As the gear we carry to do our work on the go gets smaller and lighter, the bags we need to carry the gear around can also get smaller and lighter. I really like laptop and gear bags – as my office credenza can attest – so I find it fascinating seeing the changing dimensions of bags.

First, consider the gear that you could use today:
– The iPad 2 – almost half a kg in weight, and fairly small. Enough battery power for a good day of computing, and if you add the external Apple wireless keyboard, it’s easy to take notes on the go.
– The MacBook Air – just over 1 kg in weight, and very thin. If you’re not surfing the web continually, you can probably get away with leaving your power pack in the office.
– The Samsung Galaxy laptop – I can’t find a link, but I’ve held the thin laptop edition, and again, it’s less than 1kg.
– The Lenovo X220 Tablet – which swaps between standard laptop and tablet mode, and offers a lot of battery power. Again, you can probably leave your power pack at home.

Then, consider the new options for carrying this stuff around:
– The very thin line Victorinox Digital Day Bag. Easy for an iPad, and perhaps this is all you need for being out-and-about for a day.
– The somewhat larger TUMI Alpha Small Flap Body Bag. Probably a bit on the small size for a MacBook Air or X220, but would fit the iPad.
– The Booq Cobra Courier XS, ideal for the iPad (again), and a few other things.

Has your changing mix of gear for a day led to a change in bag? What did you buy?