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Comment by shantanubala | Hacker News Reader

I think the author misses a key point of tablets: they're not for information production. I can't think of anyone who prefers tablets for writing or coding, but I do know a bunch of people who like getting stock quotes, reading the news, using Instapaper, and consuming content. The analogy with the scribe doesn't really work because the purpose of the tablet is to consume content, and actual user input is minimal.

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I beg to differ on the production thing. I do some of my fiction writing on my iPad using a Bluetooth keyboard.

I guess I overlooked the keyboard addition. But would you say that a laptop provides a better interface? Or do you like the iPad more than a laptop for writing? I haven't actually used a keyboard with a tablet, so I don't have any personal experience with that.

I find my ipad with a dropbox compatiable editor is sufficient for my writing needs, but my laptop is certainly more efficient. For anything other then sustained reading or using a highly specific app my laptop is definitely faster and easier to use. I just find portability to trump efficiency in a great may suitations. If am at my desk I want my MacBook Pro with it's vastly superior sound card and my Grados. Anywhere else, I'll take my iPad and same earbuds if I don't have any programming to do.

Edit: fixing overly zealous iPad autocorrect

Where does the tablet go when you're not holding it?

This setup rapidly turns into a series of kludges to make the thing work.

At home I do carry it everywhere. When I go out, I have a 10.1" netbook bag which holds my iPad, keyboard, camera, charging cables, and earbuds. It's easy to carry around everywhere even to resuarants and the local B&N store.

I only use the keyboard when I plan to do a lot of writing. Right now I'm just using the software keyboard.

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