Eric--- I don't know how much you read books but since you have an iPad you should know (if you don't already) that you can load both Amazon's Kindle software and Barne's & Noble's Nook software on it. Which means you can use the iPad as an e-reader. I don't know what the cost structure is for the iPad. My wife and I have WiFi/3G Kindles and the 3G access to Amazon's bookstore server is free, even in China, the UK, and Norway to name three places outside the US*I've downloaded books. You pay for the book, of course, but the cost is far less than the price of the print version of the same book. I used to pooh-pooh e-readers but now that I have one I don't want to read a book in print again. This does not apply to books heavy with photos or coffee-table type books, but for reading basic fiction and non-fiction books, the e-reader has only advantages and no disadvatages in my opinion.
So that's a major benefit you have with your iPad.
There are marine nav applications available for the iPad but I don't know anything about them.
One thing you can use your iPad for on your boat--- if you have connectivity--- is as a wannabe AIS if you have any interest in that technology. As others have mentioned on this forum, if you go to
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ you can zoom in on a map of your immediate area and see all the vessels in real time that are transmitting AIS signals. YOU won't be transmitting one, of course, but you can see where the AIS-equipped traffic around you is. You have to mentally superimpose your positon on the map of course, but it can serve as a sort of poor-man's AIS.
The connectivity may be crap or nonexistant in your area--- you'd need a 3G or 4G version of the iPad to really make this work as WiFi connectivity is going to be zilch out in the middle of the channel--- but for people in waters with good 3G/4G coverage it could come in handy. Up in your neck of the woods I suspect AIS isn't all that valuable for our kind of boating, but in more crowded waters, particularly those with a lot of heavyweight commercial traffic, it could be a benefit. We so far have not seen the value in it for our own boating, but I don't deny it could be very useful under certain circumstances.
An iPad, like all this stuff, is one of those things that the more you use it the more useful it becomes. For example you could keep your engine, maintenance, and trip logs on it if you're inclined to keep these kinds of logs to begin with.
The "keyboard" on the iPad is next to worthless, but if you want to use an iPad to write stuff there are both dockable and Bluetooth full-size keyboards available. This is what I intend to do when we spring for an iPad 3 next year or whenever they come out.
-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 28th of September 2011 11:17:01 PM