iPad Writing, Pt. 1
So I decided today was the day to test out the new iPad for some “real” (i.e. Daylight War) writing. I’ve had it a full seven days now, but in all honesty, it had become My Precious after only one. It arrived on Thursday, which gave me just enough time to get it all synced and loaded up for my trip to Balticon. This was manna from Heaven, as I was otherwise planning to lug my ancient, slow, heavy, miserable excuse for a laptop along to the con.
Now I never need to take that shitty laptop anywhere ever again.
Using the iPad has been a pure pleasure. It was quick and uneventful to set up, and easy to intuit its use, even for a lifelong PC like me. The few things that confused me were figured out in just a few minutes, the most complicated of them being the mail on my @www.petervbrett.com account, which wouldn’t send until I spent about 20 minutes fiddling with the settings. If it was a Windows device, that probably would have taken days, and forced me to consult online forums, tech-savvy friends, and eventually wait hours on some corespawned IT call routed from Delhi.
I used the device pretty much nonstop over the weekend, blowing through my allotted 250MB of 3G service ($14.99/mo) in about 36 hours. I switched to the unlimited plan ($30/mo), but I just heard that has been canceled. Feh.
Still, the 3G is impressively fast, and unlike my phone, the iPad really brings the full breadth of the internet to your fingertips, from surfing to blogging to streaming video. Sometimes it seemed faster than my high speed internet at home. I attributed this to being in Maryland where the demands on the 3G service are less than in NYC, but there has been no appreciable slowing since I got back to Brooklyn.
But for all its wonders, the real reason I was willing to spend a small fortune on this device (over $1000, including the wireless keyboard and slim rubberized case) was so that I could write on it. I’ve lately been dissatisfied with my iPaq 910 smartphone (used to write much of The Desert Spear), which requires an increasing number of reboots and maintenance as time goes on. Plus the QWERTY keyboard is just too damn small. Barely 2/3 the size of the keyboard on the iPaq 6515, which is the device I used to write about 60% of The Painted Man. The screen on the 910 is likewise a fucking joke. I would have gotten an iPhone, but after testing other people’s, I decided the tiny virtual keyboard wouldn’t cut it, and the word processing apps were pretty much nonexistent.
I’ve been waiting for a tablet-style device that could hold its own, and after playing with my partner in crime’s iPad for about 10 seconds, I thought it might have finally arrived.
I started the morning by charging the device and importing the necessary word documents into the Pages App. While I waited, I registered to appear at Worldcon in Melbourne, Australia this September. If you’re in Australia, or always wanted to go, you should think about joining me. It will be epic.
Anyway, the early prep showed me the first weakness of the iPad as a writing tool. Unlike the iPaq, which syncs MSOffice files relatively smoothly with my desktop, Pages requires manual import and export of files, which involves conversion of the file and usually results in some fonts/features being lost. This is a pain in the ass. I can just plug in the iPaq and with Windows Mobile it will replace the older file on either the desktop or phone with the most recent one without me having to do anything. With Pages/iTunes, there are like 6 manual steps. I’m sure I will soon be doing them faster than a marine can put together his rifle, but still, this is a BIG negative. Sooner or later, it will result in me going out with the wrong version of the file, or losing some data. I just know it.
Once my prep was done, I went out for a hike in the park to find a quiet place to write. It was a gorgeous sunny day, not too hot at about 80 degrees. I walked about 4 miles before finding a nice shady spot, deliberately away from bikini-clad sun-worshipers who I knew would distract the hell out of me. I sat down and gave my e-mail a quick check, then opened up my active chapter file.
The virtual keyboard on the iPad did take some getting used to, but not as much as I’d feared, and I was soon typing at a fair clip. I wrote for about an hour, working on a Renna/Arlen scene. I knocked out 573 words in that time. Not too bad.
Things I liked:
1) In landscape mode, the virtual keyboard was quite wide and responsive, and typos were at a surprising minimum.
2) The screen is big and beautiful, allowing a MUCH better writing/editing experience than the phone.
3) Spell check.
4) Speedy touch scrolling with the Navigator feature.
5) Feeling like I was using one of those little pads they have on Star Trek: The Next Generation
6) The jealous envy of everyone around me.
Things I didn’t like:
1) In portrait mode, the virtual keyboard is less easy to use. Too wide to type comfortably with just your thumbs, but not wide enough to type with two full hands. I ended up doing an awkward one-handed type while holding the device in the other hand. I will get faster at this with practice, but it’s going to be an uphill climb.
2) The virtual keyboard doesn’t have arrow keys, so the only way to move the cursor around is by taking your hands off the keyboard and touching the screen. I suppose I will get used to this too, but so far I have found it really annoying.
3) The apostrophe is not on the main alphabet keyboard, so you have to shift to the alternate numbers keyboard to use it. This seems pretty dumb to me. The apostrophe isn’t a shift key on a standard keyboard for a reason: it gets used a LOT. Why make it hard on the typist? Every time I have to toggle keyboards, it breaks my stride. It’s one thing to do it for numbers, but not for basic punctuation.
