I use my iPad to check e-mail, view websites and general surf. Yes I could use a laptop (except my laptop, a Lenovo ThinkPad’s power supply died a year after purchase, repaired once, lasted another month, then died again), but a laptop is much less elegant than the iPad, plus there’s a bunch of apps (Instagram, FaceTime) that live in the iOS device world that don’t exist elsewhere. I have looked at some music making apps (the Korg DS-10 and Garage Band) and they look good, but I have concerns about cloud based storage (not sold on the idea) and if the device dies, I have to pay heftily to get another device and then re-sync the app. Not elegant in management. In software, it’s the same on my PC, but it feels normal and I have a workflow for it.
I use it as a consumption device primarily, which is the intended design. I’d like to get a HDMI out so I could shoot my window to the large TV – maybe that’ll come in time.