Top E-Book is iPad?

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Is this a problem even when viewing the screen in landscape mode?

Yes. It's still narrower in landscape than a keyboard even on a netbook. It's a lost cause to even try typing in portrait as that's super narrow.

Landscape the iPad is 9.56 inches--counting the pretty big bezel around the screen. So the actual screen is probably somewhere around 8-8.25 inches, so that's pretty narrow for a keyboard, especially a virtual one where you have no tactile feedback from real buttons.

Even if it was wide enough, typing would still be slower for most compared to a physical keyboard. It's just easier with real buttons--at least for those of us who've been typing on real keyboards all our lives! Maybe kids will pick up virtual keyboards faster.

So I think a real keyboard will always be necessary for anyone that does a lot of writing wants to maximize their typing speed.

But in any case, unless one has kid sized hands, you can't type in the proper manner on the iPad as it's just too narrow.

Works fine for short e-mails and things of that nature, but I gave up on it for forum posting etc. as it just wastes too much time vs. grabbing the laptop.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Yes. It's still narrower in landscape than a keyboard even on a netbook. It's a lost cause to even try typing in portrait as that's super narrow.

Landscape the iPad is 9.56 inches--counting the pretty big bezel around the screen. So the actual screen is probably somewhere around 8-8.25 inches, so that's pretty narrow for a keyboard, especially a virtual one where you have no tactile feedback from real buttons.

Even if it was wide enough, typing would still be slower for most compared to a physical keyboard. It's just easier with real buttons--at least for those of us who've been typing on real keyboards all our lives! Maybe kids will pick up virtual keyboards faster.

So I think a real keyboard will always be necessary for anyone that does a lot of writing wants to maximize their typing speed.

But in any case, unless one has kid sized hands, you can't type in the proper manner on the iPad as it's just too narrow.

Works fine for short e-mails and things of that nature, but I gave up on it for forum posting etc. as it just wastes too much time vs. grabbing the laptop.

Thanks for that. The one I typed on in the local Apple store seemed at least to be better than the Kindle keyboard or the Sony Touch virtual keyboard, but that isn't saying much. The e-ink keyboards, both touchscreen and virtual, are fine for taking notes, but aren't exactly ideal for long-term typing sessions. I was hoping that the iPad would be better, and I suppose for one-handed typing, it is.

[dmaul1114]

Yes, it's much better than the Kindle or Sony keyboards etc. And you can do two handed typing--at least using the index finger on both hands!

It's a good virtual keyboard. Works 100% fine for short e-mails, typing urls in the browser etc. But it's too narrow for any serious typing work--and really no virtual keyboard will ever surpass a real keyboard for speed and accuracy as you just can't replace the tactile feedback of having real buttons.

Though again, maybe people who learn on virtual keyboards sometime in the future will be able to do fine. Like those kids that do crazy words per minute texting on phones etc.

[MsAstoria]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Yes, you can.
You could ask about this stuff, rather than just stating it.

Actually you can play music in the background from your downloaded music in the iPod app. I have music playing while typing this.

[MsAstoria]

Originally Posted by Harmon

It's replaced my laptop, but only because I also have a desktop for more intensive work. The iPad is about 80 percent of a full scale computer. I tend to think of it as a mobile screen for my desktop. In fact, I believe that there are apps which would allow me to control my desktop from the iPad. My sense o the matter is that I own one computer system which can be accessed from multiple locations with my iPhone, iPad and desktop.

I never used to take my laptop on the road because it was a nuisance. The iPad is no trouble at all. At home, I use it in my easy chair or on the patio. Much easier than the laptop.

I use logmein app to control and use my desktop computer at home from my iPad when on the road.

[VictoriaP]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

So I think a real keyboard will always be necessary for anyone that does a lot of writing wants to maximize their typing speed.

But in any case, unless one has kid sized hands, you can't type in the proper manner on the iPad as it's just too narrow.

Works fine for short e-mails and things of that nature, but I gave up on it for forum posting etc. as it just wastes too much time vs. grabbing the laptop.

Well, I don't have "kid sized hands" by any stretch, though they are fairly narrow, and I can type reasonably well two handed with full touch typing on the virtual screen in landscape mode. I do find I get lazy though and type one handed, or two fingered, rather than set the iPad on my lap and type properly. Still, a post of this length or even a little longer is very doable for me two handed.

If I know I'm going to get wordy though, I tend to pull out the wireless Bluetooth keyboard. That is absolutely the greatest--weighs nothing, doesn't get hot the way my laptop does, and I can go back to regular iPad use with a click of the eject button. I agree that one probably isn't going to want to write a novel on the iPad with only the virtual keyboard!

As a reader...I still prefer my K2. But I'm reading more on the iPad than I expected to, especially at night. The Kindle app, with the screen set to white text on black, is a lot nicer than any book light I've tried so far. It's also extremely nice to be able to read PDF's clearly in a size that more closely approximates the original. The Kindle's PDF handling leaves much to be desired.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by VictoriaP

...As a reader...I still prefer my K2. But I'm reading more on the iPad than I expected to, especially at night. The Kindle app, with the screen set to white text on black, is a lot nicer than any book light I've tried so far. It's also extremely nice to be able to read PDF's clearly in a size that more closely approximates the original. The Kindle's PDF handling leaves much to be desired.

Yes it does, but the 2.5 system update, due for wide distribution by "late May 2010" according to the Amazon website, is suppose to allow users to pan and zoom PDF files. That should be a very welcome change. Of course, it will still be e-ink, meaning 16 shades of gray as opposed to the iPad's color screen.

