You have just praised your iPad as a work device, thus you have proven what I have said to you for months. That modest PC laptop&desktops are good enough for 85% of the population. That they have no need to buy fancy schmancy Apple laptops or desktops that go for 2x-3x the price.
What is the iPad if not an underpowered computer with little storage? Of course it is ultra-portable and convenient with a built in LCD screen which is why they are selling like hot cakes. But it has enough juice to get things done. You just said so
Here is a current $349 BestBuy special——>>>
Toshiba - Satellite Laptop / Intel® Celeron® Processor / 15.6” Display / 2GB Memory / 250GB Hard Drive - Black
Lets put aside size and portability. This Tosh has more storage and processing power than an iPad any day of the week. So if you can do work on an iPad and find it useful in many other ways...... Then this modest Toshiba laptop is easily powerful enough and good enough for 85% of computer buyers and comes in at one third the cost of an Apple laptop
I wouldn't argue processing power of a laptop vs. an iPad any day of the week. Clearly laptops win on that point.
Where iPads excel that many people completely miss the point on is that they are extremely good at a few specific things, and those few specific things are easily exploited in a number of vertical markets. My rheumatologist the other day had an iPad with my xrays and MRI's on it along with my medical records during my consultation with him. He was easily able to find my records, show me high-definition pictures of my A.S. to explain the pain I've been experiencing, complete a script for meds, then handed the device to the RN to schedule my next appointment.
In banking where I work, we use them for our high-end wealth customers to complete their information forms using an electronic forms app on them, and submit them to our system - encrypted and wirelessly - to submit transfers, orders, etc.. Our clients are completely wow'ed by the fact that we use them and it's a huge convenience for them to be able to do it thatway.
For our Senior Exec's at the bank, we're enabling wireless, accessible anywhere email, calendar and contact info. with document viewers for word/powerpoint/excel because they don't need a laptop nor do they want to carry one. (They complain about the weight, the sissies.) All they need "pc" or device for is the functions above, which the iPad happens to excel at.
Now in all three use cases above, the functionality of the iPad is exploited to enable a business use. Keep in mind, these are very narrow use applications that rely on a web browser or browser with eform capability, and electronic email capabilities - again which the iPad excels at.
If this is all an end user needs, it seems to me to be a complete waste to give them a laptop or pc with 10x the power and storage since they aren't likely to use it anyway, even if the pc/laptop is cheaper. I want to give them the device that makes them the most productive because that's where the "cost" of the device really is.
That leads me to my next point. There's also the added "benefit" of boosting the productivity of users who enjoy using a device as a work enablement/productivity tool vs. a laptop that they view as "cumbersome" or "heavy" or "takes too long to boot." These are their perceptions of laptops which once overcome with a slate (iPad) does impact in a positive way their productivity.
Then there's the education I received on this thread on how to turn an iPad into a VOIP device that follows you everywhere using your corporate phone system's VOIP capabilities and a cheap, easily donwnloadable client for the iPad. When I demonstrate that on Monday morning, I'm going to be a HERO because I'll be showing our Senior Exec's how to eliminate one of the devices they carry daily - a cell phone - and use their iPads instead if they so choose. This is pure enablement of business functionality that our Senior Management is demanding that we cannot yet deliver on a laptop and I'll be able to do it in a matter of minutes per device.
Historically I've been no Apple fan. I agree their devices are horribly overpriced for what one gets. What their devices are though, are transformational in nature, extremely easy to use for very specific purposes and as a result Apple's products make it very easy to exploit their devices capabilities for the specific functions users choose them for.
This is precisely where laptops "lose the argument" however I suspect it won't be long before good Win7 slate devices come along and change that. The hardest part for me as a pc guy of 25+ years in using an iPad was getting use to the interface and making it work for me. If a good slate running Win7 were available with a familiar interface, I'd have chosen that over the iPad assuming all else was equal with the ipad (ie: processing power, storage, etc..)
Just my opinion, YMMV of course.