iPad in my Mobile World - What the Heck is that thing and Why do I Use it

Other than being a great conversation item, I have found that I use the iPad a lot. This is not to say that I have done away with my workstation, or laptop or even iPhone. It does mean that I do not use a NetBook however.

The iPad because of it's long battery life which is about 3-4 days at my usage level, simple and quick boot-up that is similar to an iPhone, portability and ease-of-use, and ability to address many of the main needs that I have has become a rather important companion in my daily digital life.

Typically I use it to browse the web, search up interesting topics via Wikipedia, catch up to email, look at my upcoming calendar, read books, watch NetFlix movies, engage my social network via Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/etc., listen to music while reading, play games, take notes, write papers, and do some calculations all in a simple-to-carry, very quick device.

The iPad form factor is just about right for me to carry around. Some have argued that it is heavy which is arguably true. I also do not like the way how the screen gets very smudged over time with constant fingertip use but that is bearable.

I particularly love the way the iPad allows to me to do so many things that I would have done on my laptop and combined that with both some nice functionality from the iPhone and book reading from the Kindle. This makes it ideal for a number of purposes without having to worry about carrying my laptop around. I no longer need a plug. I no longer need to worry about when my laptop battery is about to die. And I no longer need to worry about the long minutes it takes to power it off, put all the accessories away in a bag. I can drop down, start the iPad, get things done, and move on. This is so much better than the laptop experience.

Again for really heavy tasks such as programming, etc. I do use my laptop and workstation. However I now have a new option and that one is far better in many situations.

I know many individuals still have not found a place for the iPad to meet their needs if at all. Yet I have been very pleased with how it works, what it delivers, and how effective it is.