Pft: iPad 2 shortages causing delays in paperless meetings

According to the Financial Times it’s hard to believe in something if you can’t get your hands on it to begin with. For many companies, it’s hard to believe in a post-PC world when they can’t even get their hands on an iPad.  That’s pretty much what the Financial Times is saying in their latest article titled iPad 2 shortages delay paperless meetings.  Sure, Apple’s latest iPad commercial shows off the device in a way that could redefine how we use technology in the future, but unless people get their hands on one, that future might be further down the road than some hope.

Apparently a number of companies based out of Europe have been complaining about their inability to procure enough iPad 2s for board members. Apple’s holding them to the two iPads per person policy, and they don’t like it one bit. None of the companies wish to be identified, which isn’t all that surprising, but some have been quoted extensively in the article.

“Almost all of large organisations are now requesting their board papers on the iPad. The big problem Apple faces in the short term is meeting enterprise demand for the devices,” he said.”

The argument is the same one we’ve been hearing since the original iPad shipped—why is there always such a huge supply crunch when an Apple product ships? The Financial Times doesn’t come right out and ask the question, but they certainly hint at it throughout the article. Apple has gone on record in the past saying that they don’t create artificial supply problems for the sake of publicity. Whether or not you believe that is up to you.

Perhaps one of the more positives things in the article that gets lost between the lines of complaint after complaint is the fact that most big businesses refuse to deal with other tablet suppliers—for them it’s iPad or nothing. That says a lot about the iPad, and probably even more about the other options that are on the table.

Anyway, if you ask us, all of these board members wanting iPad 2s sound like giant cry asses. If the companies in the Financial Times article were really interested in going paperless, they would start by arming their employees before their board members. It’s that simple. The rich kids at the top want a new toy, and they’re pissed because they have to wait like everyone else.

If companies really want to go paperless, we’d love to offer up three suggestions that don’t require iPads.

  1. Use PDFs instead of printing. Heck print directly to PDF.
  2. Send all printers to recycle shops. No questions asked.
  3. Migrate to Google Docs or something more corporate-like.

If that doesn’t get them started on a paperless world, we don’t know what will. A business can go paperless before their iPads show up. Heck, companies have been doing it long before the iPad was even available.  Sure, the iPad makes the process a lot simpler, but it’s not a requirement for a paperless world.  We have no sympathy for board members.

Article Via The Financial Times
Photo Credit: Shraddha Swaroop

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.