Hey, you could theoretically use your iphone to replace a hammer or a paperweight too...

let's see:

- reading news ? probably yes

- reading mail ? probably yes

- writing mail ? yes, unless it is a longer email

- sysadmin tasks ? no, unless you have absolutely no other option (and it will probably take a lot longer than it would on a normal screen & keyboard)

  (though it seems to work to a poster below here)

- general browsing ? unless a website is made with mobiles in mind probably not, or a limited subset of sites

- software development ? no (at least, I can't see how you'd do that)

Any other tasks ?

I'm pretty sure the post was asking that question, not answering it, the goal being to find out how many people say yes and their reasons why.

Boiling it down to "10 reasons you can use an iphone instead of a laptop" would be stupid. But asking people what their 10 reasons are? I don't think so.

As to the point, I think the trend is interesting. As smart phones become more powerful/ubiquitous, less people will take laptops on short trips. Then more apps become optimized for phones, meaning there's less reason to take a laptop, meaning more phones, meaning more apps. I've found the iphone version of some websites easier to use and navigate than the desktop version.