Writing on the iPad with My Writing Nook

For the past few years, I've been on a quest. A quest to find the perfect set of writing tools. I've been down many paths during this quest, had several close calls, had my hopes raised up only to have them come crashing down to Earth. At times I've thought that perhaps finding the Holy Grail would be easier.

OK, I'm being a bit melodramatic here, but my point is, I've been looking for the perfect set of writing tools for a long time now. I'm happy to say that I have finally discovered them.

I think that the iPad is the ideal writing device. Especially when paired with an app like My Writing Nook for iPad. I'm not just tooting my own horn here - I am honestly excited about how well the app and the iPad fit into my writing life. I feel like I've finally discovered the perfect set of tools for writing a novel or working on a writing project.

Here's my current novel writing set up:

- an iPad with WiFi and 16GB of memory.

- My Writing Nook for iPad.

- Apple bluetooth keyboard.

- Apple iPad case.

Right now, I'm writing this post on my iPad. I've got My Writing Nook open, and I'm happily typing away on my bluetooth keyboard. For short notes, the on-screen keyboard is fine, but for serious writing sessions the bluetooth keyboard is invaluable. I've got Apple's iPad case, which allows you to prop up the pad at a slight angle, or stand it up like a picture frame.

So why does the iPad succeed where so many other devices have failed?

It's portable. I can put it in my small messenger bag with plenty of room to spare. The bluetooth keyboard is equally slim and portable.

It's fast. The iPad is instantly on with the press of a button. There's no waiting around for the computer to wake or boot up. The interface is responsive and snappy.

The battery life rocks. This was one of my biggest problems with netbooks. While some of the newer netbooks have much better batteries, the average netbook battery only lasts 3 hours or so. The iPad battery will last the entire day.

It's quiet. There's no fan noise, and the device never gets warm. No lap burns here.

The bluetooth keyboard is awesome. It's full-size, and yet still very light and portable. I have yet to find a netbook keyboard that I liked. I love my Apple bluetooth keyboard.

The software is great. Obviously I'm a little biased, but My Writing Nook for iPad has exceeded even my expectations. Every time I launch the app it makes me smile. The iPad is the device that this software was meant for.

In summary, I'm totally thrilled with my new novel writing toolset - the iPad, a bluetooth keyboard, and My Writing Nook for iPad. It's a writer's (well, at least it's *this* writer's) dream come true. And with that said, I'm going back to writing my novel.

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Implications of the iPad

Wow. Apple debuted the iPad today, and it looks beautiful. Here are my initial thoughts on the device, and its implications:

My Writing Nook - iPad edition

First of all, let me say: there will most definitely be an iPad-specific version of My Writing Nook. I've already read through the developer documents and will be exploring the SDK in the coming weeks.

Rather than simply port the iPhone/iPod app to the iPad, I am completely rethinking the interface to take advantage of the iPad's screen real estate and new interface paradigms. I am really excited about what the device offers - and I think the iPad version of MWN is going to knock your socks off.

iBooks

The iPad also represents a tremendous opportunity for writers. There aren't too many details about the iBook store yet, but I have to believe that Apple will allow independent third-parties to submit their eBooks for sale. Apple has chosen the ePub format, which is a free and open format.

If they use a model similar to the App Store, with 70% of the take going to the author, then the iPad could really be a boon for self-published authors. This is likely the reason why Amazon announced their new royalty plans last week, and others will be forced to follow suit.

Web Fiction

The iPad will also provide a boost for web fiction. With it's form-factor and excellent browsing capabilities, it will make reading web fiction a breeze. No more clunky laptops or netbooks - you can sit in bed and read web fiction like you would a regular book.

I can't wait until this thing ships in March. What do you think? Is the iPad a game-changer?

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Upcoming series: Profiles in Web Fiction

Over the next few weeks, I'll be interviewing several web fiction authors - writers that are publishing their work in serialized form on the web.

