I don't want to use one myself, but a friend of mine who writes does and his stuff arrives to me as one long sentence. He's a technical zero and can't be bothered finding out which program to use. I looked it up and iWork seems to fit the bill. Does anyone have experience writing with an Ipad?
I don't use one but a class who do the novel writing module at uni have been given iPads as a way of saving paper (since we print a lot out for workshopping). Some like it and the novelty of getting to temporarily have one but others don't. I don't like touch screens so personally I wouldn't write on an iPad, I'll stick with an actual computer/laptop keyboard and paper.
Well, it doesn't appeal to me, but my friend loves his. I really wanted to point him towards some software that would allow him to compose things properly.
Apple iWorks is the equivalent of MS Office so you'd have that if you can get it on iPad. You can also have MS Office for Macs so I imagine you could get it for iPads too.
I love using my iPad to write. It's light, easier to carry around than the seven or eight notebooks I used to work with, and it has a great battery life. All advertising aside, I use Pages, and it does everything I need it to.
I have had a Mac, I have an iPod, so no Apple-bashing here. But as I type 98 wpm (no joke, people), the thought of writing something on a TOUCH screen that is smaller than my pc screen makes me want to gag. Can you imaginge what kind of frustration would be inherent in a touch screen for WRITING? Sticky things sloshed on the screen, scratches, lighting/glare, not being able to feel which keys you're actually typing. It seems a bit redundant to me, going for something fancier and more "versatile" (though I don't really see how, other than being "lighter"), when pc crashes and internet issues are already enough? Just asking, if anybody knows, what IS the benefit of an iPad? It's smaller, lighter, touch screen, but what does it really do that a computer cannot?
As I understand it, you can only have on iPads what Apple say you can have on iPads -- they're far more closed than Macs -- so it's not a safe assumption that what's on the Mac is also on the iPad. As far as I can tell MS Office is not available on iPads.
IPAD writing isn't exactly my favorite, though I guess it works for certain types of people. I prefer pen and paper to an IPAD any day.
OK, thanks. once he can get it to word it is out there. EH got some bit of rubbish app that turns all the text into one big lump when he emails me and it's drivin me nuts unraveling it every time i get one from him!
I use iPads fairly regularly, and while I don't have any specific problems typing on them I just don't like it. Try touch typing on your desk (Actually tapping where the letters are) and you'll get a sense of what it feels like. As has also been said, the keyboard is smaller. I'd go with iWorks, it's a fairly generic app that should do the trick.
I don't have an iPad but I have an iPhone and an iPod touch. I recently bought a bluetooth keyboard and since then have been using this setup for all my writing. The app I use is doc squared (doc with the little 2 next to it) I like it because I can save in ms word format and save to my dropbox account which I can access from either of my devices or my computer. The BT keyboard I bought is much more portable than my laptop and I can set up wherever I am and start writing whenever I have a spare minute. The only complaint I've heard from iPad owners is that it doesn't work in landscape on the iPad version but landscape works fine on my phone so I don't know. I should also mention that the app is a bit pricey. About $7 if I remember right. Anyway, that's the setup that works for me.
Im somewhat old-fashioned. I like the good old pen and paper. I'll stretch as far as Microsoft Office... but both ways is fine to me. When i get really bored i'll write a story or whatever onto my Blackberry. But that's very rare when i do that.
Is it possible your friend just needs to find the "Enter" key? I agree that touch screens are not very good for typing. An ordinary laptop is better for that (and the cheapest netbook you can find is good enough). Tablet computers like the iPad are very comfortable for reading, though - you can hold it at the distance and angle you like, whether you're on the bus, in the bed or in your favourite chair.
