6 ms·

I wrote a 160,000 word book this year on an iPad Air with smart keyboard (I find how the pro keyboard doesn't fold all the way back to allow holding the iPad la

I wrote a 160,000 word book this year on an iPad Air with smart keyboard (I find how the pro keyboard doesn't fold all the way back to allow holding the iPad landscape too big of an annoyance to buy one). I think it's a brilliant device, and while limited, does do some things better than the Mac - annotating PDFs and ebooks with the Pencil being one of them. Also nice to hold a document one is working on in landscape so that it looks like it's on paper, yet remains interactive. Yeah I get it's kind of hamstrung and annoyingly clunky in a way that you'd think apple could resolve, but still think as a device it's pretty remarkable, and still got loads of potential for getting better, somehow. I think I'm going to try laying out my next book using Affinity Publisher - I used the Mac version to lay out the last one so hope I can do the same while finding benefits for doing so with my little paddy. One other side benefit is that the iPad somehow seems incongruous - with a laptop out in public you're "working" yet with an iPad you're somehow perceptually not. Plus, iPad coupled with Library Genesis is awesome. Totally awesome. Yeah I'm a terrible libertarian pirate, but it's just incredible. Better than the libraries I've paid a fortune for as part of my education. Heaps better than the annoying tedium of logging in to various publishers and databases and subscriptions via a library website to then use a locked-down epub in a horrible and further locked down DRM e-reader, every one of which I've ever tried is basically an abomination.

