How could a person justify an iPod purchase in the workplace

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djbeta

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Funny question.. someone I know is interested in asking their job for an iPod.. but is wondering how they might be able to justify the purchase (i.e. use the iPod for their job)

Any ideas would be appreciated. :)
 
It can be used as a portable hard drive, useful for backups & to carry files between home & work.

It can also be used to listen to audiobooks, including things like "7 Habits of Highly Successful People" and other corporate favorites.
 
1) can't he store the contacts of his co-workers on it?

2) helps releave the stress of the work place by putting him in his happy place listening to music.
 
With the addition of an optional accessory (e.g. Belkin iPod Microphone Adapter) it can be used as a portable voice recorder too. Lots of people use those for work.
 
both economical and useful:
The iPod Shuffle doubles as a fairly commonly used usb drive. so if they use those anyway, he could maybe manage that angle, and get the player with it.
 
I've thought that would be cool - go to a corporate presentation thingie, where everyone is carrying around laptops to do powerpoint presentations. Then, when it's your turn, you go up and plug your iPod photo into the projector...
 
Not to be argumentative but if someone is trying to get the office to buy an iPod for them, should they not already have a purpose in mind? For most of the uses above there are better, less expensive options.

Are there legitimate reasons for an iPod in the workplace? Yes, but if you have to ask for a reason your motivations are misplaced IMHO. (mini diagnostic/boot drive for administrators. Less expensive option for some PDA uses in specialized environments. As a general use tool though, justification is more difficult.)
 
quiksan said:
both economical and useful:
The iPod Shuffle doubles as a fairly commonly used usb drive. so if they use those anyway, he could maybe manage that angle, and get the player with it.
Click to expand...
Especially seeing as how
  • It's USB2.0
  • It has a large capacity
  • It's actually inexpensive (esp. for the amount of storage you get)
Kap
 
Mephisto said:
Not to be argumentative but if someone is trying to get the office to buy an iPod for them, should they not already have a purpose in mind? For most of the uses above there are better, less expensive options.

Are there legitimate reasons for an iPod in the workplace? Yes, but if you have to ask for a reason your motivations are misplaced IMHO. (mini diagnostic/boot drive for administrators. Less expensive option for some PDA uses in specialized environments. As a general use tool though, justification is more difficult.)
Click to expand...

Well obvoiusly they have a motivation, and that is to listen to music. However, this person's boss would probably not find that desire grounds to purchase an iPod, so we must conceive some false reasons to persuade said boss.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Hehe... but if you were said boss, would you want an employee to finagle an iPod out of you with false reasoning?
Click to expand...
It's not necessarily false reasoning. A USB stick is a well known and extremely useful piece of equipment (esp. in mixed computer environments).

Kap
 
It's "false reasoning" in the respect that the reasoning we're coming up with here is not the person's intended purpose. Sure, it can be a USB stick... sure, it can hold contacts... sure, it can be used for presentations...

..but if these weren't obvious uses to the person trying to get an iPod, that leaves us to wonder -- when that person asked us to justify an iPod in the workplace, why did they want an iPod in the first place? My guess: to listen to music and get a free iPod. There are other, cheaper devices that can perform all the tasks the iPod can perform better and cheaper, short of listening to music.

Still, the reasons listed here in this thread are good ones to justify an iPod in the workplace, but I think alternative solutions should be offered to the boss as well, and let him make the decision.

For example:
FireWire hard drive for backups: the only thing the iPod has going for it here is size, and that's no deal-breaker. There are faster, better, cheaper, more spacious alternatives.

Contact organizer/PDA: again, there are better, cheaper alternatives. Palm makes a great Zire, like the 21 and 31 that'll do much more than keep your contacts handy.

Emergency boot disk: ditto. You'd have to install OS X on it first, and that would cost $129 unless you've got a spare, legal copy that's unused. Then you'd have to add ~$100 for some troubleshooting software, like TechTool or DiskWarrior.

Voice recorder: ditto. Any Sony mini-cassette recorder will do fine.

Even adding all the alternatives up from each of these categories, I'll bet it'll still be in the $300 - $350 range ($100 external drive, $100 PDA, $30 voice recorder, $100 MicroMat TechTool Pro).

The only iPod I could recommend to a boss would be the shuffle. You'd be hard-pressed to find a USB flash drive with that kind of capacity and quality for less.
 
Why lie to yourself, an iPod is a luxury. In my workplace, we're offerred iPods as a performance bonus. One is given away each month for staff who work hard and nobody ever claims this is an unreasonable expense.
 
symphonix said:
Why lie to yourself, an iPod is a luxury. In my workplace, we're offerred iPods as a performance bonus. One is given away each month for staff who work hard and nobody ever claims this is an unreasonable expense.
Click to expand...
I've heard of a couple companies that do the same thing here. Sounds like a great idea (I'd make mine a mini :) ).

Kap
 
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