As I’m sure most of you are aware, much has already been written about Apple’s new iPad. The overwhelming response is that of at least partial disappointment, with many seeming outright angry about the product’s lack of features.

As a web developer I have a unique take on the subject, and I’d like to post some quick thoughts.

One of the most important parts of working with clients is gaining their trust and helping them understand that Authentic Studios is a truly professional company. This is why we give detailed proposals, exhaustive terms and conditions, and a complete sheet on “How We Work Together” before we ever have a client sign a contract. Too many web developers (particularly in Springfield, Missouri) have burned their clients in the past, and it’s not uncommon for us to take on a client who has, at best, a shaky confidence in our ability to act differently.

I say all that to say this: we enjoy finding unique ways to impress clients, build trust, and give every customer a first-rate experience.

Unfortunately there’s always been a few things about our client meetings that I’ve never felt had the polish they needed:

1. Our portfolio presentations
2. Our finished product presentations

So why don’t these feel polished? Because essentially they consist of us gathering the clients (and sometimes there are as many as 7) around a laptop and having them all try to see our screen while watching us navigate it. It’s awkward; people like their personal space and this is reminiscent of us all jumping onto a queen sized bed to watch television together.

Enter the iPad.

Though horribly named (a heavily trending Twitter topic shortly after Jobs’ keynote yesterday was “iTampon”), we see the iPad as a great way to show off our portfolio to prospective clients and a fantastic way for them to navigate the prototype sites we build them once they’ve hired us. Imagine holding up the iPad (again…really bad name) in a presentation style to flip through some of your most recent projects and have everyone in the room get a good feel for your work.

Imagine passing the iPad around for everyone in the meeting to “touch” the new website your team has been building for them. They can physically touch their website’s pages and feel the screen as they press the links.

Essentially: they can hold their product in their hand while you walk them through it. You have given them something tangible to hold while showing off your work.

So we’re excited about the iPad; granted, not for the same reasons as a lot of other people. But if this product can help us connect with our clients on a deeper level then we’re sold.

When can we pre-order?

Last year Authentic Studios relocated to Springfield, Missouri and discovered something interesting: if you deliver a great product and provide outstanding customer service, people will enjoy doing business with you. That common sense approach has kept us so busy over the last 12 months that we’ve had very little time to develop our own website.

Thankfully this month all of that changed. If you’re reading this you probably arrived here from our website, our base of operations. We’ve jumped back into work on client projects for the time being, but we’ll be making lots of additions to our site over the coming weeks and months and providing lots of articles on a variety of topics: web design, corporate branding, and stuff we love about Springfield.

Currently we’re hosting our blog on tumblr as we didn’t have the time to integrate one into our website at the level of quality we want. But eventually all of our content will converge on AuthenticStudios.com and we won’t have to send you out into the nether-regions of the internets in order to view our content. In the meantime we hope you’ll take a look around our website, check out our portfolio, and contact us if you have any questions or think we might work well together.

We’d love to chat.