4) Pages doesn’t have a word count feature, so I didn’t know how much I had written until I came home, exported the file to my desktop, opened it in Word, and ran a count. Then I had to import it back to the device. That’s really annoying.
5) Pages doesn’t have a track changes feature (though to be fair neither does Office Mobile).
Potential trouble:
The ease with which the iPad can shift to web-browsing, e-mail, facebook, video, iBooks, and twitter takes away one of the main advantages of writing on the move: the absence of distractions.
Overall, I found writing on the iPad a positive, hopeful experience, FAR more comfortable than typing on the smartphone. The negatives are considerable, but I expect that at least some of them will be addressed in future versions of Pages or some word processing app still in development.
I’ll update further as I continue my experiments. I plan to write outside as much as possible this summer, and the iPad makes it simple to do almost anything I could do from my full desktop wherever I go.
Freedom!
I’ve looked at the iPad, but couldn’t see the point in buying what is essentially a giant iPhone. I’d much prefer a netbook for writing on the go, and I use my iPhone to read ebooks.
Also, I live in Australia but Melbourne is about 6 hours south, lol. So unless your heading up to Sydney or beyond during your trip I’ll have to wait till next time your out here.
You spent more then $1000 for this iPad and still love it? For this money and a little extra you could have bought one of this pretty 13″ MacBook Pros.. without all the limitations of the iPad (no Flash (while Flash on MacOSX is a pain in the ass but most important: it simply works), no video besides Youtube (I guess it’s using the app as the iPhone), all this “app” stuff) with a real and really, really awesome keyboard, an awesome “real” not limited OS. And it has almost the same size of the iPad I think.
Ironically I am another SydneySider. I saw you were coming to Australia and started to cheer until I reread and realised it said Melbourne. Unless I win some money in the next few months (not likely, as I don’t buy lottery tickets!) I won’t be able to make it 🙁 It is a shame you aren’t going to Supernova, as I already bought tickets for the Sydney weekend. Do you think you will make any appearances in Sydney? If you make it up our way at all, I think you would love Galaxy… Geek heaven LOL
Anyway, iPad… I am extremely impressed that you wrote most of The Desert Spear on a smartphone! That is dedication! I write reviews etc on mine and find it gets a bit clunky. I also have a problem with the touch keyboard. I have been using the iPads since the weekend they came out in the states (we got someone to smuggle one through customs LOL) and we have 6 now. Its been fun playing with them, especially as none of my other geek/nerd friends were. But while I see them as being a fun gadget, I am not to sure if I could use one as a word processor. I was also having troubles with the hidden keys on the touch keyboard. It was like you had to enter secret passwords to use certain keys. I think I would definately have to purchase the keyboard to be comfortable typing up large bodies of text. I just dont see the native keyboard as having ease of use. I’ve finally started to remember where keys are, but its still really counter-productive when I have to press 2-4 keys to type one character I just frequently. The other reason I wont be buying my own personal iPad is because I would want to use it as an eReader, and the screen is so hard to see outside with all the glare, especially it it has lots of smudge marks, as they seem prone to collect. I was really impressed with the web browsing though… Google Earth is a lot of fun as well…. Anyway, I am really impressed that A) you wrote The Desert Spear mostly on a smartphone and B) that you plan to write the next one on an iPad… Good luck, and I hope you aren’t hypnotised by all the distractions of iPads in the park too frequently LOL
It’s good to see what you think of the iPad, I have to admit. Having only been released in the UK a few days back, no-one I know has one yet, and I’ve been dying to find out what they’re like!
I’ve been contemplating a tablet PC for a while now, and ‘though the iPad looks all shiny, I was unsure whether it was the one for me, heh.
Hope it continues to get better!
Don’t know if you follow author Charlie Stross, but he has a longish review of the ipad, including references to software that he believes will help the writing process (avoid data loss, etc). Might be worth your while to check out his post.
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/05/gadget-patrol-ipad.html
Seems like you had fun. And I’m definitly one of the jealous persons 😉
To your 3) of the things you don’t like. On german keyboard the apostrophe is also not on the main alphabet. Okay, we don’t need it as often as english talking people, but it’s just a matter of time before you get used to it. When I was in england, I needed just two or three days, before I used the different keyboard, without problems. 🙂
Favorite part of this entire post…. when you called the IT call routed from Delhi Corespawned!!!
I can imagine loving the iPad… I’ve had a iPod touch for over a year now and I never leave home without it.
Daniel — I still might make it our to Sydney. Not sure. Still planning the last leg of my trip. If not this time, I will definitely get there eventually.
CMI — the beauty of the iPad over even a macbook is that one touch of a button and it is instantly ready to go. No opening, booting, or other delays. I can play video from iTunes, of which I have plenty, and I don’t really miss flash, which seems to be used more for ads than anything useful.
Obsidian — The lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math. I do have the full-sized wireless keyboard, which bluetooths to the iPad easily, but I don’t want to have to carry that around everywhere. All of these portable devices require commitment if you want to be able to write at speed on them, so I am forcing myself to adapt to the virtual keyboard and not taking any shortcuts. hopefully I will hit my stride soon.
