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The introduction of the new Apple iPad Air is a good reason to take a look at how important these devices have become in our daily lives.

Apple iPads have become the most used travel accessory next to cell phones. They are something between a laptop, a personal digital assistant, an entertainment center/reading library, gaming center and friend. Apps on this tablet can serve a number of purposes that range from purely entertaining and engaging to educational, practical and just plain convenient. Here are five apps that I can’t live without:

1. Evernote
During a fast-paced day, it is easy to forget to run an errand, order a birthday gift or get to the bank before it closes. Evernote allows users to not only set daily reminders to make their lives more convenient, but to keep a record of nearly everything worth remembering. This can include remembering things you like, such as the name of a new restaurant you recently visited to favorite web pages, research portals or songs. It’s also a practical way to keep itineraries, manage travel bookings and share notes, videos or audio recordings with friends and colleagues.

2. Dropbox
Dropbox is essentially a storage folder for all of your favorite videos, photos, documents and media that you want to access anytime, anywhere. It can be a great tool for both work and personal documents, and allow you to keep your most important files organized. The Dropbox also has a specific business category, comes in a variety of languages and allows you to share files easily with others.

3. Dragon
Dragon Dictation is a must-have for any person facing information-overload. The app uses innovative speech recognition software to translate spoken words into text, allowing you to keep detailed records without the laborious task of typing or writing notes. The app allows you to send emails, keep to-do lists, makes notes to yourself or maintain status updates on projects.

4. Kindle
I have not bought a paper book since I started using an iPod and I will never buy a book again.  Books take up space, require a pen to write in the small margins and they are usually too heavy to carry around.  My entire library is now available on my iPad.  I can enjoy reading several books at the same time and not think about having to carry them with me.  My margin notes and highlights are digital so forget about remembering to carry a pen.  Kindle also stores PDF files so those legal briefs and documents can be scanned and carried around so I have them when I need them.

5. Zinio
Rather than purchasing several magazines from a newsstand, Zinio is a comprehensive database of nearly every magazine in existence.  I subscribe to PC Magazine, Shutterbug, American Photo, Sound & Vision and Stereophile and I have them with me at all times.  Instead of cutting out the articles I want to save, Zinio allows me to bookmark them and find them easily from my home page.