I should have mentioned that transcoding-type server-client apps like Plex existed. A lot of people like that one, based on XBMC and similar-looking skin on the desktop client at least.

I did find one app that promised simple folder browsing and file playback without anything to install on the network, but I couldn't get it to work when I last tried it. I've also tried a photo browsing/slideshow app that did require a small server-style app be installed on the machine to serve the photos. But I found it a little too junky and it didn't seem to handle the Nikon RAW images it said it would.

So I don't use the iPad for that stuff. It makes a better computer for my daughter, so it lives happily in a soft rubber-foam case and uses it for educational games and some videos I pre-transcode for her.

I've thought about transitioning my wife's email and web use onto the iPad, which would probably account for the majority of her needs, but then I'd also have to install keynote, pages and excel and then there's the inability to do anything with photos that weren't shot on the iPad or brought in from Mac. It's a tough one, almost there but not quite.