Most people are convinced that the iPad can only be used for ‘media consumption’. They miss the opportunity to change the paradigms that have them tied to their laptops.

In the early 90’s, when the first laptops began to appear, many people didn’t believe that they would ever be as powerful as desktops. The rest is history.

In 2010 when the iPad was announced people didn’t believe that it would be powerful enough to replace and improve modern computing. History likes to repeat itself. Previously laptops were considered ‘underpowered’ but for several years now people have been choosing them instead of the big desktop computers. Today tablets like the iPad are in more households than ever before and people are discovering that they can do much more with them.

We see people discovering that their iPad can be so much more than just a companion device. People are beginning to wonder if they can, like us, go #iPadOnly. On the other hand, they keep telling us that ‘this or that can’t be done on the iPad’. We discovered that almost every job can be done on the iPad, but perhaps a bit differently than on a regular PC.

This book was written using only our iPads. Augusto has written more than eight books on his iPad. He has also used his iPad to help manage sales in the US, Canada and Latin America. He consulted and helped companies change their sales, and provided marketing and product development to generate growth - again using only his iPad. Augusto jumped to his iPad looking for a more dynamic portable work environment, and quickly discovered that he could do so much on this new platform.

Michael is writing, coding and leading his team as the CEO of Nozbe. He also, is only using his iPad. When Michael wanted to simplify his setup and become more mobile he switched to the iPad. As a productivity guy, he was curious to learn if the app-revolution and post-PC era were really true. Via #iPadOnly, he’s busy running a very successful time and project management application (with a team of 15 people); he’s the editor of the Productive! Magazine and he’s a blogger.

We’re not alone nor are we that special. Like Augusto and Michael, many people are using their iPads as their main machines. Many stopped using their old laptops and desktops and are changing how they do things. What you will find here is not just one way, but two examples of how to use your iPad as the main machine. We share a passion for productivity but we do different things for a living and we each approached the #iPadOnly process in our own way.

Getting to #iPadOnly is a personal journey. You might start with only a fraction of the time working on the iPad but gradually you’ll see how this will change and you’ll start loving your iPad not just for ‘consuming content’ but also for creating it. We hope you will find many ideas in this book and it will guide you through your own #iPadOnly journey.

The iPad is not a PC. It’s so much more.

In Augusto’s opinion the hardest challenge to work #iPadOnly is to be open to rebuilding your old habits and workflows. Michael shares Augusto’s view, highlighting that many people want to configure the iPad the same way as they did their PC or Mac. At first iPad seems like a very limited computing experience, but later these limitations come as blessings in disguise. They force us to re-examine our way of operating and to totally rebuild our workflows, and most of all – to simplify and improve them.

The problem with workflows and habits is that they quickly become invisible; you simply don’t notice that they even exist. Confronting them and being willing to change them might be one of the hardest challenges you will find on the journey to #iPadOnly. In our experience most of those changes create an improvement on the conditions that existed before. But even on those rare occasions in which they don’t, simply becoming conscious of a habit or a workflow is worth the exercise.

The most interesting and unexpected thing while we wrote this book was the fact that the workflows that we believed to be solid and set, have been evaluated and reconsidered. We have learned new things from one other, evolved in the use of our machines, and without a doubt convinced ourselves even more that #iPadOnly is the way!