Does it really matter what you call it?
What does "pop it away" mean? So now you have to carry something to store that keyboard in? My daughter has a Logitech magnetic keyboard cover that she removes and loses constantly.
And many here are touting clamshell keyboards as the answer. By definition, that's approaching the characteristics of a laptop to me. (Just a pricier and vastly underpowered version). And they can often double the weight of the iPad. Then we come to the deficiencies of iOS; It's not made to take advantage of those things. You still need to fight gravity and interact with the display. (No arrow keys, no trackpad). BT keyboards for the iPad are afterthoughts, nothing more. The iPad has always been a "consumption" device and I just think it's hilarious when people try to turn it into something even Steve Jobs said it wasn't.
But I'm not condemning people for wanting to find alternative ways to interact with their devices. Just their final solutions that don't make sense - both economically and physically. I've certainly made those mistakes. The solution for me was a decent $10 stylus and a handwriting recognition app that turns my scrawls into text. Text that I can copy, paste and manipulate in a multitude of apps. You don't need two hands or a place to park your device. Throw in a cheap 4 ounce folio cover and you still have something easy to carry, provides some protection and adds very little weight or bulk. Granted, we all can type faster than we can scribble words on paper or a display but for me this works well. Not "perfectly", but well enough.
So I still maintain, if one does that much "writing", get the right tool for the job. I just got an iPad Air when it was released so it will be a while before I follow my own advice. But by then I'll see where Apple stands with the 11" MBA and also see what the rest of the world has to offer.
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But how about a device that's still lightweight and uses the same OS as that mini of yours thereby interacting seamlessly with said mini. And nothing else to buy?
For basically the same price...