Starwood CEO says iPads make CEOs more productive than PCs

Tim Cook isn’t the only CEO to favor an iPad over a computer to run a company: Starwood Hotels CEO Frits van Paasschen told the WSJ that he dumped his PC and now does all his work on an iPhone and iPad – with the assistance of a Bluetooth keyboard.

I thought, you know what, I actually don’t use [my PC]. I do all of my work via mobile so essentially my office is wherever I go, and I can be much more productive.

Some of the limitations of a smaller device encouraged changes in behaviour that boosted productivity, he said.

Meetings at Starwood are paperless, emails are shorter, and Mr. van Paasschen won’t open bulky spreadsheets. “When I get the massive file, the first thing I’ll do is send it back and say tell me the key points that I actually need to understand.”

While van Paasschen admits that not all roles can be performed without a PC, one of his senior VPs, Chris Holdren, has followed his example, saying he no longer uses a PC even when working on presentations: “Now I just use my iPad.”