Can the iPad and Mac Coexist?

There seems to be a lot of chatter online these days regarding Apple's intentions for the future of the Mac in light of the meteoric rise of i-devices such as the iPad and the upcoming iPhone 4. Others are discussing the role the iPad might play as a notebook replacement device. I think that both of these topics miss the point that the Mac and the iPad (along with smaller siblings, iPhone and iPod Touch) both fill needs and niches. There are a number of things that I can do on my iPad that I used to do with my Macbook Pro. The ease of access, portability, instant on and off are among some of the conveniences that the iPad fulfills. I recently listened to Dave Hamilton (Mac Observer and Mac Geek Gab Podcast) discuss the use of an iPad at an all day conference and I would agree that it is an awesome device to use when you are moving from keynote to workshop, etc. at a conference. Another writer for The Mac Observer, Ted Landau writes:

These are not one-or-the-other alternatives. There’s room for both.

An analogy that fits well here is the microwave oven. When microwaves first arrived, manufacturers attempted to market them as a complete alternative to the traditional oven. Cookbooks showed how you could cook virtually anything in a microwave — from steaks to cakes. The sell didn’t work. People quickly discovered that microwaves could not do it all — at least not well. Traditional ovens never disappeared. Yet, microwaves became a huge success — because it did many things better than a traditional oven. Today, nearly every home has both a traditional and a microwave oven.

Read the rest of Ted's article at

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/the_mac_lives/?utm_campaign=shorturl