I’m in the Parker House hotel in Boston. Boston cream pie and Parker House rolls were both invented here. Charles Dickens lived here for a couple of years during the 19th century—a feat that would have cost him around $167,000 at the current one-night-stay rate. The Vela Systems Customer Advisory Group 2011 also happens to be here, which is where I met Josh Kanner, that company’s co-founder.
Kanner made a bet two years ago: he invested in the iPad. Using a pre-released version as a structure for programming, Kanner had a version of Vela developed and released only a month after the iPad itself came out. Though Vela was available for the TabletPC at that time, and still is when online, there is no offline support for it like the iPad.
HP and Blackberry’s all but failed ventures into the tablet market.
Exhibit C:
The thousands of iPad-only Apps released daily.
Exhibit D:
The iPad. Which is just sexy.
Kanner says his new sales pitch is, “Vela Systems, an excuse for your boss to buy you an iPad.”
ENR's most recent cover story delves into the iPad's place in construction in a more in depth manner, citing the device's user friendliness and absurd amount of helpful apps. Some people are just now realizing the iPad has become an integral component in the AEC industry. Kanner thought it was two years ago.
What do you think?