"Late May." I still don't have my update yet. Four days left.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by VictoriaP

If I know I'm going to get wordy though, I tend to pull out the wireless Bluetooth keyboard. That is absolutely the greatest--weighs nothing, doesn't get hot the way my laptop does, and I can go back to regular iPad use with a click of the eject button. I agree that one probably isn't going to want to write a novel on the iPad with only the virtual keyboard!

Yep, that's what I was saying.

It's a VERY good virtual keyboard, but you're not going to be writing novels, school papers etc. on it as it's going to slow you down too much for those and just not be very comfortable.

It's not even just the virtual keyboard and being small--it's having to go to different keyboard screens to get numbers and symbols which I use a lot in scholarly journals etc.--vs. having them all on a physical keyboard.

So for me a desktop will always be best for long writing--nice full keyboard that's better than even a laptop keyboard, don't have a hot laptop on your lap or the desk in front of you etc. Mouse is nice too if you're doing a lot of cutting and pasting editing work etc.--beats a touch screen or touchpad on a laptop IMO.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

You make it sound mighty tempting!

Have you tried Pages, the $9.99 word-processing app from iPad App Store? I'm curious to know how that well it works.

Haven't tried it. I expect that if I were to use it, though, I'd use my bluetooth keyboard with it.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Is this a problem even when viewing the screen in landscape mode?

I think that the problem with the virtual keyboard relates to habits & expectations. That is, those of us who have spent 40 or 50 years using a keyboard rest our hands in an established way, and subconsciously expect a certain tactile response from the keyboard that one does not get from the virtual kboard.

But as I said in another post, I saw a kid (in his 20s) do something like a hundred words a minute just a few days after the ipad's initial release. I expect that in ten years, virtual keyboards will eliminate regular keyboards for the youngsters. I mean, dammit, there are kids who can type faster than I can, just using their thumbs!

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by ColdSun

No, I'm looking at the Dell Streak. Or something like this: http://www.pandigital.net/pandigitalnovel. I hear it will be selling for $199 and that is a VERY attractive device for what I will use it for. If anything, I'm very happy the iPad is doing so well. It has really brought into focus the exact market I'm shopping in: multi-function tablet devices. Tons of companies are going to enter the fray at better prices than Apple with more open operating systems. This is a good thing for me. The more people that buy iBook books are also going to help get more books for me on the market to read in ebook format. The Amazon president himself said just the other day that color e-Ink is a LONG way from happening. You have to wonder - will the Kindle have a LCD multifunction version in the future? I'm betting YES.

That is a sweet looking device. I can imagine that it will give the Kindle a run for its money unless Amazon comes up with something similar in the form of a Kindle 3. And it will definitely take away some iPad sales as well. Good times coming for the ereading public, I think.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

I find eye strain claims overblown as well. Not to dismiss those with eye problems, but plenty of us don't have such problems, luckily.

I've edited for about 20 years. Plenty of colleagues have had hand and wrist problems, carpal tunnel syndrome and such. We work on computers all day, and most of us read online recreationally as well. If eye strain were a big problem, it would be widespread among such users. That's not the case.

Most people's eyes deteriorate over the years, of course. I'm glad that e-ink exists and helps anyone read. I might end up needing it myself. But I think it's illogical for e-ink fans to assume that everyone shares their eye problems.

I think that when properly adjusted, lcd screens do not cause eyestrain, but I wonder whether if your eyes are already tired, lcd screens are more difficult to read than e-ink. I certainly find paper more easily read when my eyes are tired than I find my iPad to be.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Thanks for that. The one I typed on in the local Apple store seemed at least to be better than the Kindle keyboard or the Sony Touch virtual keyboard, but that isn't saying much. The e-ink keyboards, both touchscreen and virtual, are fine for taking notes, but aren't exactly ideal for long-term typing sessions. I was hoping that the iPad would be better, and I suppose for one-handed typing, it is.

Get an Apple blue tooth keyboard. It's small, lightweight, & a delight to use. I can't see that it would be any problem to carry around when you need it, & you can just leave it at the office when you don't.

I suspect that, using a BTK & the iPad, the experience will be a lot like using the simplified wordprocessing programs that many people view as being better for composing than something complicated like Word. After composing, you can dump the file into Word to do the footnoting, indexing, &c.

What I don't know is how extensive the keyboard combinations are for the iPad. You might be able to program the symbols &c that you need into the BTK.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I think that the problem with the virtual keyboard relates to habits & expectations...

Originally Posted by Harmon

Haven't tried [Pages]...

Originally Posted by Harmon

Get an Apple blue tooth keyboard. It's small, lightweight, & a delight to use...

Thanks for those responses, Harmon. I plan to get a tablet sometime within the next year, and the iPad just might be the one. I'm waiting to see what the competition develops. Some of the upcoming Android devices, notable the one from Google, look promising. A camera is completely unnecessary, but flash might come in handy at times. My main purpose for such a device, as I've stated earlier, would be as a portable word processor. A bluetooth keyboard might be icing on the cake, but I really plan to use it in places where there virtual keyboard would be better suited.

[dmaul1114]

I really don't think you'll find any virtual keyboard very satisfying for serious word processing work.

But maybe you're one of those who can adapt and come up with a new way of typing fast on them like the kid mentioned above typing super fast on the iPad in the store!

Between being smaller than a real keyboard unless it's a huge tablet, not having tactile feedback, and having the keyboard on the screen and thus showing you less of the document, I myself could never use a virtual keyboard on a tablet for word processing work.

But to each their own, I'll always have desktops and laptops for real work, Tablet for reading and media consumption.