"Or, in my case, a YouTube player comfortable enough to use in bed."

In my case Youtube, Netflix, Twitch, as well as web browsing.

And also "everywhere I move about in the house", not only in bed.

I have zero use for it as a "productive" tool, but it's the best media consumption device I ever had, it has replaced my laptop for every use aside from creative/office work and gaming.

It doesn't do everything, but for what it does it's a great device.

I can see the problem for Apple though: if not for a cracked screen, I would have no reason to upgrade my 2+ years old iPad Air 2, since it is still more than good enough for all of the above.

You could just get the screen fixed on your Air 2. They run $180-200 to fix right now (search for a local independent repair shop in your area.)

> Or, in my case, a YouTube player comfortable enough to use in bed

I genuinely don't understand the use of tablets in bed.

I tried for a few weeks to use my iPad, but if I loosen my grip at all, I end up with an iPad smacking me in the face.

I went back to resting my 15" MBP on my chest, screen angled towards my face (of course). Then I can just put my hands behind my head and relax.

Lie on your side and use the hand on the arm that's under your pillow to hold the iPad vertically on the bed. When you doze off, your grip will fail, but then the iPad just falls over on its face, which shouldn't be close enough to hit you in yours unless you're a lot more nearsighted than I am. (It might fall off the bed, though. Not a problem I have because I sleep alone on a queen-size, but I can see how other configurations might cause that issue.)

If you prefer to lie on your back, an articulated arm mounted to the headboard might work; I have one of those, but ended up not actually using it - by the time I'm actually dropping off, I don't want a screen glowing in my face.

The pencil is what will probably push me into buying my first iPad. I've only played with it in the store, but Apple has done something pretty amazing with respect to palm rejection.

I haven't really looked yet, but if there's an art class app that guides you through drawing exercises, I think I would take the leap.

Not an app but I found this awesome: http://drawabox.com/

That looks exactly like what I want. I never really researched it before because the last thing in the world that I need is another thing to dedicate time to.

I swear if I could afford to be retired today, I could keep myself busy for the rest of my life with stuff like this. My Dad retired a couple of years ago and I think he's bored much of the time. It drives me crazy.

Call it a historical irony: those in the generation which can afford to retire have generally built their lives so closely around their work that, without it, they can find nothing to do; meanwhile, those of us who have plenty of ideas for how we'd spend such a vast amount of economically secure free time will mostly never be able to afford it.

When the lotto jackpot reaches around $500 million, I'll spend $5 on tickets (it happens maybe once a year). It's easily worth it for the few days I get to dream about setting up the ultimate workshop or being able to travel to find the greatest teachers.

I'd also buy a nice watch.

We do the same things!

Thanks for the link, this is exactly was I was looking for!