I haven’t tried it as an eReader outside, but it was fine yesterday for writing, I just needed to find a shady spot. I keep a microfiber cloth stuck in the case to clean the smudges off. I polish it more often than a soldier does his boots in basic training.
Elicius — If you have the means, I HIGHLY recommend it.
Jon — Thanks for pointing out the Stross article. I read his blog only rarely, and missed that one. He is obviously more tech savvy than I am, so it’s interesting we had similar problems.
Iris — John Smedly (President of Sony Online Entertainment!!) actually read this post and e-mailed me to tell me that if you hold down the comma key an extra second, it turns into an apostrophe. Handy to know!
Jessica — My mom gives me a talking-to every time I use the F word on my blog, so I try to get creative with my cussing. 🙂
Don’t password protect the MacBook – open it. Done 😉
Well I guess you know what you like and what you don’t. I have an iPhone and I would never ever get an iPad for “working” (which wouldn’t actually work anyway, being a developer myself) or even surfing. Having the ability to do (almost) anything I want with the MB while having almost the same comfort is it worth to me. But it’s a matter of taste. You like it this way, so be it 🙂
Thanks for the hint with the apostrophe, didn’t know this. Guess this will work on iPhone too. 🙂 (On a side note: talk about intuitive and iPhone. What’s intuitive in pressing a, o, u and stuff for a moment to access to umlauts? (I’m from Germany, so I use them alot) I actually had to ask a friend how to access the umlauts, because I couldn’t figure it out. Intuitive… *facepalm* )
(A short explanation for “Don’t password protect the MacBook – open it. Done” – just closing the case will send the notebook to hibernate by default. Open the case will wake it up. Don’t know when I saw the (“real”) login screen the last time ;))
cmi — Thankfully, we heathen Americans have dispensed with accent marks in our text the same way we kicked the extraneous “u” Brits put in “color” to the curb. No patience, we.
As a developer, I can understand you wanting a more robust computer, but as a writer, I don’t really require that. With the iPad I can blog, twitter, facebook, and write. What more do I need, really? Once the writing/syncing software improves, I’ll be set.
How long does it take your macbook to wake up from hibernation? The iPad takes like 1/10 of a second.
I enjoyed to read about the iPad, but what got me excited was what you were writing on it: a Renna/Arlen scene! I am about to finish TDS this weekend and after that I will be craving the next book. So I really hope the writing on iPad works out for you.
Judith — As it currently stands, at least the first 4 chapters of The Daylight War (not counting the prologue) are all Renna & Arlen kicking ass and being awesome.
About the “wakeup”: Not long. Seriously. Open case, wait maybe 1 or 2 seconds (it’s really fast, so this is not an exaggeration), enter password (I guess you can disable this somewhere), done (no waiting time after this).
Do you have to “unlock” the iPad after waking it up somehow? When I take my iPhone as an example, I press the button and then do the “remove the lock”-gesture. Same for iPad?
Yeah, it’s the same. I think that’s just to keep it from getting activated accidentally and eating up the battery.
Hooray!! I would have eagerly awaited the book anyway but thanks all the same.
I’d like to tell you that I love it that you can’t (at least I can’t) really guess who will end up with whom (if anyone will end up with anyone at all). There are a few constellations I can imagine but none I am sure of. (I’m still reading TDS, had to sleep a lot at the weekend).
“End up” is a relative term, Judith. These are people with a lot of adventures ahead of them.
It is, I agree. Maybe it was just a lack of a better expression or maybe I am so profundly romantic that I hope it to last when the people fall in love. In books at least. I don’t know.
Perhaps it is better put if I say that I like it that your characters don’t have to obey the common formula of male hero and female heroine who will eventually and literally end up with each other. I can ask myself who and even if, not only when and how.
This is not easy in a foreign language …
Oh Peat on this topic: I really really hope you are not such a sadistic “bastard” like Mr. Abercrombie in his First Law Trilogy. In retrospect I could have read a book from M. Houellebecq and it wouldn’t be darker or more hopeless but not spending as much money and “wasting” as much time (2400 pages). :/
Sadist? Moi?
There is always hope in my stories, though sometimes it turns up in unexpected places.
Yeah, as far as I read your books (not sure if my english is good enough to read the second part in your trilogy, so I’ll wait for the german translation in summer :)) I can sign this.
But when I started with First Law there was also some of hope in there. Some more after book 2. Then I worked (literally!) through book 3 and I just got this “I should have known”-feeling when Mr. Abercrombie started his Operation CleanSweep and I just felt bad after this. And I was in the comfortable situation to read the books one by one, without delay. Can’t image how I would feel if I had bought the books when they came out.. I just hope (for myself) you got not inspiration by him 😉
Did you finish the First Law trilogy for yourself? I remember you wrote about the books but were distracted by another book 🙂
cmi – I did finish First Law and really enjoyed it. I know what you mean about the ending, and in some ways I was unsatisfied with it, because I think there were a lot of loose ends left untied, but overall I think it does little to diminish Abercrombie’s towering achievement. He writes characters like you’re right inside their head, and told a story that, while grim and sometimes over the top, is a lot closer to the “real” world than most fantasy ever gets.