Seconded. I am not a conference pro, maybe 1-2 per year, so I could be wrong. You will probably get the pen and paper for 'free.' Just a thought or two.

Everyone that needs to justify owning an iPad/organizer can try to use it for keeping notes but it is a major distraction.
Before recording you should ask permission?
Take pictures of the notes if you don't want to deal with the paper.

I also use BackupPC for about 300 desktops and servers. Mostly just desktops. It has made me look good several times over the past seven years. At most sites we back up the entire drive, windows folder and all. The servers get disk-disk-tape with a full tape archive every weekend. Databases and critical files with robocopy. Tape with IBM TL2000 LTO tape libraries. Tapes go off site. Disk-Disk is at least one building away. I could spend an hour explaining the various home and work backups that I have in use right now but don't have the time. So will just toss in my 'me to' for BackupPC.

Not true. The LTO tape will outlast the heads on most drives. Read the IBM whitepaper on the 3580 drives. http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/pdfs/redp3580.pdf

There are lots of reasons to get the iPad. There are more reasons to go with a Droid. But it depends what you want to do and you only listed one requirement.
Personally I have tried it all, being the IT man here I am expected to make recommendations. I also make all the purchasing decisions for 300 users.

If you want to do work get a laptop. The Thinkpad X120e is excellent. If you go to meetings (no real computer type work) and are a consumer, get an iPad. If you need to do work get a Windows7 computer like the X120e. I don't see a fit for a droid tablet yet. I have the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the HTC Evo 4G. The Evo is better, but larger. Also have to carry a spare battery for the Evo. Currently I carry the Galaxy S2. I use the iPad for flying, as in weekend warrior pilot, and at home as a consumer. I use the X120e for work at home and business. I use the Galaxy S2 as a phone and multi media device for music, video, and still camera.

What will be depressing is when you loose all of your stuff. It will happen. I wouldn't want to suggest paying a hosting service for risk of depressing you further. So I will leave everyone else with this story.
Last week someone I know watched the house across the street burn down. According to the story the fire started at 3am with a lightning strike. There was a big hole blown in the roof by the strike. My friend tells me that the couple had time to get out with the dog. They lost everything but their lives.

If they had put up their important files, photos etc on a hosted site they could get back on their feet much more quickly.

In the past I have spent thousands on everything from a full blown Netfinity server with raid5 to a big pile of 3.5" disks. Sure you can get a 1TB USB drive, back up your stuff and put it in the fire safe. But it is expensive in time, hardware, and electricity.

I pay (insert company) $20 bucks a year to host my important stuff, use (a different company) for nightly automated backups, and the rest in on the local hard drive. I am not recommending any particular solution. If you don't have an off site backup that is current you might as well not bother.

Last time I posted and mentioned that Slashdot was going down hill my karma took a hit. So what the hell. Here is the said story.

Since I lost my original TXH1138 account and wasn't allowed to have it back, I guess someone figured out the significance and didn't want to upset George, I have seen things drop to the lowest common denominator. I don't have an axe to grind here and am not holding a grudge. It is a legitimate gripe. The slashdot is so far behind the curve that I would rather spend my effort on Spiceworks and Reddit helping people.

Of course I am old and you should all stay the hell off my lawn etc. If anyone has a replacement for this site please do tell. I will read at -1.

You are correct Dan. Is that SSN-667? Anyhow we spent most of the nineties going from centralized to distributed computing. Mainframe/Cloud downtime can cost thousands per hour. So now some marketing people want us to centralize again. This is nutz! Distributed is the way to go. When the SHTF people can still work and that is what matters.

The primary problem in Maryland is power. There is not enough generation/transmission available. So the big data centers are being built where free cooling and cheap power can be found.

I noticed this morning that the weekend list of scams and break-in attempts on our network was almost NIL. This explains some of that reduction. Thanks Captain Anchor dropper!

For the low price of 19.95 I will let them do anything they want on the Internet.

Seems like the local IT would rise up in opposition. I would not expect the school IT to take much of a political stand for fear of job security. But just on the technical merits alone I could make a case that everything with a moving electron is a potential source of harm to humans.

I think the old style chalk board is very bad for the lungs. Has the dust from cleaning erasers and general use caused lung problems? You know it has.

This would also eliminate a potential source of interference. Less things for IT to go chasing around.

Looks like a hit piece from Slashdotters that are loosing the techies to the Reddies. Slashdot rarely has an interesting discussion about tech and when it does there are many politico non-techs. The poor moderation just makes it less tolerable.
I have been in IT for 30 working years. I want to talk/read tech and maybe have some politics thrown into the mix. I have spent much more time commenting and voting on Reddit in three months than I have the past 14 years on Slashdot.

Probably will involve TPS Cover sheets.