Every day, I spend anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours on public transportation (round trip). A few times a year, that can double when the trains are disrupted by fires, tornadoes, etc.

I usually drag a mess of printed flotsam and detritus — a newspaper or 3 back and forth (NYT, WSJ, FT), as well as printouts of various research PDFs, and articles, blog posts, along with the occasional book or magazine.

It gets to be a messy, I’m sure its wasteful, and in general, its a pain in the arse.

I’m thinking of getting an iPad. I played around with the first gen pads — I could see using it for newspapers, PDFs, ebooks, and other reading. They are heavier than I expected, with no multi-tasking — i.e., reading a PDF AND listeningto music simultaneously.

My inclination is to wait for iPad Gen 2 before shelling out $599. I expect that one will be faster, with more storage and the new Retina displays.

Any insights as to what is coming down the pipeline from Apple (or their competitors)? Am I silly waiting for Gen II. I am guessing they will be out in Q1 2011 . . .