My latest random idea — want to rent an iPad?

Posted By Hup | May 13, 2010

Yesterday I went to a tech conference here in San Francisco and to be quite honest it was pretty much the same ‘ol same ‘ol. But, one thing did end up sticking with me after I left the networking/panel/keynote filled fun and that was that the iPad is a KILLER demo device at events like the one I went to. Many people (including me and my co-workers) were not only telling people about what we do at isocket, but we were not able to easily show them what we were doing, too. The iPad allowed us to do this quickly, easily and instantly and it allowed us to interact with interested people on a whole new level.

So, after seeing all of this go down yesterday, I started thinking about how everyone will eventually need to carry an iPad at events (and I think that people at booths will be using them, too). But, most people don’t want to drop $500 or so on a device that they’re only going to use one weekend at a time, which is why I thought that there might be a market for renting them instead. This is why I thought of coming up with an iPad rental service called The iPad Borrower where people who need an iPad for these specific situations can rent them instead of buying.

Right now I am simply gauging interest for the service and if I see that there are as many people out there wanting to rent iPads as I think, then I’ll push the idea farther along. So, I guess only time will tell and I’ll update soon if anything comes of it. If you have any questions or ideas about renting an iPad or how iPad rental would work, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Filed Under random thoughts, san francisco

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    4 Talkies! to “My latest random idea — want to rent an iPad?”

    1. Ro on May 26th, 2010 8:14 pm

      I would rent one for up to two months right now. I am studying for the Bar exam and this would be handy and easier way to study then using a desktop or notebook computer. But I have no interest in owning one long term, I thought about other e-readers and right now they do not fit the bill.

    2. Stephanie Brown on July 14th, 2010 9:15 am

      Great idea!! Are you still doing this? Would it be cheaper to buy one or rent one for a month?

    3. Bill Sudsberry on July 30th, 2010 6:35 am

      I want an iPad so I can use it for target practice. I’m tired of having to put a new watermelon on top of the tree stump when I target shoot. I want something that will make my watermelon come back to life so I can shoot it again and again with my 22-LR.

    4. Mac Clark on August 28th, 2010 11:00 am

      I have a similar idea bouncing around, except it would be for a different base of people: students! I originally had the idea of renting mainly for the reason of etextbooks, but found that the selection out there, and the turn around makes it hard to get a profit. In looking though, I discovered a number of services that you could load up on the device. I’m doing some number crunching, and seems it’s still hard to make money if you keep the prices low, but still a cool idea.

    What do you want to tell us, hmmm?