A strange thing has happened. After years of using a notebook as my only computer, I’m considering going back to a desktop machine. Why? The iPad.

It’s too early to tell for sure, but the iPad looks like it will do almost everything my MacBook does away from the desk: reading, browsing, watching movies in bed. It’ll even take care of the one thing that makes me schlep a notebook with me on vacation: importing and backing up photos. In fact, for many things it’ll be better than a MacBook, as it will be as grab-able as an iPhone for quickly getting something done, and I can jiggle it around without killing the hard drive.

This leaves a few very specific tasks for my “real” computer. Work, for one. Writing Gadget Lab posts involves a lot of applications open at once, and it requires a proper keyboard. The second is photo-editing, which needs the horsepower of a full operating system (right now, at least). Both of these require a big screen to avoid flipping between open windows, and to let me see the pictures properly.