Guess this depends on how you work. I often find myself starting many instances of the editor[1] which is a pain if you have to create a new ssh connection for each (or use ctrl-z etc).

"the writing experience is not too different [..] the other advantages of the iPad are greater."

Guess the real difference between us is that you see something great in the iPad, so you are willing to live with its obvious shortcomings[2] compared to a laptop. I have yet to discover why it's so amazing, and only see a small, but pretty much useless gadget. It could be used for reading I guess..

[1] yes, it has tabs.. still

[2] low resolution, can't run what I want to run, can't type on it without a keyboard, and at that point you could just as easily carry a small laptop (not an Eee ffs, a real laptop).