This may be a wee bit off topic, but still may be of interest here:

https://medium.com/@hirodusk/the-ipad-as-a-fast-precise-tool-for-creativity-21384ea18659

This is an article about a theory of making tablets competitive with desktop computers as tools for creative work. Their model adjusts the concepts of how apps should work. For instance, the app this author's team created requires a stylus, rather than treating it as an optional accessory. Also, they expect users to read the manual -- this way they do not have to build a dumbed-down app that can be used by anyone who downloads it.

I found many of the ideas to have merit, and the app they've built is intriguing. But one thing the author doesn't seem to take into account is that most work is done at desks. A tablet is good when you're on a bench or at a coffee shop, but is more awkward at a desk than a traditional computer, unless you prop it up and add a keyboard -- essentially making it into a desktop computer.

I am wondering what others think?

Steve Z.

The application and the experience surrounding its development sound very interesting, Steve - and many thanks for highlighting them.

For those interested in the development of tablets as potential replacements for desk- or laptops, another source is the free MacStories (https://www.macstories.net and its subscription weekly newsletter Club MacStories. Federico Vittici has been using an iPad Pro as his primary computer for well over a year, and in the latest edition of MacStories, he writes about his experiences with the tablet's 2018 edition. In his writings he has covered the compromises and roadblocks involved, as well as the benefits.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I am wondering what others think?

Steve Z.

I do like the iPad Pro for work, but in certain relatively narrow ways.

I like handwriting, and that's the main use I've made of my iPad Pro so far, along with the ability to proof-read and annotate previously written typescripts. I also like the iPad Pro's relatively distraction-free interface. I like its relatively long battery life. And with future editions of iOS and future software developments, the computing power it contains may start to become important for me. I can foresee that more sophisticated applications on the tablet, perhaps like the Dossier prototype described in the article (something a little like the Mac application Curio, I think), may begin to be released.

But I also like quite a lot of screen space, even for writing, and even the 12.9inch iPad Pro doesn't feed that need. Perhaps I'll just have to wait for foldable screens before tablets fully satisfy my computing requirements!

Working on the iPad?
I use mine for reading (Kindle and PDFs) and notetaking. But sorely miss a decent keyboard (and I tested some of them). Handwriting is not for me. And I want a real big screen, better: 2 screens. So: No serious working on the iPad for me.

When you asked, Stephen, immediately Federico Viticci came to my mind. Funny: His working process is discussed in the "Writing Workflows" draft (see the other thread in the forum). Even more funny: In the chapter "Writing on the edge" (whatever that is).

Franz Grieser wrote:

Working on the iPad?
I use mine for reading (Kindle and PDFs) and notetaking. But sorely miss
a decent keyboard (and I tested some of them).

Have you tried a Brydge keyboard, Franz? Expensive, and from reports I've seen (chiefly on Amazon), one or two of those built before Christmas 2017 may not have been entirely reliable, losing functionality in certain of the keys. But now, from my reading, better than the rest.

Hugh, no I haven't tried the Brydge keyboard. I had some Logitech keyboards and a keyboard case (I think made by Incase) that turned the iPad into a laptop. It had a robust plastic case into which you fitted the tablet. The keys looked similar to those on the Brydge.

I just wonder whether the Brydge keyboard for Microsoft Surface would fit to my Surface clone :-)

Perhaps not directly relevant to most frequenters here, but electronic music composer Mark Jenkins has since 2010 produced an entire album with the iPad, and even written a book about it. He has also done live concerts with this setup. This is no minor feat, both for Jenkins and the iPad itself; electronic music production is very demanding on processors, and any glitch would be heard instantly.

So, given the right apps, I would not be surprised that this can be done in other disciplines as well. For my part, I have a 60 Euro Windows 10 tablet, with foldable keyboard and bluetooth mouse, which I take with me when space is too limited for my laptop. I've done a lot of text-based work with it. It's not ideal when I need to be checking reference material, e.g. my notes on Evernote, while writing, but it is great for focused brainstorming texts and the like.

In fact, I believe that when the iPad was first introduced it couldn't multitask, and Steve Jobs argued that this was an actual choice; with so many distraction-free writing apps around these days, this may well have made sense.

Consistency between IOS and MacOS is my biggest complaint. I carry my iPad and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard everywhere. The Otterbox shell I've got for the iPad includes a kickstand arrangement in the lid.

At a restaurant or a roadside park, my iPad is like a laptop, just a little braindead. If I want to pull off to the side of the road and work, a short length of paracord turns the steering wheel into an iPad stand. Never while driving, only while parked, of course. When I write in my pickup, I prefer to be stirred by the power of prose, not shaken by force of impact.

Ulysses is pretty consistent between IOS and MacOS versions, but I would like a bit more power. Scrivener is the obvious answer, but I get bugged by non-orthogonality. The functional difference between main editors, copy holders, and quick reference windows nags at me, as does the odd adoption of styles along with a no-style default "style." My failing. Scrivener is great.

Apple Pages doesn't work well for me, if for no other reason than lack of navigation via header styles. Nisus does everything I want, but styles seem to always get clobbered when I edit a Nisus file (RTF native format) in a lesser RTF editor.

The points the article makes about copy-and-paste are valid, but I find I select text and copy/paste on the iPad via Bluetooth keyboard shortcuts, not with traditional long press options.

I've never written anything longer than a five word forum post on the virtual keyboard.

Life revolves around compromise as surely as flat-earthers revolve around central misconceptions. There are lots of improvements I'd like to make in the iPad phases of my workflow, but I'm not sure how I'll work that out.

In the meantime, I prevail, even if reduced to primary pencil and Big Chief tablet.

There are x things that are most important to me when doing creative work on a digital platform:

1) Instant (or fast as possible) transmission between thought and workstation

You want your inputs to be as close to as fast as your thoughts as possible to aid in creative flow. I think tablets have potential, especially as the concepts mentioned in the article mature, but they are just WAY behind the mouse and keyboard (or mostly keyboard + some mouse and some voice which is my main approach).

2) Ability to have the right information in front of you

This is where screen real estate matters. I need to have different sets of notes / references etc. available so that I can think better. Tablets just don't work for this, but multiple monitors and advanced window manipulation does.

3) Computing Power

I want to be able to run spotify, a browser with many tabs, my notes & writing applications, media applications (like photoshop / premiere), and chat applications like skype without slowing down AT ALL. Only my big-boy rig can do that. I don't see tablets being able to do this for quite a number of years still.

thouqht wrote:

3) Computing Power
I want to be able to run spotify, a browser with many tabs, my notes &
writing applications, media applications (like photoshop / premiere),
and chat applications like skype without slowing down AT ALL. Only my
big-boy rig can do that. I don't see tablets being able to do this for
quite a number of years still.

The top-specced Google Pixel Slate might be getting close to your ideal, minus the Adobe stuff, unless there are some Linux alternatives.

You are getting three OS's in one device (Chrome OS, Android, and Linux apps via Crostini, arguably two of which are desktop OS's), there is a full Chrome browser with all the extensions, there is full mouse support and secondary display support, and if you can find Linux alternatives to your essential software, you are running a desktop computer on a tablet.

TP, Coders' old fave laptop lineage, in tablet format, with detachable keyboard & pen & all ports including thunderbolt missing on most laptops, 3rd Gen Thinkpad X1, the model with 8th Gen i7.