I Cheated on My iPad
Posted on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 @ 01:58 PM
I love my iPad. It goes everywhere with me. Sees me through everything. Client presentations, email, calendar, client proposals, movies, music, photos, virtual desktop, functions as my phone—you name it. In fact, as my previous blog posts have outlined, my iPad replaced my laptop. But I just felt that there was something else out there. And boy was I right!
The Tension Builds…
It started innocently enough.
An email or text here and there announcing her presence to me. Some with a flirtatious undertone, just teasing me of what was to come. I had seen her once or twice at demos, and man, was she sexy.
Then it happened: We met in person.
She was sleek and new. Smaller than my iPad. Enchanting. Pure enterprise grade. The Cisco Cius!
Yes, I have been cheating on my iPad with the Cius.
Cisco Cius: Background and Basics
The Cius was announced in June 2010, and recently hit the market. I’ve had mine for about four weeks now.
Has it fully replaced my iPad? No. But it has become an amazing secondary device, and there are several features that have the potential to make it a serious competitor to the iPad:
- Seamless integration to the Cisco Collaboration suite—Jabber, video, presence, WebE, and Quad.
- A docking station that contains USB and HDMI ports.
- A micro SD card slot.
- Built-in micro USB and micro HDMI ports.
- The ability to connect a mouse and keyboard.
- Cisco Telepresence and endpoint interoperability.
- Cisco Communications Manager serves as the Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform.
The Bottom Line: iPad vs. Cius
For the first generation of the device, the Cius isn’t bad. I love the Cisco Telepresence integration, USB ports, and ability to use Communications Manager as the MDM.
If your organization has invested heavily in the Cisco ecosystem (voice, collaboration, video) and you’re considering a thin client for VDI deployment, then the Cius warrants a look. Or, if you’re considering purchasing the Cisco 9971 video phone, I would strongly consider the Cius instead.
However, do not kid yourself that the Cius is the iPad. In my opinion, Android is inferior to IOS as a mobile operating system.
In terms of pure tablet functionality in the post-PC world, the iPad trumps the Cius. Cisco is quick to point out, however, that the Cius is not intended to compete directly with the iPad. The Cius is a pure enterprise play, not a consumer play. It’s a video endpoint that also brings the benefits of enhanced security and VDI to the table.
So where will I end up? I believe that I will find a way to have the iPad and Cius coexist. Because at this point, I can’t live without either of them!
Do you have any questions about the Cius, and how it compares to the iPad? Fire away in the comments below.
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Darin Haines is Group President of MCPc's Advanced Technology Group, focusing on solution delivery, and has over 16 years of experience in leading the technology function in mid-sized and enterprise-level organizations. Connect with Darin on LinkedIn.
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