On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 10:30 AM, Jim Parker <drjparker@gmail.com> wrote:
People didn't like the feel of an electric typewriter compared to a manual typewriter, people didn't like the feel of a computer keyboard compared to an electric typewriter, fill in the blanks. People probably didn't like writing on paper instead of chipping away at stones.
-jim parker
On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 10:27 AM, Abby Waysdorf < a.s.waysdorf@students.uu.nl> wrote:
Anecdotally, but interestingly considering where the debate here is going, here's a report of an iPad keyboard being easier to use for an elderly woman:
http://thehairpin.com/2012/01/an-84-year-old-sends-her-first-text-message
Abby Waysdorf Utrecht University
On Jan 15, 2012, at 5:09 PM, Mark D. Johns wrote:
I wonder if this is a generational thing, or if it is somehow tied to typing skills. I learned touch typing in the late 1960s -- first on manual, then IBM Selectric typewriters. When I switched to computers in the early '80s the keyboard seemed very natural and I've never seen it as a problem to be surmounted.
I use a Nook Color as a reader and occasionally to skim through email or web surf, but I hate typing on it. An iPad would be just as bad, I'm sure. I sat next to a guy on an airplane a few days ago who was typing on his iPad using only his thumbs, very much like people text on a cell phone. He was moving at a pretty good clip, but not nearly as fast as one could type on a keyboard. I've never seen anyone do more than hunt and peck successfully on a tablet. Perhaps touch typing is possible, but the adaptation would have to be difficult.
Adding an accessory keyboard to an iPad seems to run against the concept. At that point one has the same weight and bulk of Charles' Macbook Air (or the ultra-thin knock-offs of it just coming on the market). That would seem a more versatile choice to me, should my institution stop insisting on supplying me with bulky, 7 pound Dell laptops. -- Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA ----------------------------------------------- 2011-12 Director, Luther Study Centre 23 Haslemere Road Nottingham NG8 5GJ United Kingdom ----------------------------------------------- "Get the facts first. You can distort them later." ---Mark Twain
On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Peter Timusk <ptimusk@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Just some comments from my experiences and a question about labour, as I am starting to kick at Apple glee clubs that seem to be popping up at conferences. I am enjoying the iPad effects on writing thread though.
I have used keyboards since 1978 starting with Texas Instrument's keypunches typing code and chemical formulas. My fingers are also used to playing 4 string electric bass guitar. I didn't start to type English sentences into computers until 1994 or so. Before that I never had access to word processors. I have some limited experiences trying to type up essays with an IBM Selectric ( electronic typewriter) in the 1980's when I also started to learn touch typing from library books. Apparently teaching programmers to do touch typing is a real money saver. Word processors saved my education late in life. I think too fast for writing.
I wonder how members of this list feel about the company Foxcomm that makes most of our Apples, IBM's and Dells, etc.? Their workers are working in miserable conditions. Some of the scholars I have read on this list also have looked at labour conditions in the ICT business world.
Someone on this list recently pointed me to a book on the sustainability of the Information age and I am reading that book.
I briefly used an iPad at a family member's ( and Apple stock holder) house last month. Today I tried to use a display model Blackberry Playbook in an office supply store. In both cases, I had to ask people how to get around on the device.
When I was writing a thesis I was doing it in LaTeX code on a Macbook and an eMac. I used a template published by my university. I have also tried a mediawiki Intranet web site for note keeping not on the world wild web but on a home network running apache web server on my macbook.
These days I just write papers in Word and do PowerPoint and am not fighting any software battles at work. We are not allowed to use iPads at work. I work in government and cannot even take work home because of confidentiality.
Peter Timusk at571@ncf.ca ptimusk@sympatico.ca web: www.crystalcomputing.net blogs www.cyborgcitizen.org
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Charles Ess Sent: January-14-12 11:17 PM To: Barry Wellman; aoir list Subject: Re: [Air-L] ipad, laptop, desktop
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman
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S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax: +1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
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