[Macworld]

Post your comments for Why I'm writing on the iPad here

[isights]

I left the from iPhone and from iPad lines in, just so people know when I'm away from my computer and as a partial explanation as to why at times the message might be a bit short or terse.

[Aenean144]

Nice essay, Jason!

Much of today's world is managing your distractions, not managing your product.

[rombiggs]

I had an iPad 1 and 2. After purchasing the 32 gig LTE iPad mini, I gifted the full-sized iPads to friends. With the full-sized iPads I could type 60 words a minute. I really enjoyed type on the onscreen keyboard. Of course, I had some custom apps for writing: Pages, iA Writer, and Hear Writer. iA Writer and Heart Writer offer specialized keys that really help with typing long, complex documents. I often write blog posts and technical documentation on the iPad. Typing on the iPad's onscreen keyboard required learning to type differently, not resting your fingers on the screen, etc. And with the iPad mini I've again had to adjust to a new way to typing. For normal physical keyboards and full-size iPads you use eight fingers to type. For the iPad mini, eight fingers don't fit, so I've developed a technique of six finger typing. Use the index, middle and ring fingers, don't use your pinkies. This enables me to type approximately 45 words per minute on the iPad mini at present. With the six finger method you need to use your ring fingers to hit the keys that your pinkies would normally hit, but it doesn't seem to be such a big deal in my normal typing. I'm quite happy with the result.

[dicklacara]

You and the iPad nailed it... Focus!

Another interesting experiment would be to see how Siri dictation affects your "writing".

[Atgard]

Hm, maybe Apple could repackage the original iPad -- or even make a cheaper, slower version -- and sell it (at a premium, of course) to those who would like "more time to think about what they're writing," or "more time to savor each web page, enjoying the tantalizing anticipation of each line slowly being rendered." I think Apple's marketing department could have a field day with this one.

I have written several novels, and slowing down my typing has never been on my writing wish-list. Taking time between sentences (or words) to think about how to phrase something? Yes. Going back and editing and re-editing? Yes. But being artificially slowed down while trying to get words to paper during those blessed times when they are coming fast and furious? No.

Why not just type on a real keyboard with one hand if lack of speed is your goal?

But to each his own, I guess.

[iBookinLA]

I like the photo of this very essay in process on the iPad screen. Nice touch!

[artMonster]

So far Jason, your two stories for The Magazine have been my favorites. I too have horrible handwriting, but I have found that the way I write (style) when using paper and pen is different than when I use a keyboard. Sometimes so different that if enough time passes since I last read the thing, I barely recognize that I wrote it, the pen and paper work is much deeper and nuanced. Perhaps I should talk to Oliver Sacks.

[Sawdustman]

I also find a difference in thought when typing on my iPad. For a real thoughtful difference do what I do daily. Find some fine smooth paper and write something daily with a fine fountain pen. That really slows the brain down to think about not only the words but the beauty of the script.

[Petew]

Odd Jason, that you're typing slower on an iPad. I find that I can type much faster on the iPad than on my lap- or desktop, perhaps due to the fact that the keyboard is narrower. Wouldn't mind having a touch keyboard on the laptop or desktop either. YMMV of course.

[Jason Snell]

Atgard, on 07 December 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

I have written several novels, and slowing down my typing has never been on my writing wish-list.

How slow do you type? I type 120 words per minute and have written three novels. I do indeed pause between sentences, and I do edit and re-edit. But I have found that being forced to not type 120wpm made me focus a lot more on the individual word choices and sentence construction, in a way that writing at 120wpm did not.

Atgard, on 07 December 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

But being artificially slowed down while trying to get words to paper during those blessed times when they are coming fast and furious? No.
Why not just type on a real keyboard with one hand if lack of speed is your goal?

Interesting. I definitely felt, when forced to write in longhand, that I was most definitely writing better sentences, using more interesting constructions, and making creative choices that were better because I had more "processor cycles" to consider what I was doing.

As for typing with one hand, well, I'm trained to type with two hands. Typing slower with two hands is not the same as typing with one hand. It's distracting in a way that typing on the iPad is not.

"to each his own" indeed!

[Jason Snell]

Petew, on 07 December 2012 - 02:39 PM, said:

Odd Jason, that you're typing slower on an iPad. I find that I can type much faster on the iPad than on my lap- or desktop, perhaps due to the fact that the keyboard is narrower. Wouldn't mind having a touch keyboard on the laptop or desktop either. YMMV of course.

Keep in mind I type 120wpm on my physical keyboard. On the iPad it's more like 75.

[daveaddey1]

I have a ~100wpm typing speed on a MacBook Air, and pretty much the same speed on an iPad. However, there's a bug in the iPad's keyboard multitouch handling that causes it to drop about 7% of keystrokes when typing fast. This means I have to type more slowly in order for the keystrokes to be registered, rather than it being anything to do with physical vs virtual keyboards. I sent my slow-motion video research and a full write-up to Apple in January (http://daveaddey.com/?p=734). Jason: I'd be interested to know if you've seen the same problem when typing on the iPad's on-screen keyboard.

[jdb8167]

Nope. You can't create on a tablet--only consume. I read it on the the Internet.