little red hen needs help

Posted by MadaboutDana
Feb 1, 2014 at 01:00 PM

I’ve just been reading your interesting definition of the ideal ‘inspiration-capturing’ environment. I’ve thought about it, and would suggest that you actually need an iPad, using Launch Center Pro and possibly something like Notebooks (but there are loads of other options, including the astonishing Editorial app).

a) an iPad is ‘instant on’ - perfect for capturing fleeting inspirations
b) Launch Center Pro allows you to create macros for launching more or less anything (an increasing number of iOS apps support what are known as ‘x-url-callbacks’, basically simple scripted actions that can become quite complex). A simple sample macro provided with Launch Center Pro, for example, launches a simple text box into which you can type your inspiration, then save it directly to Dropbox - perfect for those lightning-flash moments
c) Launch Center Pro has literally just become available for the iPad (previously only available for iPhone/iPod)
d) You’ll find a really useful discussion of these things on the MacStories website, run by the amiable Federico Viticci. The main website is at http://www.macstories.net; his detailed discussion of Editorial as a platform for precisely the kind of information management defined in your ‘spec sheet’ is at http://www.macstories.net/stories/editorial-for-ipad-review/ (he’s turned this comprehensive review into an excellent iBook - I have it, and can thoroughly recommend it).

The iPad is, in fact, the tool you’re looking for, provided you have the right apps. He swears by various Markdown-focused editors/information managers. I do, too, but my preferred option (also Markdown-compatible if that’s what you want) would be Notebooks, because its search function is so good, and because it’s got desktop versions. It is a two-pane outliner, but also supports tagging. You might eventually decide on a combination of apps (e.g. Launch Center Pro + Editorial or 1Writer + Notebooks), which would give you huge flexibility in terms of ‘clean’ writing interface vs. sophisticated organisational abilities. So: Notebooks would act as the back-end repository; you’d use other writing apps (e.g. Editorial, but there are dozens of others: 1Writer is one of my favourites) as your authoring environments; you’d use Launch Center Pro to shuttle data between the different environments (it would effectively act as the coordinating engine).

Hope that’s helpful!
Cheers,
Bill