Remember when people used to say that the iPad was a “content consumption device” useless for real “content creation”?
It’s a weird thing to say about a gadget offering a gazillion content-creation apps, but people said it. People still say it.
Pundits and writers say the iPad sucks for “real work” in general and writing in particular. I have come to believe the opposite: To me, the iPad is the best writing tool I’ve ever used.
I write a ton on my iPad these days, which lets me work wherever I like (usually in bed) and concentrate way better than I can working on my giant-screened iMac. Thanks to our complex blogging back end here at Cult of Mac, it’s still easier to add pictures and other bits and pieces with the Mac, but the writing part is so much better on the iPad that I try to do it as often as I can.
I figured I’d show you a few of the apps I used. Below you’ll find my favorite writing apps for the iPad.
'Hello iPhoto' is a supposedly interactive guide to iOS and OS X versions of there app
If you’re confused by iPhoto for iOS, then you’re not alone. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the cluttered and complex interface. There is light at the end of this long and painful tunnel, though, in the form of a very powerful photo cataloging and editing app. And a new book, called Hello iPhoto for iPad & iPhone, will help you get there.
The Hand Stylus might be the last stylus you ever need
You might like to think that Cult of Mac deputy editor John Brownlee is a beacon of intelligence in the world of Apple news, but sometimes he can be as dumb as the rest of us. Example: When staying with the Lady and I recently, John came to meet me in a local bar.
I pulled out my brand-new, just-bought Wacom Bamboo stylus to show him, and mentioned that it had a super clean, easy-glide tip. I handed it over and watched as John absent-mindedly stabbed the virgin rubber repeatedly onto the filthy, sticky bar table. Thanks a lot, John.
If I had had the Hand Stylus, though, I needn’t have suffered. The biggest feature of the Hand is its retractable tip, but there’s more to it than that.
GarageBand’s velocity-sensitive drums and keyboards — which use the iPad’s accelerometers to know how hard you hit the screen — are nothing short of amazing. But just as you wouldn’t want to write a novel on a virtual keyboard, neither would a musician want to perform by trying to hit the little on-screen keys.
Enter The Carbon 49, a USB MIDI keyboard controller for the iPad. The controller, from Samson, connects to the tablet using your camera connection kit and has a slot up top to keep the iPad snug and safe as you play.
Our iPhones, iPad and Macs all come equipped to pump out music and movies, and yet the built-in speakers are merely adequate. Depending on whether you travel or stay at home, whether you use a Mac or an iPod to listen to your music, or whether you live in the countryside or cooped up with easy-to-rile neighbors, there is a speaker just for you. And here’s our list of the best.
It's no Penultimate, but Inkflow's price is certainly right
Inkflow is a new handwriting and drawing app for the iPad and iPhone, and it has one standout feature: you can select, move and resize anything on the page.
If the Targus joystick would just stick, it would be awesome. Photos Charlie Sorrel (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
I love playing games on my iPad, but I hate playing games with on-screen joysticks. Your finger drifts away from where it’s supposed to be, and you end up flailing around at a crucial moment. If only there was a way to put an actual, physical thumb pad on your iPad’s screen?
Of course, there is. It’s called the Fling, and was debuted some time ago by Ten One Design. I recently picked up the European version, which is the same thing only it’s sold by Targus, and comes in ugly packaging. I have been putting it through its paces in Grand Theft Auto III, Streetfighter 2 and others. How does it do?
Good or bad? Who knows? Photos Charlie Sorrel (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
As a rule, I don’t like thick folio-style iPad cases, and especially not ones that zip closed. So when I spied the Spigen Zipack in a consignment of cases that arrived some weeks ago, I put it on the bottom of the “to review” pile and ignored it.
However, it turns out that the Zipack’s combination of weird features, featherlight weight and decent amount of protection is a winning one. As there will likely be many folio-haters like me out there who would pass over this case on principal, I thought I’d give it a chance to be seen.
The official Etch A Sketch iPad case might be the coolest thing, like, ever, but does it actually turn your iPad into a working Etch-A-Sketch? No, it doesn’t. But the Etcher does, which somehow makes it even cooler.