madeofpalk 3y ago
Like all things Apple, iPad is great if you only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for. The moment you start to be beyond that slightly it completely falls apart. Contrast it to a more general computer running macOS or Windows, which does a poorer job at what iPad does best, but it has a much longer tail where the complexity ramps up linearly, compared to the hockey stick of iOS.
- gizajob 3y ago
  At the same time though, limited tools can lead to creativity. I know we're in the company of coders with complex workflows, but using and understanding a limited tool well to the point where you can max it out can be better than living with a "long tail" of untapped power and productivity. Strange though, how the iPad is ostensibly a much better device given the touchscreen and keyboard (and now pencil) and yet remains somehow less useful than a MacBook. Might also be an issue of perception that the iPad can't do certain things well, when it almost can. From a user standpoint, having a device that really is like an appliance that never blinks or goes wrong is pretty brilliant. Windows has let me down on that front too many times for too many years, and now the only time I use it I live in a web browser 99.9% of the time (in a university library)...
  - zakki 3y ago
    Creativity also happened in unlimited environments. That’s why there are many more use cases for computer/laptop.
    - Retric 3y ago
      Does it? I find creative solutions very rarely occur when I am actually using a computer rather than sitting back and thinking or going for a walk etc. Computers seem to be awesome tools for refining ideas yet really bad at facilitating their creation.
      - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
        There is no shortage of limitations in real life or on a massively powerful desktop computer. People on desktop are not gods. Nor are they unlimited. I don't know what creative solutions you're talking about but unless we're talking about things making art with limited colors and resolutions which is only necessary because that's what the customer has, there is not much point in limiting oneself artificially unless you are truly stuck otherwise or are doing it for its own sake on some sort of metaphysical quest
        gizajob 3y ago
        In the case of music and recording, often times better and more creative records were made by people having to devise complicated solutions to having technology with huge limitations - a famous example being that Sgt Pepper by the Beatles was made using tape machines that were limited to four tracks. Hence those involved had to think deeply and be inspired to find solutions to “defeat the machine” (in the words of Paul McCartney). Compare this to the state of affairs today where people are virtually “gods” in terms of power - the number of audio tracks, sounds, editing capabilities of someone using Logic is essentially unlimited, and yet music hasn’t responded very much to the technology because now the machine is incredible and powerful to the point where it basically cannot be defeated - almost nobody can even come close to utilising the power and capabilities offered. We haven’t had an explosion of novel forms and a wealth of newness, people just use them to clone what was produced in the past but cheaper and more quickly. The horizon of the canvas of a DAW is really too huge to ever get to the end of, and it’s almost overwhelming for most artists to rise to the challenge of, so they just stick with the limitations and live an easier life. There’s been no great flourishing of 21st century music with the emergence of this power, we’re mostly stuck in forms and genres created in the 20th century. There’s also an analogous situation in hip-hop with the very limited SP-1200 and MPC 60 samplers. They don’t do much but what they do, they do well, so it’s up to producers to work to that and try to transcend it. Having an unlimited workspace in the computer to replicate the same doesn’t lead to better hip hop. So you’re right to invoke metaphysics, because the machines have a kind of ontology, same as the mode of life of the artists using them. It doesn’t have to be a metaphysical quest, but there can be better and more interesting ways of creating on limited tools, particularly if you’ve used them for a long time. Some writers such as Jean Baudrillard stuck with typewriters as a writing tool long after the introduction of the desktop computer (he died in 2007) because he found it was simpler and better, less distracting, more focussed on the word and him. You could invoke the same “omfg you could be pasting in hyperlinks and doing referencing and surfing at the same time you’re just doing it for your own sake!” toward someone like that, but actually it’s not for its own sake, he only needs to think and produce text and it’s the perfect tool for that, the computer is only ever pretending to be a typewriter and comes with a load of noise and headache alongside.
- gcanyon 3y ago
  > only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for Only if you stipulate that it was never designed to handle text editing, multi-object selection, and a number of other fundamental use cases that apparently no one at Apple bothers to do on their iPads — if they did, they’d either 1. Experiment to find better solutions; or 2. Admit that there is no good touch-based solution for this UX scenario.
- tiffanyh 3y ago
  > ”Like all things Apple, iPad is great if you only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for.” That’s actually the definition of a product. To create something for specific use cases. That’s not an Apple problem/issue. Sure, I could use my Toyota Camry (iPad) to haul lumber - but it’d make more sense to use a truck (MacBook) that was designed for those use cases.
  - legends2k 3y ago
    Totally respect this viewpoint. I think the parent comment is about the shame of having a powerful device that could be programmed but is locked down only because the manufacturer thought so: an iPad can do a lot more but isn't allowed to just for it to appear as an appliance. In your analogy, it's like a truck is clothed as a Camry but it really needn't be. I guess it's the difference between a geek's and generalist's viewpoints.
    - guidoism 3y ago
