Are Tablet Computers Right For Writers? | The Writer Underground

Tablet computers like the iPad are clearly The Next Big Thing ? but are they useful tools for writers?

After my daughter appropriated the iPad I?d originally bought for work purposes, I craftily acquired an Android Tablet. I wanted to know what all the noise was about ? and see if tablets would prove useful in my writing life.

So far, my answer is ?not very.?

My 10? Toshiba Thrive tablet (slightly bigger than an iPad, but comes with HDMI and USB ports) is handy for checking emails and surfing, but it hasn?t yet proven useful for presentations, and it definitely hasn?t become a preferred writing tool.

Or even a particularly useful one.

In fact, when I stumble across a post or email demanding a lengthy reply, I?ll usually ?share? it with myself, figuring I?ll deal with it when I?ve got a keyboard.

And therein lies the problem.

For writers, you can?t beat a good keyboard, a reality uber Sci-Fi writer Charlie Stross cops to in this post:

The iPad is primarily targeted as a media consumption device. Yes, I get that. Apple are focusing on speech (via Siri) as a next-generation tool for conversational interaction with iOS devices. I get that, too. But if iOS is going to reach its true potential as the next generation of general computing, then among other things, it needs a vastly better text input system. The current one is so poor that I?m not writing this blog entry using it. That?s a warning sign. It ought to be a no-brainer that the iPad (or an equivalent 10? touchscreen tablet running Android) should be usable by a writer. It has a brilliant battery life by laptop standards, weighs two-thirds as much as Apple?s lightest Macbook Air, and has a range of text editors and word processing apps available. So why am I not using it?

He?s not using it for the same reason I?m not writing this post on my tablet.

It?s painful to do so.

Your Fingers Do The Talking

Writers use keyboards, and the out-of-the-box touchscreen keyboards on iPad and Android tablets are awful.

In fact, the included keyboards don?t even offer cursor keys. And moving by words, sentences or paragraphs isn?t part of the standard text editor.

After you?ve tried to edit out that six-words-ago typo using your finger, you too will curse those who thought cursor keys were optional.

Fortunately, my Android tablet made installing a cursor-equipped touchscreen keyboard relatively easy (I don?t think iPad users are similarly blessed), and that improved things a lot.

It just wasn?t enough.

I even applied the Coffeehouse Test, where I ask myself what I?d take to the local caffeine joint if I needed to write catalog copy.

My Starling (Linux) Netbook

• Reasonable keyboard
• Light and portable
• I can happily write on the thing for hours
• Runs the powerful editors I love (Emacs, Komodo Edit, Sublime Text)
• Productive mutli-tasking environment

My Tablet

• Has a terrible keyboard
• Is hard to read it on a flat surface (like a table)
• Supports only simple editors
• Best at doing one thing at a time

Simply adding a bluetooth keyboard to the tablet might solve some of the issues, but now you?ve got two pieces of gear that serve the same function as one netbook.

It?s not exactly a big win for the tablet.

Stop Talking

Some point to speech-to-text input as the Next Big Thing in writing technology, but frankly, it won?t wash.

First, go to that coffeehouse and try to get some work done.

After you?ve been thrown out, pick yourself off the sidewalk, go home, and use that speecgh tool to enter information into a note while you?re talking on the phone.

Finally, dictating an email isn?t horrible.

But I?ve tried dictating copy, and it?s a mess.

The same is true of handwriting recognition, which is slower than typing by an order of magnitude.

The Silver Lining Is The Cloud

With the ability to replace keyboards, a built-in file browser and other goodies, I?m a lot happier with my Android tablet than I was with the iPad2 (which my three year-old pretty has converted into a dedicated Dora the Explorer device).

And despite my reservations about the thing, I like it ? and recognize the need to occasionally edit or even create a short document on my tablet or smartphone.

Which is why I made all my files available on all my machines using the Ubuntu One file sharing service. (It?s built right into Ubuntu Linux, and apps are available for Android devices; Dropbox serves the same function for those still stuck on Windoze).

Because I write 90% of my work using text editors ? which utilize simple text file formats ? file compatibility isn?t an issue.

Screenwriters using tools like Celtx and FadeIn can use apps to edit their work right on their smartphone or tablet, and while I haven?t played with it, some people are logging into their desktop machines from their tablets.

(Working on the smartphone or tablet is typically more about guilt abatement than raw productivity, but we all make accommodations with our neuroses.)

I?m not condemning tablets; I?m suggesting they?re not much of a productivity booster for writers, at least not compared to a netbook or the new wave of ?ultrabooks.?

They do fill a niche, and writers will eventually come to grips with tablet productivity. Using the cloud, basic text formats and the right apps, I?m finding a way, though not a wildly productive one.

In other words, I?m not selling my netbook.

Keep writing (one whatever tool you choose), Tom Chandler.

Source: http://writerunderground.com/2012/02/02/are-tablet-computers-right-for-writers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-tablet-computers-right-for-writers

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