Over the weekend I read the Kindle edition of #iPadOnly. The first real post-PC book. How to use only your iPad to work, play and everything in between, by Augusto Pinaud and Michael Sliwinski. The two authors explain how their separate year-long experiments with using an iPad as their main computer worked out. If you use an iPad at all, the book is worth a read, because it will push you to consider whether you could or should do more on your iPad than you are currently doing.

Augusto and Michael talk through many issues related to using the iPad as their main device:
– Why they made the transition (to rethink workflow, to simply their work practices, to increase focus on the right tasks).
– Whether an external keyboard is core and essential, or supplemental.
– How to be productive on the iPad.
– Various apps for using on the iPad. They covered many possibilities, and the list was overwhelming. I guess the secret to reading those pages is to remember that they were possibilities, not mandates.
– How the iPad and cloud-based storage / apps work together seamlessly. The two authors talk about how they wrote the #iPadOnly book using their iPads and various services.
– The gear and accessories they each carry in their bags.

In terms of the impact of reading the book on my work and workflow, I’d say: (1) I learnt about some apps for the iPad I hadn’t heard of before, (2) I found out about various accessories for the iPad I hadn’t explored before, and (3) it reinforced that the iPad is a secondary / supplementary device in my work, not the primary computer. I don’t see any compelling need to go #iPadOnly in my own work, although there are places where I will make greater use of it going forward, as well as places where I will make less use of it going forward.

Update (July 30)
Via Twitter, Augusto and Michael asked for my reasons behind #3 above. I gave four:
– (1) Database applications that don’t work on the iPad.
– (2) I much prefer larger screens
– (3) The iPad does not support an on-screen Dvorak keyboard.
– (4) I always work with multiple apps/windows, referencing and cross-referencing what I’m working on.