Can you live without a computer? A PC or a Mac? A desktop or a laptop? Absolutely! The tablet-only lifestyle may not make sense for everyone, but if you can answer ‘yes’ to any of the following, it may be the right move for you.

•  You travel all the time (or a lot)
• You are a minimalist or intentionalist and appreciate a streamlined desk
• You spend at least 4 hours a day with your face in a tablet (emails, productivity apps, social media, streaming music, tv, or movies)
• You don’t do a lot of gaming or heavy file processing
• You love being able to take your digital world with you wherever you go (all your images, documents, files, emails, etc)

I can answer ‘yes’ to all of those and am proving the computer-free concept on a daily basis. Admittedly, it did take some adjustment to get here and it all started with an unfortunate flick of a switch.

I had a gorgeous Lenovo All-In-One, hooked up to my Wacom pen tablet. It was perfect. Fast for editing, browsing, writing; the works. Streamlined with only one cord (once I added the wireless dongle) with a large bright screen. When I traveled, I used my iPad (mini, Air, or Pro) to browse, do light editing, and write blogposts but at home, I used the PC for everything. One morning, I decided to rearrange my office necessitating the powering down of the PC. After the new layout was set, I plugged the computer back in, powered it on, heard a pop and got the blue screen of death! After professional intervention and some soul searching, I made the decision to break my ties with the Lenovo. I borrowed a friends laptop to tide me over while I did a ton of research. I visited the Apple Geniuses a few times, downloaded a lot of apps, bought some accessories, and migrated my eLife to the iPad and the cloud. All told, it took me about 2 weeks to make the switch and it’s been smooth sailing since then.

While your specific needs may differ from mine, the equipment list may get you started.
Hardware:
– iPad Pro
– Logitech keyboard case
– iPad Mini
– Apple Pencil
– Apple SD card reader
– LaCie Fuel air drive

In addition to streaming movies, financial, email, news, social media, and travel apps, I find the following useful for photography, creativity, productivity, information security, and communication and all of them can be found in the App Store.
Apps:
– SurfEasy VPN
– OneDrive
– Bamboo Paper
– MS Office for iPad
– iAnnotate
– DropBox
– FaceTime
– Skype
– Photoshop Fix
– Splice video

Of course, I have the power cords and outlet adapters for traveling to other countries but still have a few accecories on my wish list:
– i.am+ BUTTONS Bluetooth Wireless Headphones
– PhotoFast iOS 64GB Video Capture and Storage Kit
– a keyboard case for the iPad Mini

This set-up lets me be productive, mobile, and streamlined and gives me the confidence that if the zombie apocalypse hits, I can pack up in a few seconds and still stay connected! If you’ve been thinking about the move to a tablet-only lifestyle, I hope this gives you some ideas. What do you think? Could you live without a computer? Let me know in the comments!