Sunday, June 6, 2010

iPad as a tool for writers.

Having had a few days to play with an iPad, I'm in love. It's the ideal tool for writers. A writer's needs are four: To read books, to write, to be able to access references, and to be able to participate in email forums. The iPad helps him with all of them.

As a reader, the iPad has the huge advantage that you can access almost any book library you want. You have all of Amazon in the Kindle App, all Barnes and Noble in *their* app, Apple's own (so far title-poor) iBookstore, and a variety of other sources via Stanza. People keep saying how e-ink is so much better, more paper-like--IMO this is nonsense. Yes, you can read e-ink in direct sunlight much better, and so what. How often do you read in direct sunlight? Any shadow and the iPad is fine. And for the many low-light situations, it's of course superior to e-ink.

(Incidentally, about choosing which to use: Amazon wins by a mile. Not only do they have the best selection, most reviews, and usually cheapest prices, but the Whispersync technology means you can share your book among all your Amazon devices--your PC, your Kindle should you have one, your iPad, your iPhone, and I'm sure Android support is coming. You don't just have access, but one device remembers where you stopped in the other. My prediction is that Amazon will win the e-book wars, although the Kindle will become obsolete in the next few years).

At first I thought that the size of the iPad would be an issue. After all, it's bigger than a hardcover book. But it's wonderful for reading, and the ability to manipulate the font size, darkness and background to suit the sharpness and tiredness of your eyes is extremely welcome.

Another complaint I heard (for use as a reader) is that it's too heavy compared to other book readers (or most light books). That has an element of truth: You'll never want to read for long while holding the iPad in one hand. However, even without a stand or case, it's extremely easy to read with the iPad for long hours by simply standing it on your leg, lap, bed, table, or finding a steady position to hold it up (i.e. elbows at 90 degrees while lying down). In practice I use my leg about 80% of the time, and it's a very natural and comfortable way to read.

OK, we got reading covered. What about writing? I'm sure other apps exist, but so far I use Apple's Pages. It has sufficient compatibility with Word for writers, the import and export of documents is butt-simple, and it has all the formatting a writer needs. However, the on-screen keyboard, while convenient for quick input, will never be adequate for serious writing. Just buy the $69 super-light Apple Bluetooth keyboard (*NOT* the keyboard with the dock!). You can type up a storm with it, and in any position you choose. For standing up the iPad for extended typing sessions I recommend Griffin's super-tough (and nice-looking) stand, although the Apple case will do in a pinch. In a pinch you can leave it flat and touch-type.

For accessing resources on the Internet, the iPad of course has a Safari browser (don't worry, your reading or writing place is auto-saved), but even better you can save articles easily and quickly with the InstaPaper app, creating a quick references library.

Finally, for Email the iPad has a full-fledged client that supports multiple accounts (and will soon support merging them into a single mailbox should you so wish).

Let me also mention another nice thing: The long battery life. They are not kidding when they say 10 hours, and it's probably significantly longer if just reading. And charging it up is quick. Instant on, of course, no wait to boot, no problems with 'hibernation'.

Should you get iPad, which version should you get? Well, it depends whether you'll have Wi-Fi access from the places where you take the iPad. Different people will use it in different ways. For me, I work at home and at the office, so Wi-Fi is good enough. As for space, even the 16GB version will hold hundreds of books and your own document files. If you frequently watch long movies and videos though, you may want a bigger one (to give you an idea, I have about 10 hours of video and 20 books and my 16GB iPad (about 14GB usable) is less than half full.

I realize this is an expensive device, and not for all. But if you're thinking of getting a laptop as a *second* computer, or springing for an e-Reader, it more than deserves your consideration.

1 comment:

  1. Hi,

    You are looking good old friend--better than back at UCLA. Having left brigde (?????) and returned to writing, did you ever complete "Rise"?

    Congratulations on finding, and falling in love with, a good woman. I am happy for you.

    Dave

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