Before I got my iPad, I saw it as a possible replacement for a laptop or net book. I expected to use it to create and amend Microsoft Word documents as I would with my laptop on the road.

Now that the iPad has had a couple of months to settle into my work routine I realise that I actually use it differently. Rather than a laptop substitute is has become more of a "paper substitute" along with an increased use of PDF documents.

Most of the documents I receive now come in by email as attachments. Any document more than a couple of pages long would normally hit the printer as its next stop (rather than poring over it on the screen). I would read the hard copy and mark it up in pen and then have the changes made on the Word document.

Since working with the iPad though the printer step has almost disappeared. Rather than printing a hard copy I print it to a PDF file and drag it into iAnnotate on the iPad (the USB transfer isn't great, but to be fair it is quicker than printing a hard copy and going to collect it!).

I then review the document, take it along to a meeting (or whatever) and annotate it on the iPad. The finished article can then be saved back into our Document Management System or emailed as needed without ever being committed to paper. If the original Word document does need to be amended then the PDF markup is actually easier to use as you can search through the changes one by one (no more missing that little amendment on page 75!) - although a dual monitor setup is a bonus for this.

I started doing this almost just to see if it could be done, but I actually find it so easy to review and annotate on the iPad that it has taken the place of the printed hard copies. The amount of paper I use has dropped off a cliff (although to be fair it will take a lot of saved paper to justify the price of the iPad!).

I can amend documents using Documents2Go, but the truth is that it is easier to do this on the desktop (or have someone else do it!) unless the need is very urgent.

The iPad is really taking the place of the folder / case / box of papers which I used to carry to client meetings, to work from home or out on the road... and helping to save the rain forest in the process.

Anyway, this started me thinking about how other iPad users were working with the devices... if you have any experiences to share please let me know in the comments.