What should I buy? Tablet PC (Windows or Android), ereader or iPad?

I bought the original iPad when it came out and I still love it. I use it as an ereader, for taking notes on the road (evernote), to go online on the couch etc.

When I bought my iPad the only competition were Android Tablet PCs and they just weren’t as user friendly. I know several people who have android tablets and none of them use them to take notes during classes: they still use pen and paper. I think that’s an essential point: apparently android tablets aren’t responsive enough to actually type on fast enough for daily use.

The Windows Surface Tablet, promised for winter 2012, is about to change the game. It will have a physical keyboard in the shape of a screen protector. This is a smart move, because it will give people something missing from tablets today: blind typing. Sure – auto-suggest makes typing on an iPad very fast, but nothing can beaut typing without having to look at your fingers. That’s something typing on a screen can never give.

Other advantages of the Windows Tablet are pretty obvious:

1. Compatibility with Windows office: Word, Excel etc.
   This is why the tablet is marketed primarily for business. However, I’m sure that if the tablet is as user friendly as promised, many consumers will buy the Surface as well.
2. Use of USB, micro SD cards and other connectors.
   The one disadvantage to the iPad is that it assumes people won’t mind connecting their machine to other hardware through connectors. However, they’re generally wrong: I don’t like it that when I use my iPad for a lecture, the cable connecting it to the screen tends to come off. It’s not a deal breaker, but if windows can deliver on usability, the ability to connect and share information through physical means is a definite plus for the Windows (and Android) systems over apple.