The iPad: a writer's toolbox

It’s arrived at last and it was definitely worth the wait. My decision not to buy one of the excellent ereaders like the Kindle or the Cool-er has proved to be right. My e-Writer has arrived in the form of an iPad.

From a creative writer’s perspective, just being able to read on the go is less than half the task. We want and need to be able to capture our thoughts without lugging a heavy laptop around and waiting for it to boot up!!

Now you could get Netbook I hear you say for half the price – so why is the iPad so special?

For starters for me, it’s an investment not a cost as I will developing interactive and multimedia books for myself and clients – watch this space.

The main answer though lies in the applications, the form factor and the integration with the rest of the writer’s workflow … and the light bulb moments that have been triggered since I’ve been using it.

Application 1: Mind Mapping

When I am brainstorming and capturing requirements with clients, I always Mind Map on paper so that the computer doesn’t get in the way of the process. I’ve tried conventional Tablet PC’s but they just don’t work. Mind Mapping on the iPad is like using paper.

Apps I am using:

• iMindmap – great for true Mind Mapping
• Mind Manager – great for concept mapping (i.e. brain mapping & there is a difference)
• iThoughts – best user interface and exports to both above and is the only iPad native app at the moment of the three

Application 2: Writing (of course)

Being able to use Pages is just amazing and it works well with the on screen keyboard but even better with the external keyboard and dock.

Capturing thoughts as audio too is really useful, especially for the many dyslexic writers I work with so I downloaded Voice Recorder for that & might dabble with audio transcription at some point.

I also downloaded Dictionary.com and iThersaurus.

Application 3: Reading

Apple’s own iBook programme looks like a game changer and I’ve got the Kindle reader too which is not as slick. I also got iAnnotate PDF which does what it says on the tin and allows you to read PDF’s, sync them via iTunes and make notes & highlights on them. At last I can get my teeth into that archive of PDF’s that have been languishing on my laptop.

Application 4: Creativity

The Brushes application is just sublime and let’s you truly create images by hand. The connection between brain, touch and screen is just like using crayons on paper. My new artistic Muse, Cat Bennett will be impressed.

Application 5: Fun & Productivity

My dogs just loved the Cat and Dog piano this morning. And it was great to filter (and dump) emails & check into Tweetdeck on a big screen before starting the day proper.

What’s not so good …

The lack of a file system is something I’ll have to get my head around … it would be so good if a folder system could sync with selected folders on a main Mac. Perhaps someone will do an app for that?

Multi-tasking – surely a prerequisite and probably coming in an OS update.

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These are just initial thoughts less than a day in … am going to use it in anger over the weekend on a couple of chapters of the new book … will report back later