iPad Love

I love my iPad, easily more than any other computer I've ever owned, save my first one (for obvious reasons). It is light; is portable; has a long lasting battery; is convenient with instant on ability (no need to power down and "sleep" is instant); doesn't burn your crotch on the couch; you get all of your apps from one place; and it is dead sexy.

I would love to make it my only computer, but to do so at this time requires sacrifice.

An iPad can do most of what a regular computer can do. It can do all of the important things - email, web, document creation, etc.. Here is what I'm struggling with:

- Storage - 64 gb is not enough for all of my media. If itunes matching is ever extended to movies, this issue may go away. Movies are my single largest chunk of data. My current iPad is only 16gb. I purchased the least expensive model knowing I would want the next one in a year (likely a month now).

- Powerful apps - I work a lot in AutoCAD, and am moving towards REVIT. It will be a long time before an iPad can handle true implementations of these apps. Also, a larger screen is required (practically speaking).

- No portable media drive - this is more for ripping movies but this feature will obviously be less critical as we move to the cloud. I already have the goal/intent of no longer buying media in a physical format, but on occasion it is hard to pass up a deal.

- The screen gets filthy continuously. Oleophobic coating FTW?

And yet I'm almost to the point of overlooking these faults and making my iPad my primary machine. I love using it that much.

Storage limits? I can use an older mac and networked storage to house my media (for the most part).

CAD? I use a work machine for CAD. Other documents I can create on the iPad.

Portable media drive? The world is moving away from it. I'll just move a little quicker.

Dirty screen? I wear a shirt, often.

These are the thoughts I'm having as I consider buying a new mac. We have a five year old mac with a failing GPU, my wife's two yearold macbook that is slowing down, and my six month old macbook pro with too little storage for my media.

Problems, I've got a few.

There is no doubt in my mind that the iPad is the way of the future. I just wish it would get here faster.