I'm not sure why the author seems so focused on the need to be "productive" with a tablet. For me, the tablet form factor seems to be recognizing a truth that'

I'm not sure why the author seems so focused on the need to be "productive" with a tablet. For me, the tablet form factor seems to be recognizing a truth that's still emerging, although it's inevitable: much of the time I used to spend reading books and magazines and newspapers for fun or personal edification I'm now spending reading those things or their equivalents on the Internet. And if that's all I'm doing, I'd rather be on the couch with a vaguely book/newspaper/magazine-shaped object than sitting in the same chair in front of the same monitor where I spend all my workdays. I can't tell you how much it's improved my life to have instapaper on my browser on my work computer, so I don't have to make the "this looks really interesting, do I waste work time reading it or lose it forever?" decision like I used to. That said, I fully agree with nesbot above: if you made me give up one of my gadgets, it'd be the iPad, no question. But since nobody's making me give up any of my gadgets, I'm not too worried.