      Hmm, maybe…? I think there’s a difference in people who are thinking the power and abilities and differences come from the hardware and those who think it’s the software. Now clearly the hardware is different too. But I think the whole “appliance” thing is software. Maybe refining the argument to: It’s a Camry with the same horsepower as the truck? Funny thing I was at the hardware store today looking at modern trucks and was laughing to myself that they seem so much more car-like than when Steve Jobs made that comment. They have pretty interiors with cup holders and infotainment centers. And cars these days have horsepower approaching trucks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
      - djfdat 3y ago
        It's like having a truck that can haul lumber, and anything smaller, but is restricted to specifally only hauling groceries.
        tiffanyh 3y ago
        Food for thought … Why are people trying to use a tool it wasn’t designed for? Eg the iPad does not have a built in keyboard. Why are people trying to use it to write long form essays/books when it’s designed default keyboard is on display - and then they get upset at Apple.
- tmpX7dMeXU 3y ago
  > Like all things Apple … > … computer running macOS …
- megablast 3y ago
  Limited case?? Come on. Slightly harder does not equal fall part.
- aeontech 3y ago
  looks at beardyman's insane live music setup running a mix of open source and commercial software on a six iPad matrix deck I would argue that some form factors are better for some use cases, others for other use cases, and we are still figuring out how to best take advantage of each particular form factor. Despite how popular it seems to be, I think framing it as "it's bad for certain use cases because Apple is evil" is a bit reductionist, and sort of gives up on the power we do have to mold tools to our needs.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - squeaky-clean 3y ago
    Beardyman still uses a laptop running Ableton as the central hub for his rig. It's 5 ipads and a laptop. The iPads are all just controllers. You can see it in this short explanation video at the very start. And when he goes into the explanation, the very first thing he says is that the iPads control Ableton. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yp5ICEWmtuQ https://youtube.com/watch?v=yp5ICEWmtuQ
    - aeontech 3y ago
      You're right, five iPads, drum pad(?) and laptop - I just remembered the two-by-six grid off the top of my head. Thanks for clarifying!
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Unlike most everything else Apple, the degree to which iPads seem to dominate the tablet market is interesting. In general tablets never really caught on, but to the extent that people want tablets, they apparently actually want exactly the use case Apple envisioned.
- nortonham 3y ago
  what else do you want to do with your tablet?
novok 3y ago
If apple did a proper convertible laptop format, which is a hinge and touchscreen away, how many pros would care about the iPad? It would be lighter than the iPad and keyboard combo too.
trinsic2 3y ago
Same here, that was in 2018 and I was using the Editorial app. Great app for its time BTW. Although, once I got to the publishing part, I found it lacking and switched to my Windows(At the time) now I use PopOS. But that was before Obsidian. I discovered Obsidian on Hackernews BTW. Thanks guys. Obsidian was exactly what I needed as a drop it replacement for the power of the Editorial App on MacOS.
throw0101c 3y ago
> I think I'm going to try laying out my next book using Affinity Publisher - I used the Mac version to lay out the last one so hope I can do the same while finding benefits for doing so with my little paddy. Side note: I wonder if Adobe ever regrets discontinuing Framemaker for Mac given the resurgence of Apple in the intervening years. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_FrameMaker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_FrameMaker
- gizajob 3y ago
  Adobe doesn’t seem to regret very much.
crazygringo 3y ago
Exactly. The iPad isn't for multimedia production like podcasting or for connecting niche peripherals to. But if you just want to write and e-mail and Zoom and read(+annotate) and watch, it's fantastic. I just use a Bluetooth (Magic) keyboard with mine for writing in coffee shops and it's great. And the Pencil is a godsend for highlighting and annotating PDF's.
38 3y ago
> with my little paddy gross.
- gizajob 3y ago
  Really just an in joke to myself because I have a friend who calls his paddy. I’ve also got a laptop called ‘urgh’ and a MacBook Pro 13 from about 2016 - the first one with the Touch Bar/strip (given as a freebie) that is called ‘shite’ because its still the worst Mac I’ve ever owned. It’s clunky, riddled with latency, and unresponsive to quite an extreme degree, and I think it’s because of some kind of hardware deficiency with the touch strip being introduced. I’d work on Paddy over Shite any day of the week.
devnullbrain 3y ago
I haven't used an iPad keyboard but 160,000 words is about 159,000 more than I could stomach writing on a Macbook keyboard - which is the best laptop keyboard I've tried. Perhaps I'm spoiled.
- messe 3y ago
  I've liked the recent XPS 13 Plus keyboards. I'd put them at least on par with recent Macbooks. Decent travel depth, but still limited as it's an Ultrabook.
- gizajob 3y ago
  I really don’t see much wrong with it. It’s fabric-y and squidgy and kind of only alright, but at the same time, it works fine and my typing speed on it is about the same as anything else. Don’t forget that people coded whole programmes on the Sinclair ZX80 and rubber-membrane-keyed ZX Spectrum, which were both abominable, nightmare fuel in fact to those desirous of Cherry keycaps and clicky tactility. The Smart Keyboard is a functional middle ground. I also wrote the book in Google Docs, and pecked out some of it on my Android smartphone if inspiration struck. The fact that changes instantly sync so seamlessly and unthinkingly between platforms and devices I think is also really brilliant. It’s easy to forget in our quest for computing perfection that ‘good enough’ really is good enough if inspiration strikes. I wrote huge chunks of the book on transport and in public – literally on aeroplanes, trams, sitting on benches outside the library or by the beach. Creating where for the most part people are just consuming or scrolling content in those environments. The iPad and its day-long battery is amazing for this, and I’m not sure that a laptop would have been the same.
- grumpyprole 3y ago
  I'm spoilt by my Kinesis keyboard, I just can't use any laptop keyboard for a significant amount of work.

