2 the author is not a replacement for accessories like Smart cover, but that could replace the current Smart cover + Keyboard combos You might have used. This is exactly what the author 2 have been made to me.
During the week I threw all my gear in a drawer and only using the iPad 2 in of 2 authors. It works beautifully for when I want to write in a cafe and the iPad even works pretty easily as a device like a netbook for surfing and e-mailing, but I eventually limit themselves to the iPad in this way.
2 the author somewhat clunky to use as well as folio case, because the keyboard is Bluetooth embedded locked in landscape mode (while folios seem better in portrait), and the whole package tends to flop around every time it is not along the way is open or closed.