Ever since the original iPad went on sale, I’ve wondered how it would hold up to a day’s blogging. The answer, according to Ars Technica? Pretty damn well.
In a piece called Masochist me? An Ars writer’s iPad-only workday, Jacqui Cheng talks about how her productivity changed when using just an iPad and a Bluetooth keyboard instead of her Mac for work.
First, Cheng used Writing Kit, BeeJive and the free Alice IRC web app to both write content and keep in touch with her colleagues at Ars Technica.
The result? After getting over some workflow humps, Jacqui felt that using only the iPad actually improved her productivity.
Working on a tablet made it more difficult to constantly monitor everything that happens in a day, but there was a tradeoff: it was significantly easier to be productive when actually writing. In fact, I produced slightly more the day I worked on the iPad than on a normal day, and I didn’t miss any significant news—work-related or otherwise. I did feel as if I was somewhat disconnected from the world compared to my usual setup, but I wasn’t—I just couldn’t see everything at the same time, all the time.
That’s not to say there weren’t some drawbacks, specifically in quickly switching between apps when using a keyboard. Even so, it seems like this might just be something I should give a try.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
26 responses to “Switching From A Laptop To An iPad Can Actually Help Your Writing Productivity”
Im a teacher and ICT coordinator. I’m used to the usual set up of a desktop, then I bought my iPad2. At first it was weird and difficult for me, but as time goes by, I find it easier to do everything. As part of being a coordinator I have to observe my teachers, to properly document everything I used Notes & Camera. During feedback, I used the same thing and present to my teacher what has transpired during the observation. Reading tech magazine is more easier, updating my Facebook and twitter account… No need to log in separately. Checking my mail is as easy as tapping Mail, considering I have 3 email account.
IPad 2 definitely make things easier for me.
I switched all my writing to an iPad when the first one arrived and haven’t looked back. Â It helps if you already use Pages, as there is a learning curve there as well. Â
Currently just finishing my first novel written entirely on the iPad and looking forward to Apple restoring the “save to cloud” feature in iOS 5 (the new virtual split keyboard will help a lot also).
I am a lawyer and i use my iPad with my bluetooth keyboard all day long since january. So far so great. My only problem is the dictionary. Since i am from Brazil and there is no brazilian portuguese dictionary for iPad it is a little annoying to se lots os red marked words in my texts. I also think that the multi gesture will be great because i rather swap 4 fingers than double tap the home button to swap betwen apps.Â
Anyway I’m very happy using my iPad for writing.
I don’t see how this is news worthy. Â So the person switched from using a Mac to an iPad, I still don’t see how or why this relates to increased writing productivity.Â
Typing on a Mac vs an iPad with a BT keyboard, there’s no real advantage either way specifically relating to writing. Â You don’t magically type faster and produce more words just because you’re using a tablet over a traditional computer.
One obvious, logical explanation would be that she merely spent more time on the iPad than she did with her Mac. Â Another could be that because the iPad’s not nearly as good at multitasking (displaying everything) as her Mac, she was less distracted therefore was able to focus more on her writing as a result.
I’d argue that the most significant improvement she made in order to be more productive with her writing was buying that BT keyboard, not because she switched from her Mac over to her iPad.
Still can’t believe it I just got a $827.89 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prĂ®ces at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for. I use http://jmb.tw/52bf
if you go to settings>general>keyboard you have the option to turn off “check spelling”. so no more red lines :)
All right. Really great. Thanks a lot but, no, I pass.
The thing is she does get more things done out of the iPad bc its much complicated to switch from your WRITING software yo your web browser or Facebook, twitter or anything else from your iPad than from your Mac.  Still she did had distraction issues but thats what she meant.  She spends more time writing than getting distracted bc she is just too lazy to switch apps in the iPad.  As simple as that
Or maybe change your language settings, that should do right?
The same results can be achieved on any computer by doing two things:
1) Closing every other application except your word processor
2) Having some friggin self control. If my eyes could roll any further, they’d be on the floor.
You know Lion does this to a ridiculous degree. When you engage an app into fullscreen mode, you lose ALL distractions. I swear, when I go into Safari fullscreen time just disappears. It’s actually kind of annoying. Sometimes I’ll just say “I’ll just check email and YouTube comments.” Hours later I’m doing research on where the F “forever alone” came from and now I’m late for class. Fullscreen apps are a double edge sword.
Great thinking!!! simple and perfect thxÂ
ty pall i appreciate that
personally i don’t think this is true on an overall basis~ true that it may increase productivity initially because i mean, you’re trying something different… something new~ it’s something that’ll pique your interest as compared to just simply doing the usual routine so you might spend more time on it~ but after a couple of days, you will never increase your productivity for writing… ever~Â
a while back i wrote a master-post on the topic whether or not to to purchase an ipad (http://createrenewrestore.word… i specifically touched on why the ipad can never achieve the same productivity as a standard laptop / comp~
@yahoo-CDKRJFRFZYVIUCI5QG7NI6VQVM:disqus like what Ken mentioned, the most significant improvement she did was using an external keyboard instead of the internal one~ this will give you a better screen size~ but let’s be real, an ipad’s 10″ screen size ain’t gonna cut it for doing your reports / documents~
@a8959eb9630736cc4907182ed619a1ac:disqus complications in switching between apps and etc is a valid point to a certain degree~ but this is a lil too hypothetical to be considered when taking into consideration on productivity~ it’s like saying, “using an ipad, you sit in a more comfy area which is usually further away from the kitchen so you won’t take a breaks that often”~ valid argument, yet not entirely applicable~
@ed0ee20efc668f7ab9a3bbfd56c46156:disqus  : you will find the same reasoning for every single product that you use~ you usually start slow for something new then as you use it more frequently, it gets easier~
as Steve Jobs mentioned, the ipad was never meant to fill in the gap of an actual comp~ it’s meant to be slotted between a comp and a smartphone~