The main thing you need to know about my iPad right now is that I'm not sure where it is.

It's definitely at home, because I've stopped bringing it to work most days. I think it's next to the bed, because that's where I've been using it the most lately, to read for a couple of minutes until I get sleepy.

But I'm not positive. Because I haven't been using it that much.

The truth is, my iPad -- once the star gadget in my life -- now mostly fills in off the bench.

I used to make time just to use the iPad, because it was so fun and so new. I don't really do that anymore.

The novelty has worn off. Baseball has been in the offseason, so I haven't been streaming Cubs games to the iPad at my desk every day. And, you see, there's a new toy in my life -- a MacBook Air -- that I've been getting a lot more utility out of.

I still think the tablet is the future of the personal computer, especially for non-technical, mainstream users. (The iPad has certainly been a huge commercial hit already.) And I fully expect the iPad to get better, cheaper, more powerful, more useful, and more popular over time.

But for now, I haven't really been using it much.