iPad Compatibility

[Foxtrot]

cor-stellae your life sounds so much more interesting than mine in every way possible that I really cannot understand how you can spend time on here going on about the iPad and Scrivener. Surely you have better things to do?

I just go to work and try and write stuff for my own entertainment in amongst the general daily routine without unexpected conferences cropping up. I don't listen to audio books as my ears are for music and my eyes are for books but each to our own

I don't think you will win this one with Keith, but I suspect you will keep plugging away.

[xiamenese]

I'm going to weigh in here, 'cos I think were talking ... well not apples and pears, but personal circumstances and preferences.

I'm an MBA fan, I admit it. I have a 13" late 2010 MBA which I adore and my 17" MBP sits unused on my desk most of the time. I disagree that the 13" weighs a ton, it doesn't, it's not in fact that much heavier than the 11" or an iPad for that matter — I carry it around with me the whole time to the point where my family and students think it's almost part of me and are amazed if they ever see me without it — but it is heavier, that cannot be denied. To me the difference is insignificant and the advantages of the 13" far outweigh (deliberate play on words) that difference. Also, just 'cos Apple said 7 hours battery life, doesn't mean I am limited to 7 hours battery life ... In fact, with bluetooth turned off, the screen turned down to about 40%, which is easily bright enough except in direct sunlight, but with wifi turned on, I regularly get 9 hours — 4 hours of lectures with the projector being driven as a second screen and keynote being controlled by Keynote Remote on my iPhone or iPod Touch through an ad-hoc wifi network followed by 5 hours of editing in Scrivener using wifi normally — and the battery indicator tells me I still have 2 hours of battery left at the end of all that. I think that matches the 10 hours for an iPad.

On the other hand, cor_stellae clearly likes using her iPad, writing on it and doing all the other things she'd like to or needs to do on it, and I can appreciate that. For her the less weight matters ... I can't say it shouldn't. I'd love to have an iPad, but I can no more justify that than cor_stellae can justify buying an MBA. I seriously considered it, but for me working in Scrivener and being able to control Keynote remotely were far more important than weight or cost. Cor-stellae's conundrum is that she wants Scrivener too, but there's no iPad version.

But then, I fully appreciate Keith's position. He is not in a position to abandon development of the Mac version and has no intention of doing so (thank heavens!); he doesn't feel he is in a position to pay someone to develop an iOS version for the foreseeable future. Scrivener is his creation and he himself needs to determine the direction in which it is possible for developments to go, as he has to manage that development path. And, although I'm not a programmer, I do also understand the huge technological hurdles and limitations that developing for iOS would impose. Keith hasn't ruled it out ... he didn't rule out a Windows version. So cor_stellae can hope, I hope.

For all of us, there is so much personal choice, preference, circumstantial pressure, existing commitment involved, that we are none of us in a position to make choices for others. I feel for cor_stellae, but can't help.

Rant/oil-pouring session over. As you were.

Mark

[DBill]

If I may, on the topic of iPad suitability for writing; he says poh-tay-toe, she says poh-tah-toe. Rather than call the whole thing off, why don't we just say, as I've seen KB say, "Enjoy your writing tool of choice". I know I do!

I don't see anyone telling the developer how to run his business. Some of us are just stating, for the record, that there are (at least a few) folks who would pay good money for an iPad app that had a degree of real compatibility with Scrivener desktop. I suspect we all realize that it is Keith's ultimate choice in the matter, and I, for one, am very fine with that.

[Rayz]

Would that answer your question about why I won't buy a MBA?

You answered that in your first couple of posts. The problem was my understanding: I couldn't see the point of continuing to repeat your reasons when the developer has already stated his reasons for focussing on the desktop version. I have nothing against an iPad version. I'd love to seo one, along with a native Linux version, a version for the iPhone, one for Windows Phone 7 and one for the web. These are all platforms I find myself using at some time during the day. But instead I just make the best of what I have, because doing anything else is just using keystrokes that would be better spent on writing. If I worried too much about the tooling then I would spend ages just converting projects between software packages. Scrivener isn't, and never will be, an absolute perfect fit. No software package is.

So, if the iPad is the tool you must use then it sounds like the software is a secondary concern, yes? Then perhaps your best fit is the iPad and the software of which we will not speak.

For what it's worth, I'm 100% sure there will be a fantastic Scrivener for the iPad sooner or later. I will most probably use it if the situation merits it. In the meantime, I'll just write on whatever I have to hand.

[cor_stellae]

I don't see anyone telling the developer how to run his business.

Thank you for saying it. I never thought I did. I respect Keith's decisions and that I'm aware of the fact that he himself won't be the programmer of the iPad version.

Some of us are just stating, for the record, that there are (at least a few) folks who would pay good money for an iPad app that had a degree of real compatibility with Scrivener desktop. I suspect we all realize that it is Keith's ultimate choice in the matter, and I, for one, am very fine with that.

All my interventions in this forum intended to show, as detailed as possible, one of many iPad scenarios that would lead an user to require and appreciate an iPad version of Scrivener. I don't believe I'm that unique, or that rare, to be the only iPad user in the world that can use the iPad as a serious writing tool while away from home, as a complimentary tool. There are and will be others like me.

I really cannot understand how you can spend time on here going on about the iPad and Scrivener. Surely you have better things to do?

I believe I have shared first hand experiences that should be considered as pieces of information in a market research process. I regret the fact that you consider it a waste of my time, and surely, yours.

Mark, thank you for your detailed account on your use of your MBP13. That proves that there are as many considerations and points of view on how we use mobile technology, as users (and their contexts).