Saturday, January 28, 2012

Why I don't use the iPad for serious writing - Charlie's Diary

Why I don't use the iPad for serious writing - Charlie's Diary, article.

Yes. I've been railing against the lack of arrow keys on the iPad's keyboard since the second I realized it didn't have them. What a Steve-Jobs-decision. "We don't need arrow keys, they are old technology, people are supposed to use the touch screen". While nicely repressing the fact that with fingers, placing a cursor precisely in text is a very clumsy task.

I admit that even if all of Charles Stross' attack points were fixed, I would probably still not use the screen keyboard for more than short emails. It just doesn't work for me. (I've seen people type really fast on it, I wonder how they do it.) I need a touch keyboard for real writing, which limits the iPad, obviously.

And since, for my current big writing project (a book about Domai), exceptionally I do need access to emails and web pages to get snippets, a desktop or airbook will probably be a better deal anyway.

2 comments:

TC [Girl] said...

Eolake said...
"...for my current big writing project (a book about Domai)"

Wow! Good for you! :-D

ExpiriencedWriter said...

Using different devices really helps to make your writing process more interesting and various. I working as a freelance writer myself, so when i really feel tired i just go over my laptop or even a phone and do writing. If you are working from home on vip-writers.com or similar writing firm, you know how hard it can be to get over the writers block.