Yes, I can write short passages, under a paragraph or so, with the onscreen keyboard. I can many paragraphs, for hours at a time, with the portable keyboard. I use the iPad extensively for research, which is certainly part of the writing process.
I could probably go a day or two on a business trip using the iPad as my primary computer. I tried going five days with the iPad as my primary computer in April, that was a fiasco. I wrote about it for Computerworld, I can post a link if anyone is interested.
Although after I wrote that Computerworld article, I started wondering if it was a fiasco after all. I ended up using borrowed computers at the destination to my business trip. Was that a failure of the iPad, or a success, given that I got my work done and did not have to bring a laptop with me? The laptops I borrowed were Windows computers, which was a big problem for me as a Mac user – but if I were a Windows user, I might have counted the experiment as success, and next time brought the iPad, as well as my work files and apps on a thumb drive for use when I needed the additional power of a real computer.
I said from the outset that the iPad was for me a serious writing machine, and I have not changed my mind. At the moment, my partner and I use it, at home and on the road, to gather web site links and make notes, sent via SimpleNote or e-mail. This week it saved our bacon, because I put an MBP out of work with a spill.
Of the writing apps I’ve used and reviewed so far, the most useful is My Writing Nook, but I plan to shift to PlainText when it’s available. When we get Scrivener 2.0 with its hooks to SimpleNote and PlainText, I expect to use the iPad constantly as a note-writing machine.
But in any of these scenarios, I cannot use the virtual keyboard. Instead I use the wireless keyboard. And I’m about to buy a case from Incase that packs the iPad and keyboard safely in one padded bundle. It’s called the Travel Case Plus for iPad: goincase.com/products/detail/cl57513
In answer to the first question: absolutely! It fulfills an entirely different role than a laptop though. Something more like when I used to carry a Palm Pilot around, but quite a bit more useful. Don’t get me wrong, I carry around a stack of index cards as well, it isn’t always practical to haul out the iPad (especially on public transportation, unless you like being a mark), but in many cases it’s lovely because I know that whatever I jot down I can more easily transfer back to my computer. Everything that I write down on an index card will need to be manually transcribed later on. This only takes around a half hour at the end of the day, if I have about a dozen cards, which is average—but an iPad sync only takes a few seconds, and from there I can start weeding out those ideas that I had and reformatting them into more fleshed out “first drafts”.
That’s for taking notes. In all reality I would place the iPad somewhat lower on the note-taking scale than its other realms. It’s good at that, but what I really like it for is the form factor. It’s easy to be sitting in a comfortable chair and pulling together some obscure research—making quick annotations—and drawing small flowcharts of systems ideas brewing in my mind—all while sitting around a backyard bonfire with my housemates. I’m also finding the export-a-bit-from-Scrivener workflow to be an exceptional experience. I can identify something that needs work, put it on the iPad, and then have it with me all day. This kind of “presence” is, I’ve found, useful for getting things done. Inspiration needn’t wait for when I’m in the right spot, if I suddenly think of a way to phrase a difficult concept of what have you, I can have it down and then forget about it.
As for the second question: I like the iPad a lot, but I never claimed that it would replace my laptop! I don’t think it needs to, just like it doesn’t need to replace my Kindle either. I like all three of these devices for their own specific strengths, and defer to the others in the case of their weaknesses. The right tool for the job. An iPad on the nightstand to catch those late-night ideas—a laptop to breath life into them in the morning.
Is it necessary no. Is it a great addition to my workflow? Yes!
For me, I just haven’t got past the onscreen keyboard thing. I know others have spoke about how they solve this by using the wireless or dockable keyboard, but for me that defies the point of the iPad and so I use my MacBook instead. However, unlike mwagner I do very little travelling - I work from home, do my coding at home, do most of my writing at home; so it’s not as if I need to haul my MacBook to many places, and when I do it’s not like I’ve got to carry it for hours on end, so with other things in my rucksack I’ve never seen it as much of a burden. Those doing lots of travelling will of course differ, and certainly the iPad is more convenient for taking on short trips. But also, when it comes to making notes about ideas, I work much better on paper anyway - even with my appalling handwriting making transcription hell, I find it much easier to get initial ideas down on paper than I do by staring at a screen. The iPad’s form factor means that I do wish I could replace this part of my process with it to a degree, as I imagine myself being able to make such notes on it… but as I say, I can’t get along with the onscreen keyboard and as soon as it’s perched in its dock, I’d rather use paper for those initial notes. On the other hand, I am planning to take only my iPad with me when I go on a ten day holiday in August - but I won’t be taking it as a laptop replacement. Rather, as it’s a family holiday, I don’t want to take my laptop because I won’t be able to resist doing a bit of coding. So instead I’m hoping I’ll get a little bit more au fait with the onscreen keyboard and be able to transcribe some notes rather than having to bring them all back and do them all in one go on my main machine. But of course, I have 2.0, which syncs nicely.
