When the iPad was first announced, it was filling a gap in the market that only Apple could see. Turns out it was a very real one. Manufacturers are scrambling to create their own tablets — most recently, Microsoft joined the game with a great looking tablet of their own. So far these devices have been primarily pushed for content consumption rather than creation. I think that changed some time ago.

I don’t have a laptop of my own. I just have my iPad. I remember when the iPad first came out, and we saw shining examples of magazine apps and games and content consumption apps; and I just kept thinking “This is going to replace my laptop”. And it did.

With Apple’s iCloud, the iPad has become deeply integrated with the apps I work with on a daily basis. I no longer think of my iPad as a separate device — it’s more like an extension of my iMac. I can open a file on my iMac, make some changes, then leave the house and continue on my iPad. It’s fantastic. Of course, this notion of our content everywhere isn’t exactly new. There’s DropBox, and Google Docs — but iCloud means I can do all that without any third party apps.

It just works.

I can pick up my iPad and my keyboard and leave the house for a whole weekend without it upsetting my workflow. I’ve designed and developed sites on my iPad. I’ve written articles, sent hundreds of emails, and edited entire albums of photos without touching a computer. And it’ll only get better.