Welcome
Welcome to my official home on the web. Below, you will find a list of the most recent technology articles that I have published and the sites/magazines where they have appeared. You can also subscribe to this list via RSS and be constantly updated of any new features that I write.
In the sidebar, you’ll find a link to my most recent book iPhone for Work, a guide to using the iPhone as a business and professional tool. It includes introductory iPhone information, how to make best business use of the built-in iPhone features (even some that seem very consumer-oriented at first), and a guide to finding business and industry related apps.
Also in the sidebar is a feed from my Twitter account. Feel free to read my recent posts here or to follow me on Twitter.
You can also use this site to find out more about my professional background and the technology consulting and training services that I offer.
Warmly,
Ryan J. Faas
Recent Articles
Will the Cius Challenge the iPad’s Potential in Health Care or Beyond?
Published at Computerworld – 7/6/2010
With it’s recently announced Cius tablet, Cisco is taking aim at the iPad in the workplace and healthcare (an industry that has already begun to embrace the iPad) is likely to be the first battleground for the two devices. After speaking with a range of healthcare professionals about the potential for tablet devices in hospitals and medical practices, I tackle the question of whether one is inherently better or more likely to win over the industry… and the answers might surprise you.
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iPad Enterprise Deployment Guide: Everything Mobile IT Needs to Know
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 6/16/2010
Supporting the iPad in business and education environments presents new challenges for IT departments in terms of how deploy, manage, troubleshoot, and secure the devices. Part of the challenge is that the iPad is a new form of device and part of it is that iPads used in an organization may be a mix of organization-owned and personally-owned devices. Here are the major questions, potential issues, and concerns that IT staff need to consider when the iPad begins to show up in the office or on campus.
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5 Reasons to Upgrade to Apple’s Safari 5
Published at Computerworld – 6/12/2010
Apple’s latest revision of its Safari web browser advances the cause of HTML 5 and patches security holes. It also improves performance and comes with some great new features that place on par with Chrome and Firefox. In this list, I pick the top five features that will help you get the most out of Safari 5 and your web browsing experience.
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WWDC Review: Key iPhone 4, iOS 4 Features
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 6/8/2010
There wasn’t a lot of real surprises in the WWDC keynote delivered by Steve Jobs this year, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of important news. Join me as I break down the important details about the new iPhone 4 and iOS 4 (both coming later this month). I’ll also look at how those details play into daily life at home and at work and what they could mean for Apple and the mobile industry going forward. I’ll even examine the things some people expected to see that were not part of the keynote.
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Developing for the iPhone OS: App Store vs. Web Apps
Published at Computerworld – 6/5/2010
Developers eyeing Apple’s iPhone and iPad for the first time have a choice to make: go for distribution in Apple’s App Store (which requires ponying up $99, learning Apple’s development tools, agreeing to Apple’s sometimes changing rules and restrictions, and hoping your app makes it through Apple’s approval process) or create a web-based application (which has no content restrictions, can be done with ordinary web tools, can work on multiple platforms, but can only access the most basic of iPhone/iPad hardware features). Join me as I weigh the pros and cons of each option.
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Top 20 iPhone 4G, iPhone OS 4, iPad Details to Emerge from Apple WWDC
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 6/3/2010
The saga of potential announcements at Apple’s WWDC this year has included the usual slew of rumors and leaked reports as well as the soap opera-like saga of a prototype iPhone that was lost or stolen, sold to a media outlet, and triggered a criminal investigation (not to mention other prototype parts that found there way online in countries across the world). But what do all these pieces of information add up to? Check out my list of iPhone/iPad related predictions (and check Monday afternoon to see how many I got right).
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Why is There no IT Focus at Apple’s Developers Conference?
Published at Computerworld – 6/1/2010
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is a set to open in under a week. Unlike years past, the even is completely centered around the iPhone and iPad with developer sessions specific to Mac OS X development scaled back or removed. Along the way, Apple has also removed the IT track that in years past has served as information, training, and professional networking resource for Mac and multiplatform systems administrators and IT managers. Here’s a look at what’s missing for those folks and the potential longterm impact of Apple’s devision.
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iPhone OS 4: Guide to Anticipated Mobile Management Functionality
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 4/30/2010
In early April, Apple provided a preview of some of the forthcoming enterprise features of iPhone OS 4. In order to understand the importance of these new features, it helps to look at the challenges that the current iPhone OS and its limited management features pose to IT departments considering implementing the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. In this piece, I review the status quo as well as the presumed changes and how they could make life easier for IT staffers supporting the iPhone OS after this summer’s significant upgrade.
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5 ways Apple’s iPhone OS 4 is a game changer
Published at Computerworld – 4/11/2010
Apple previewed many of the features coming to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with the next release of iPhone OS 4. While there are many new features, including lots of additional abilities for developers, here are five big reasons that the next version of the iPhone OS stands to reinvent Apple mobile platform with implications for consumers, business, and the mobile landscape.
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12 Reasons Why OS 4 Makes the iPhone True Enterprise Mobile Device
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 4/9/2010
When Apple unveiled the forthcoming iPhone OS 4 in early April, the company showcased seven “tent pole” features. Among them were feature specific to making it easier to implement the iPhone OS in business and enterprise environments. Find out why these specific “enterprise features” and several other features that Apple outlined have the potential to reinvent how the iPhone is used in the business and education spaces.
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Apple’s iPad Has a Niche in a Lot of Professions
Published at Computerworld – 4/4/2010
Just who is the ultimate market for the iPad? Families, students, professionals? In this piece, I examine how the iPad can be utilized in very different ways for a wide range of different users as well as how it can be successfully used by professionals across a wide range of industries including education and training, sales and marketing, real estate, health care, law, management, travel and tourism, and information technology.
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Does the iPad need Microsoft Office to succeed?
Published at Computerworld – 3/26/2010
If the iPad is to be successful in business and education settings, tools to view, edit, save, and present files that are commonly used. For most of the world, this implies the ability to interoperate with Microsoft Office. Apple is shipping iWork for iPad along with the iPad’s launch, but it will it be enough? What other options are on the horizon if it isn’t and how could will the those option be? In short, does the iPad need its own version of Office?
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Apple’s Mac Mini Server ‘Ideal’ For the Small Office
Published at Computerworld – 3/16/2010
Mac OS X Server offers any business or school a powerful and scalable server solution without complex or costly licensing requirements. For small organizations, Apple offers simplified management tools in addition to the array of enterprise-caliber features. With the addition of the Mac Mini Server to run Snow Leopard server, Apple has create a flexible, low cost, and easy to configure server that is ideal for any small business. Find out all the details in this review.
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19 Key Considerations for the iPad as Enterprise Mobile Device
Published at Enterprise Mobile Today – 3/10/2010
Does the iPad belong in your business, school, or enterprise environment? That’s a question that many IT professionals (as well as many end-users) have been asking since the iPad was unveiled in January. While the jury will still be out on the ultimate answer to that question at least until the device ships in April, here are 19 concerns and questions that every IT professional and end-user considering the iPad as a business or educational device should understand and consider.
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