I know kids and grandparents that use tablets all the time but not really anyone outside of those age groups. Is anyone else finding that to be the case? I know I personally haven't used the ipad in months if not years at this point.
(BTW, I recommend Readdle Documents for reading PDF because of its unbelievable speed, which matters a lot when your documents are 1200 pages long)
It is very much a consumption device, though -- the most I "create" with it are short emails and blog post drafts.
I have tmuxinator, tasker, tasker ssh, automagic, web alert xp, csploit, hackers keyboard, (linode,aws,google) service mgmt apps, openconnect, ms rdp, hackers keyboard, AIDA ide, pagerduty, and so much more
I regularly manage linux/windows systems from anywhere on my tablet.
I approve code changes and make code changes
My tasker and automagic tasks are around server alerts, and issues, and automatically connect to servers with issues by grabbing hostname from pagerduty alert with automagic, logging in and running checks or if its a known server its calling about.
back to the batcave!
Just last year though I got an iPad Pro 9.7 with the Pencil. That's been pretty game-changing for me as far as making these devices actually useful. Now it's like a journal/lab-book, with extra features, that I carry with me everywhere and make extensive notes in. It doesn't replace my laptop, it replaces my written notes.
I still use the laptop extensively for my work that involves programming. However a lot of my work involves sketching diagrams and solving problems, work that I used to do on paper but now can do digitally.
But an old iPad 3 is my go to device for planes. Video, games, reading (because I don't want to carry a Kindle in addition to a tablet.) I actually got one of the cheap Kindle Fires to checkout for travel but I ended up going back to the iPad because I like it better.
The iPad has a lot of great emulations of older synths and exciting new apps that aren't available anywhere else. Some big names have also made apps, like Korg, Propellerheads, and Native Instruments. Check out iPolysix, iProphet, Animoog, DM1, Auria, E.L.S.A., Beatsurfing, Impaktor, BIAS Amp, Audiobus, Swoopster, Sparkle, Galileo, Thumbjam, Steel Guitar, Arpeggionome, Orphion, Xynthesizr, Glitchbreaks, Loopy, and Gadget.
As I've gotten further away from R&D and into business development and then a management-like role, most of my time is consumed reading and writing emails, using our internal messaging platform, and going to meetings.
The iPad keyboard works fine for writing short emails, it's much lighter to lug around between meetings than my laptop, and I feel less awkward using it in the back of an Uber to read/write emails when going to said meetings than I do my laptop.