This — and the related take from DaringFireball — is getting traction, but it’s presenting as a general case something that is really specific to, well, HN types, or full time bloggers, or similar: that some of the tasks you do are better suited to a Mac than an iPad. The difference is that users like this are the minority.
Most people’s computing life is Office-style docs, emails, browsing, and social media. The iPad is great at doing those things.
If your default mode of computing insists on having a host of windows open that you, after years or decades of experience, can fly through like a hacker god in a movie, then yeah, you may find the experience limiting. That’s when you start wondering if it’s worth the trade offs.
For me personally? Yeah, on short personal trips, I go with the iPad alone. I can do everything I need to do personally with it, and if I need to reach out and do some work tasks, it’s still possible. (Not for nothing, my photo workflow now runs through the iPad first, which further enables no-laptop vacation travel.)
What do I get for making the tradeoff? I carry a far cheaper and lighter device with better battery life, and one which is also better suited to reading or video consumption (IMO) than a full laptop.