 10-hour battery life.

Because of the price — the base model costs $499 — Fabiani is considering buying iPads for two of his children to use at school.

It seems that having an iPad comes with the unspoken rule of having to share it with one’s children. Shea, the restaurateur, reports that his 15-year-old son is on the iPad “anytime he can pull it away from me.”

‘My Mobile Device of Choice’

Steve Thun, who works with San Diego-based defense contractor Syzygy Technologies Inc., got his iPad as a birthday present in June.

“When I first got it, I hardly ever got to use it, as my kids thought that it was one of the greatest things since sliced bread and they needed to ‘see it,’ ” Thun said. “They still like to play on it, but I get to use it more now.”

Thun’s iPad is making the transition from toy to work tool, though it hasn’t yet replaced his travel notebook computer. The iPad will be “my mobile device of choice” when responding to e-mail, he said. Thun has loaded an application to connect with his office computers remotely, but has yet to fire it up.

The iPad is still a work in progress. Apple, which said in late June that it had sold 3 million iPads, has promised to improve iPad software to sort applications into folders — a feature Fabiani says he’s waiting for. Apple’s iPhone software already has that capability.

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