About 3 months ago I made the decision to sell my 2011 Macbook Pro 13 inch and get a new Macbook Air 11 inch. The reason; it is smaller and more portable and easier to use on my lap.

This week I made a similar decision with my iPad; I got rid of my 3rd Gen iPad in favor of the new iPad Mini. The reason; it is smaller and easier to use while laying in bed.

There is definitely trade-offs to moving to smaller devices as in the scenario above; for the Mac, I lost significant storage capacity. For the iPad, I lost significant resolution on the display. However, both scenario’s are not deal killers by any stretch of the imagination.

A lot of people have asked me how I have adjusted to the Mini and why I would want to take that plunge. The reality is that after using the Mini, it is almost impossible to go back to an iPad. The 10 inch iPad simply feels clunky and huge. Almost like going from a iPhone 1 to an iPhone 5; the weight and feel is night and day.

People are also surprised to find out that the iPad Mini is actually as powerful if not more so than the iPad 3; because it is not pushing as many pixels, the performance feels snappier (Geekbench results prove this). In addition, the Mini has a FaceTime HD camera whereas the iPad 3 has a VGA camera. We do a lot of FaceTime calling now that we have a newborn, so this was a huge plus. Both my wife and I have iPhone 5’s, so moving to the Mini allows us to use the Lightening cable more universally.

Do I wish that the Mini had a retina display? Of course. I also wish that my MacBook Air had a 512GB SSD, but I couldn’t afford it right now. Now in two years when costs drop, a 512GB SSD in the Air is quite possible. I have no doubt in my mind that we will see a retina display on the second generation of the Mini, but for me, the iPad Mini is every bit as powerful as the iPad 3 and more enjoyable.

Apple is leading the charge to make things smaller, thinner, and lighter and I believe most customers are following that trend as well.