Just a point re the 'inconveniece' of using an ipad plus keyboard versus a laptop. I have a 13" RMBP. I love it, but since getting my 64gb Air 2 and iOS 9 the laptop's main job has been to stream stuff via Apple TV and create the odd iBook with iBook Author.
For writing I now use Ulysses on both iPad and OS X (feature-wise, they're virtually identical) with the older style Apple Bluetooth keyboard. That keyboard is a 'proper' keyboard as opposed to the ones designed for tablets (I've tried a few; didn't like) and it takes literally seconds to set up. Possibly less time than getting the RMBP going, and I put my laptops to sleep, I don't shut down. In addition, it takes away the fear of drinking near a laptop ... Rightly or wrongly, I'm less scared of fatally messing something up by slinging hot chocolate over it since the keyboard isn't anything but a keyboard. Granted, if I needed to juggle a lot of research with writing I'd probably return to the laptop simply because Ulysses doesn't yet have slide-over support which would make it difficult for me to access my notes in Evernote whilst actively writing, but Soulmen have promised that update is coming shortly.
The point being, I do think we're reaching a point where the iPad is no longer inherently restricted just because it's a mobile OS; I think (hope!) other devs will follow the same path as the Soulmen and aim for feature parity as far as possible across x86 and iOS. Hopefully iOS 10 will allow us to work more sensibly with files—even multiple files—across apps and once we have that, really, we're nearly there. The limitations will start to cease being a matter of mobile vs 'full' OS and become a simple one of power: you wouldn't try to do CPU-heavy activities on a netbook, regardless of the OS, and the people who need that level of power will probably always want the flexibility of a high-end laptop/desktop anyway.
I tried a Surface for a week and I couldn't stand it; it had all the failings of Windows as a laptop and none of the advantages of the iPad as a tablet and for me, that was too much of a compromise. I do see that for now there are specific use cases where the iPad (any iPad) simply can't measure up, but I agree with those who say that the gap will narrow year on year. And I can't wait!
For writing I now use Ulysses on both iPad and OS X (feature-wise, they're virtually identical) with the older style Apple Bluetooth keyboard. That keyboard is a 'proper' keyboard as opposed to the ones designed for tablets (I've tried a few; didn't like) and it takes literally seconds to set up. Possibly less time than getting the RMBP going, and I put my laptops to sleep, I don't shut down. In addition, it takes away the fear of drinking near a laptop ... Rightly or wrongly, I'm less scared of fatally messing something up by slinging hot chocolate over it since the keyboard isn't anything but a keyboard. Granted, if I needed to juggle a lot of research with writing I'd probably return to the laptop simply because Ulysses doesn't yet have slide-over support which would make it difficult for me to access my notes in Evernote whilst actively writing, but Soulmen have promised that update is coming shortly.
The point being, I do think we're reaching a point where the iPad is no longer inherently restricted just because it's a mobile OS; I think (hope!) other devs will follow the same path as the Soulmen and aim for feature parity as far as possible across x86 and iOS. Hopefully iOS 10 will allow us to work more sensibly with files—even multiple files—across apps and once we have that, really, we're nearly there. The limitations will start to cease being a matter of mobile vs 'full' OS and become a simple one of power: you wouldn't try to do CPU-heavy activities on a netbook, regardless of the OS, and the people who need that level of power will probably always want the flexibility of a high-end laptop/desktop anyway.
I tried a Surface for a week and I couldn't stand it; it had all the failings of Windows as a laptop and none of the advantages of the iPad as a tablet and for me, that was too much of a compromise. I do see that for now there are specific use cases where the iPad (any iPad) simply can't measure up, but I agree with those who say that the gap will narrow year on year. And I can't wait!
