TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Best tablet for writing/editing From:"Elissa K. Miller" <emiller -at- doubleknot -dot- com> To:"'techwrl'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 3 Sep 2013 12:08:17 -0700
Another annoying thing about getting files on and off the iPad is Apple's
insistence on not exposing the file system. So, you can't see a list of the
word processing or spreadsheet documents that are on the iPad--you have to
open the application first to get to your files. Then, as Robert L points
out below, you have to go through some gymnastics to get the files into a
place where they're accessible by any other device. The latest versions of
OfficePlus look like they let you save to Google Docs or iDisk, but I don't
have my iPad with me to confirm.
I bought OfficePlus and an external keyboard thinking I could get some work
done on my iPad, but it's pretty annoying if you write a lot. Now I use
OfficePlus to view documents that people send me if I have my iPad but not
my computer (which isn't often), but I don't use the iPad for content
creation anymore--my Asus eee series laptop is adequately thin and light
(though admittedly not as thin and light as a tablet) and doesn't require
that I learn a new file management paradigm. The keyboard is useful for
filling out forms and entering search terms, and is also a hard case for the
iPad, so I don't regret the purchase, but I couldn't make it work as a
primary content development system.
FWIW, an external keyboard does you control cursor placement with the arrow
keys. (Well, my Kensington keyboard does, and I assume it's standard.)
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+emiller=doubleknot -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+emiller=doubleknot -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 11:11 AM
To: Craig Cardimon; techwrl
Subject: Re: Best tablet for writing/editing
iPads are relatively expensive end, so you're presumably not considering
one, but I would not recommend one for writing and editing.
One constant annoyance is that the OS won't let you you place the cursor
within a word. An external keyboard with cursor keys might fix that.
There's no native support for mounting external drives so getting files on
and off the device is sometimes more of a pain than it should be.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
authoring.
