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"The iPad as a fast, precise tool for creativity"
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Posted by Franz Grieser
Dec 7, 2018 at 05:26 PM
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 :-)
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Dec 7, 2018 at 05:43 PM
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.
Posted by Amontillado
Dec 7, 2018 at 05:46 PM
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.
Posted by thouqht
Dec 7, 2018 at 05:48 PM
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.
Posted by Dr Andus
Dec 7, 2018 at 10:38 PM
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.