I still wouldn’t call the iPad a “serious writing machine” exactly, as Druid does. I would say it’s a machine you can do serious writing on it if it’s plugged into an external keyboard, but it won’t replace a laptop or desktop - but then, it was never intended to. When I have both machines available, I reach for the MacBook every time, with the exception perhaps of reading some longer web pages.
I have a slightly different take, perhaps in between. I’m starting to think of it more as an input/journaling tool than a writing/editing tool. Given the proviso below…
…I find the iPad a nice, lightweight tool to bang out a few hundred words of ideas, or conversations overheard, to grab facts, or nouns, and the like that would have gone into the old Moleskin.
I am finding that I can do more with the device than I can with WriteRoom on the iPhone (which is my 3x5 card alternative) but I would never think of using it for the kind of writing where I’m working on delicate tone and mood nuances, or all that fancy writer stuff; things that call for heavy editing - for that, the power and functionality of a ‘real computer’ with its ‘real applications’ seems necessary, at least for me to get what I need.
That said, the value of having a just-a-bit-more-than-an-index card, but not as much as Scrivener, in a lightweight package, that I can also use to web access facts and such, is really cool. The device really seems to fit into its own niche, neither replacing or over lapping with a laptop or a desktop machine. For me it’s fitting into that journaling, but not writing space, which is something I often do when I’m not at home.
(Looks like WriteRoom for the i-platform will be replaced, not augmented, by PlainText, as per the latest post on the Hog Bay blog, which is great for my work flow - journal centric when on the go as it is)
I’m not sure what the new features are. The iDisk app lets me save any files on the iPad to MobileMe. And the web portal to MobileMe lets me share files, just as Pages will share via iWork.com. I don’t see any form of effortless synching. Am I missing something? Please enlighten…
As to the note-taking abilities of the iPad - is it really that much better than an iPhone? When iIm reading on the go and want to take notes or transcribe a paragraph, I just use Simplenote (which with Textexpander is really quite fast) and then it’s in Notational Velocity and ready to be dragged into Scrivener one day. Is the virtual keyboard on the iPad really that much easier to type on? The extra screen real-estate would help compose the note, but also means it would no longer fir in my pocket.
In answer to that, I would say that adding text on an iPhone/iPod is not typing. It is poking at buttons with one or two fingers. With the iPad, you can actually type; two hands, no looking at the buttons, typing. It’s not as ergonomic, fast or efficient as a real keyboard, but there is no comparison to the iPod Touch.
In that case I fear that maybe I simply don’t know how to type, as my typing on the iphone seems to mimic my typing elsewhere. Anyway, it seems like I should check the ipad out if it’s typing abilities are much improved.
I am just now writing a magazine article on an iPad. Why I prefer it to my MacBook?
Certainly not because of its virtual keyboard. But as I have always been a slow writer the keyboard issue is not decisive for me. No, the big, very big advantage of the iPad is its portability. I need to move around when I am writing. It helps my “flow”. I easily get stuck. So I like to get up, move to the living room or the bathroom and continue there. I always write - i.e., a part of me is always thinking about the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next article. Inspiration happens to me anywhere. So I just get out my iPad, which I always carry with me, and continue writing.
I really, really do miss Scrivener though. I use DocsToGo, a sort of mini-Word.
Yes, you raise a good issue. If you do not already touch type, then the iPad keyboard wouldn’t present a significant improvement. It makes it possible to touch type for those that can. If you type with one or two fingers per hand, it might be a little better because you can more easily move around, but it won’t be a dramatic improvement.
That really wouldn’t help you out, for that at least. Scrivener has a LaTeX exporter, but no importer. In fact, Scrivener isn’t even aware of LaTeX at all. But the time it gets to that stage of the exporter, Scrivener isn’t doing anything beyond directing the file management flow and script execution.
Papers for iPad has just been announced. It’s a hefty $14.99 but promises to be an excellent way to maintain your PDF files, annotate them, and synch the collection with your desktop library.
As a user of iAnnotate, if you give this one a spin I’d love to hear your thoughts on a comparison between the two. I like iAnnotate quite a bit, but find some aspects of its interface a touch clunky to use in practice.
Just ordered the new Magic Trackpad for $69. Paired with the Wireless Keyboard (same price), that combination “could turn the iPad into an almost fully-functional notebook replacement for many users.”
I also put in a pre-order for the new, small, Wi-Fi only Kindle, available in late August. All of these pieces will fit into a lightweight travel case.