madeofpalk 3y ago

Like all things Apple, iPad is great if you only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for. The moment you start to be beyond that slightly it completely falls apart. Contrast it to a more general computer running macOS or Windows, which does a poorer job at what iPad does best, but it has a much longer tail where the complexity ramps up linearly, compared to the hockey stick of iOS.

gizajob 3y ago
At the same time though, limited tools can lead to creativity. I know we're in the company of coders with complex workflows, but using and understanding a limited tool well to the point where you can max it out can be better than living with a "long tail" of untapped power and productivity. Strange though, how the iPad is ostensibly a much better device given the touchscreen and keyboard (and now pencil) and yet remains somehow less useful than a MacBook. Might also be an issue of perception that the iPad can't do certain things well, when it almost can. From a user standpoint, having a device that really is like an appliance that never blinks or goes wrong is pretty brilliant. Windows has let me down on that front too many times for too many years, and now the only time I use it I live in a web browser 99.9% of the time (in a university library)...
- zakki 3y ago
  Creativity also happened in unlimited environments. That’s why there are many more use cases for computer/laptop.
  - Retric 3y ago
    Does it? I find creative solutions very rarely occur when I am actually using a computer rather than sitting back and thinking or going for a walk etc. Computers seem to be awesome tools for refining ideas yet really bad at facilitating their creation.
    - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
      There is no shortage of limitations in real life or on a massively powerful desktop computer. People on desktop are not gods. Nor are they unlimited. I don't know what creative solutions you're talking about but unless we're talking about things making art with limited colors and resolutions which is only necessary because that's what the customer has, there is not much point in limiting oneself artificially unless you are truly stuck otherwise or are doing it for its own sake on some sort of metaphysical quest
      - gizajob 3y ago
        In the case of music and recording, often times better and more creative records were made by people having to devise complicated solutions to having technology with huge limitations - a famous example being that Sgt Pepper by the Beatles was made using tape machines that were limited to four tracks. Hence those involved had to think deeply and be inspired to find solutions to “defeat the machine” (in the words of Paul McCartney). Compare this to the state of affairs today where people are virtually “gods” in terms of power - the number of audio tracks, sounds, editing capabilities of someone using Logic is essentially unlimited, and yet music hasn’t responded very much to the technology because now the machine is incredible and powerful to the point where it basically cannot be defeated - almost nobody can even come close to utilising the power and capabilities offered. We haven’t had an explosion of novel forms and a wealth of newness, people just use them to clone what was produced in the past but cheaper and more quickly. The horizon of the canvas of a DAW is really too huge to ever get to the end of, and it’s almost overwhelming for most artists to rise to the challenge of, so they just stick with the limitations and live an easier life. There’s been no great flourishing of 21st century music with the emergence of this power, we’re mostly stuck in forms and genres created in the 20th century. There’s also an analogous situation in hip-hop with the very limited SP-1200 and MPC 60 samplers. They don’t do much but what they do, they do well, so it’s up to producers to work to that and try to transcend it. Having an unlimited workspace in the computer to replicate the same doesn’t lead to better hip hop. So you’re right to invoke metaphysics, because the machines have a kind of ontology, same as the mode of life of the artists using them. It doesn’t have to be a metaphysical quest, but there can be better and more interesting ways of creating on limited tools, particularly if you’ve used them for a long time. Some writers such as Jean Baudrillard stuck with typewriters as a writing tool long after the introduction of the desktop computer (he died in 2007) because he found it was simpler and better, less distracting, more focussed on the word and him. You could invoke the same “omfg you could be pasting in hyperlinks and doing referencing and surfing at the same time you’re just doing it for your own sake!” toward someone like that, but actually it’s not for its own sake, he only needs to think and produce text and it’s the perfect tool for that, the computer is only ever pretending to be a typewriter and comes with a load of noise and headache alongside.
gcanyon 3y ago
> only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for Only if you stipulate that it was never designed to handle text editing, multi-object selection, and a number of other fundamental use cases that apparently no one at Apple bothers to do on their iPads — if they did, they’d either 1. Experiment to find better solutions; or 2. Admit that there is no good touch-based solution for this UX scenario.
tiffanyh 3y ago
> ”Like all things Apple, iPad is great if you only use it for the exact, limited use cases it was designed for.” That’s actually the definition of a product. To create something for specific use cases. That’s not an Apple problem/issue. Sure, I could use my Toyota Camry (iPad) to haul lumber - but it’d make more sense to use a truck (MacBook) that was designed for those use cases.
- legends2k 3y ago
  Totally respect this viewpoint. I think the parent comment is about the shame of having a powerful device that could be programmed but is locked down only because the manufacturer thought so: an iPad can do a lot more but isn't allowed to just for it to appear as an appliance. In your analogy, it's like a truck is clothed as a Camry but it really needn't be. I guess it's the difference between a geek's and generalist's viewpoints.
  - guidoism 3y ago
    Hmm, maybe…? I think there’s a difference in people who are thinking the power and abilities and differences come from the hardware and those who think it’s the software. Now clearly the hardware is different too. But I think the whole “appliance” thing is software. Maybe refining the argument to: It’s a Camry with the same horsepower as the truck? Funny thing I was at the hardware store today looking at modern trucks and was laughing to myself that they seem so much more car-like than when Steve Jobs made that comment. They have pretty interiors with cup holders and infotainment centers. And cars these days have horsepower approaching trucks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    - djfdat 3y ago
      It's like having a truck that can haul lumber, and anything smaller, but is restricted to specifally only hauling groceries.
      - tiffanyh 3y ago
        Food for thought … Why are people trying to use a tool it wasn’t designed for? Eg the iPad does not have a built in keyboard. Why are people trying to use it to write long form essays/books when it’s designed default keyboard is on display - and then they get upset at Apple.
tmpX7dMeXU 3y ago
> Like all things Apple … > … computer running macOS …
megablast 3y ago
Limited case?? Come on. Slightly harder does not equal fall part.
aeontech 3y ago
looks at beardyman's insane live music setup running a mix of open source and commercial software on a six iPad matrix deck I would argue that some form factors are better for some use cases, others for other use cases, and we are still figuring out how to best take advantage of each particular form factor. Despite how popular it seems to be, I think framing it as "it's bad for certain use cases because Apple is evil" is a bit reductionist, and sort of gives up on the power we do have to mold tools to our needs.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- squeaky-clean 3y ago
  Beardyman still uses a laptop running Ableton as the central hub for his rig. It's 5 ipads and a laptop. The iPads are all just controllers. You can see it in this short explanation video at the very start. And when he goes into the explanation, the very first thing he says is that the iPads control Ableton. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yp5ICEWmtuQ https://youtube.com/watch?v=yp5ICEWmtuQ
  - aeontech 3y ago
    You're right, five iPads, drum pad(?) and laptop - I just remembered the two-by-six grid off the top of my head. Thanks for clarifying!
bee_rider 3y ago
Unlike most everything else Apple, the degree to which iPads seem to dominate the tablet market is interesting. In general tablets never really caught on, but to the extent that people want tablets, they apparently actually want exactly the use case Apple envisioned.
nortonham 3y ago
what else do you want to do with your tablet?