Web fiction has yet to go mainstream, having thus far been dominated by works of fan fiction (known as fanfic), but I think this will change in the coming years, as eReaders and netbooks become commonplace and people become more accustomed to reading books, magazines, newspapers, etc. in digital form.

As the saying goes, "writers write," and these guys and gals are pushing the envelope with this new publishing paradigm. I hope to have the first post in the series up by the end of the week, so keep an eye out for it.

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Chrome vapor vs. Jolicloud reality

There was quite a lot of buzz this week about Google's new Chrome OS. The operating system was announced several months ago, but Google released more information about it at a small press event on Thursday.

Basically, ChromeOS looks to be an operating system based entirely around the Chrome web browser. It requires very little else, because the intent is that your apps and the vast bulk of your data will live in the Internet cloud.

ChromeOS has certainly made the spotlight currently shining on cloud computing even brighter, but it's not the first OS with such a vision. And right now, it's just that - a vision. The OS isn't expected to be ready until at the end of 2010. In Internet time, that's an eternity.

There is an alternative though, and it's available today (currently in alpha testing). The OS is called Jolicloud, and it's an operating system project with an interesting goal - to "combine the two driving forces of the modern computing industry: open source and the open web". You can read more about their idea here.

I downloaded and installed Jolicloud a few weeks ago on my 1st generation EeePC 701. The Linux-based OS that came pre-installed on the machine was pretty rough around the edges, and kind of a pain to use. Jolicloud is also a Linux-based OS (based on the Ubuntu netbook remix, I believe) but is much more polished, even in its current alpha release.

The interface is slick, and responsive. They've also managed to make the trackpad recognize multi-touch gestures for scrolling, which is really handy. And the WiFi works exceptionally well, right out of the box. Before Jolicloud, I needed to manually turn on the WiFi and wait a few seconds for it to connect. Now it's automatic, and ready for me when the OS boots up.

Perhaps the biggest plus is how easy it is to find and install new applications. Jolicloud provides categorized groups of apps, and installing an app is as simple as clicking the green "Install" button. Uninstalling is just as easy - just click "Remove" and the app is gone.

System updates are equally easy, and can happen automatically if you wish, so you always have the latest and greatest system.

Jolicloud also has some social networking features built right into the OS. When you log into Jolicloud, you can add buddies that are also Jolicloud users. I haven't played with the social features too much, but I'm interested to see where they take them.

I'm pleased to announce that My Writing Nook was accepted into the Jolicloud catalog, in the Office category. I installed it last night, was impressed with the results. I'm really pleased to see how well it integrates. When an app runs, Jolicloud gives it the entire screen, except for a thin menubar at the top. MWN looks really slick within this environment. It's truly uncluttered and distraction-free. Check it out:

The alpha release is currently invite-only. I have a few invite codes, so if you are interested in one, send me an email and I will be happy to send one your way. If you've got a netbook and you're unhappy with the OS it runs, I urge you to check out Jolicloud. If you're not brave enough to just blow away your current OS, you can run just boot and run Jolicloud right off a USB thumb drive.

Jolicloud has gotten me excited about using my netbook again.

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My Writing Nook update - now netbook-friendly!

I've just released an update to My Writing Nook.

This is a fairly minor release - basically just cleaning up a few minor annoyances, such as the fact that after creating a new document, you would have to click on the editor before you could start typing. I also wanted the tooltips for the command buttons to display themselves faster, so I added some snazzy new tooltips to them.

Finally, I noticed that while the app was sized perfectly for my desktop and my laptop, it wasn't too friendly to my netbook. I have the original model EeePC, with the 7" screen, and the sidebar just didn't work that well in such a confined space. Since I imagine that many people will be using netbooks during NaNoWriMo, I want to make sure that smaller screens are well-supported.

I think it looks really good now. Here's what it looks like on my EeePC (or you can see it for yourself):

(click to see a larger, non-blurry photo)

See it for yourself here

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