"Because Apple Owns My Soul."

These are the words embedded in the signature of emails sent from my iPad.

It is true. I own an iPad. They may have just come out today here in Canada, but I bought one last month when I was in NYC. In addition to the iPad, I also own two Macbooks, one iPod Nano, one iPod Touch, and one iPhone.

Previous to the current iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iPhone... I had a second generation iPod (c. 2003), an iPod Mini (c. 2004) and the first generation of iPod Nano (c. 2005).

Apple does in deed own my soul. And my pocketbook.

A lot of people, though, are asking the same question of me lately:

"If I already own a Mac and an iPhone, WTF do I need the iPad for?"

And this is a valid question. Because, to put it bluntly, the iPad is certainly not necessary or even practical for most people.

It is a pure luxury. One I was willing to scrimp on Starbucks in order to get.

Here are the reasons I have found the iPad to be a good investment for me:

• Books. I LOVE reading books on this thing. And speaking of reading...
• Online Magazines and Newspapers. Holy crap! Reading the NYTimes or the Huff Post with this thing is so intuitive and crisp. I can not tell you how much I love rolling over in bed each morning, and instead of grabbing my iPhone to read online news and quickly check email... I grab this thing.
• Email. Like I just wrote... Checking email or even Twitter updates is quick and easy. You just press a button, and you are able to look at what you want. No waiting for the computer to boot up. No burning through your battery life on your iPhone.
• Travel. I have traveled twice with this thing. It rocks. Movies. Books. Wireless Internet connection. All you need.
• Cooking. Propping this thing up against the kitchen counter top to work on a recipe is way easier and takes up less space than the laptop.

So, for me, it has been useful around the house and for browsing mostly. The battery lasts a long time. I don't have to login to start accessing the data I want. It travels well.

I still use my laptops though. When I am in my home office and need to work or write, it is done on the laptops. And when I leave the house to go to work, that is when the iPhone gets used.

The iPad fits in with my lifestyle. I don't think it will fit in with everyone's though. I noticed that I was constantly pocking up my iPhone while at home to quickly look things up or read through the papers. An iPad allow me to do all this with a bigger screen.

And that's why I love it and use it all the time.