novok 3y ago

If apple did a proper convertible laptop format, which is a hinge and touchscreen away, how many pros would care about the iPad? It would be lighter than the iPad and keyboard combo too.

trinsic2 3y ago

Same here, that was in 2018 and I was using the Editorial app. Great app for its time BTW. Although, once I got to the publishing part, I found it lacking and switched to my Windows(At the time) now I use PopOS. But that was before Obsidian. I discovered Obsidian on Hackernews BTW. Thanks guys. Obsidian was exactly what I needed as a drop it replacement for the power of the Editorial App on MacOS.

throw0101c 3y ago

> I think I'm going to try laying out my next book using Affinity Publisher - I used the Mac version to lay out the last one so hope I can do the same while finding benefits for doing so with my little paddy. Side note: I wonder if Adobe ever regrets discontinuing Framemaker for Mac given the resurgence of Apple in the intervening years. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_FrameMaker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_FrameMaker

gizajob 3y ago
Adobe doesn’t seem to regret very much.

crazygringo 3y ago

Exactly. The iPad isn't for multimedia production like podcasting or for connecting niche peripherals to. But if you just want to write and e-mail and Zoom and read(+annotate) and watch, it's fantastic. I just use a Bluetooth (Magic) keyboard with mine for writing in coffee shops and it's great. And the Pencil is a godsend for highlighting and annotating PDF's.

38 3y ago

> with my little paddy gross.

gizajob 3y ago
Really just an in joke to myself because I have a friend who calls his paddy. I’ve also got a laptop called ‘urgh’ and a MacBook Pro 13 from about 2016 - the first one with the Touch Bar/strip (given as a freebie) that is called ‘shite’ because its still the worst Mac I’ve ever owned. It’s clunky, riddled with latency, and unresponsive to quite an extreme degree, and I think it’s because of some kind of hardware deficiency with the touch strip being introduced. I’d work on Paddy over Shite any day of the week.

devnullbrain 3y ago

I haven't used an iPad keyboard but 160,000 words is about 159,000 more than I could stomach writing on a Macbook keyboard - which is the best laptop keyboard I've tried. Perhaps I'm spoiled.

messe 3y ago
I've liked the recent XPS 13 Plus keyboards. I'd put them at least on par with recent Macbooks. Decent travel depth, but still limited as it's an Ultrabook.
gizajob 3y ago
I really don’t see much wrong with it. It’s fabric-y and squidgy and kind of only alright, but at the same time, it works fine and my typing speed on it is about the same as anything else. Don’t forget that people coded whole programmes on the Sinclair ZX80 and rubber-membrane-keyed ZX Spectrum, which were both abominable, nightmare fuel in fact to those desirous of Cherry keycaps and clicky tactility. The Smart Keyboard is a functional middle ground. I also wrote the book in Google Docs, and pecked out some of it on my Android smartphone if inspiration struck. The fact that changes instantly sync so seamlessly and unthinkingly between platforms and devices I think is also really brilliant. It’s easy to forget in our quest for computing perfection that ‘good enough’ really is good enough if inspiration strikes. I wrote huge chunks of the book on transport and in public – literally on aeroplanes, trams, sitting on benches outside the library or by the beach. Creating where for the most part people are just consuming or scrolling content in those environments. The iPad and its day-long battery is amazing for this, and I’m not sure that a laptop would have been the same.
grumpyprole 3y ago
I'm spoilt by my Kinesis keyboard, I just can't use any laptop keyboard for a significant amount of work.