Ahem, where do I store my files?

I realized pretty quickly that unlike desktops and netbooks, there is no drive or folder where you can store your files.  You must have noticed that there is no USB port where you can hook up your flash and drag and drop files into your iPad.  Even if you create files on the iPad itself (although not sure which provided app can do that - see more on this later), you would not know where to store/save them.  I found this pretty unnerving and I am having a hard time getting used to it.  As teachers, we like having our files with us in order to edit lecture slides at the last minute or to refresh our minds with lecture notes while riding the metro to campus.  But how do I store my lecture slides and notes on this gadget?

Listen up!  You will need lots of other (paid and free) apps to make this work.  At first, it seems like you are jumping through hoops to get this iPad to work as a computing device and more than just an on-the-couch-web-surfing-toy.  It is possible and worth the effort, however.  I think I have figured out some things along the way and I promise to share the tips with you.  However, it may not be possible to ever get this to work as easy as it would on your home/office computer , which is why I firmly believe that without some major firmware/software upgrades, the iPad will never replace a laptop.  The best you can hope for is to have a substitute tool for teaching with a laptop but you won’t be able to completely ditch your trusted laptop especially not when traveling to conferences.  I hope that further experimentation and others’ feedback can prove me wrong.