Apple's iPad Medical Domination Plan

Perhaps it was all started by the residents, the young doctors fresh out of medical school who saw the iPad and were immediately fascinated by it. But Apple is definitely fueling their digital romance, by heavily marketing their tablet computer as a mobile alternative for the medical field.

Apple's most known evangelist is Afshad Mistri, who organizes conferences for medical professionals, created an iTunes room for healthcare app developers, and stops by hospitals to check on the iPad's progress, according to Wired. (White lab coats are now being made to fit an iPad or tablet computer, too.)

But it's not just private hospitals looking to use the iPad, but now the government also wants to use the devices. Now the U.S. Veterans Administration wants as many as 100,000 tablet users across its network of 152 hospitals. The VA already has 1,500 iPads in limited trails now.

It makes sense that doctors and other health professionals like the device -- it's mobile and does away with bulky patient files. Now they can just use a tablet computer to bring up any information from past medical records.

But Apple has been making sure that the iPad is the device of choice, not Android. Apparently the late founder and chief executive Steve Jobs had been interested in the medical industry since the 1990s -- and his interest likely renewed after being diagnosed with cancer. He made it a mission to pursue the medical enterprise angle.

Mobile technology may be a fun way to waste time for most people, but does have industrial uses. As we've written about before, it works in many industries where employees need access to information while on the move. The medical industry, which is a bit more reluctant to embrace new technology especially one first aimed at the consumer market (which was probably why hospitals at first banned iPads,) has now integrated the device into the workplace. Expect to see your doctor with one in hand soon.

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