Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check. Cheers, Greg Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax)
Hi, Greg. I don't think this exactly what you're looking for, but are you familiar with the work of Mark Bernstein at Eastgate.com in promoting hypertext fiction? I know there have been several conferences/workshops at which writers have discussed how their craft has changed upon moving from conventional word processors to hypertext editors (such as Eastgate's Tinderbox product). This is not exactly iPad vs. laptop, but it certainly may be of interest to your friend, particularly as these same people are now migrating to iPad, iPhone and other platforms? As an aside, I'm interested in making this transition myself, so I'd appreciate any insights from hypertext authors off-list. Best wishes, Gordon Titchener -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Greg Wise Sent: Friday, 13 January 2012 3:00 p.m. To: Air-L@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-L] Writing and iPads Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check. Cheers, Greg Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax) _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
This might be of interest, if only as background: http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2011/12/16/stephen-kings-wang-literary-h... Bob Rehak Swarthmore College Sent from my iPad On Jan 13, 2012, at 5:59 PM, Greg Wise <Greg.Wise@asu.edu> wrote:
Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check.
Cheers,
Greg
Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax)
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This might also be useful. It's not literary writing, but another high volume writer (tech blogger) talks about the impact that writing solely on an ipad for a day had on their output. http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/doable-or-not-my-experience-with-w... On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 5:34 PM, Bob Rehak <brehak1@swarthmore.edu> wrote:
This might be of interest, if only as background:
http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2011/12/16/stephen-kings-wang-literary-h...
Bob Rehak Swarthmore College
Sent from my iPad
On Jan 13, 2012, at 5:59 PM, Greg Wise <Greg.Wise@asu.edu> wrote:
Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check.
Cheers,
Greg
Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax)
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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And can't resist encouraging a careful look at chapter nine in Naomi Baron's prize-winning _Always On_, in which she provides a brief history of a Western understanding of the role of writing (e.g., Commonplace Books) in our conceptions of education and selfhood since the Renaissance (a history usefully complemented by Foucault's late essays on writing as a "technology of the self," a thematic that Maria Maria Bakardjieva and Georgia Gaden have also helpfully explored in their "Web 2.0 Technologies of the Self," now online as part of a special issue of Philosophy and Technology). Naomi then develops a very interesting and, I think, important set of contrasts between writing by hand and writing at the keyboard (both computer and phone). It would be interesting to see the contrasts suggested here and the responses between keyboard and iPad - and where, if at all, they might fit within Naomi's larger frameworks. Thanks, and best, - charles On 1/13/12 3:59 PM, "Greg Wise" <Greg.Wise@asu.edu> wrote:
Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check.
Cheers,
Greg
Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax)
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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As somebody who is writing their dissertation on my iPad, I love it because I can take my small messenger bag with my iPad and write anywhere. My setup is the iPad plus a Zagg Logitech keyboard (http://www.zagg.com/accessories/logitech-ipad-2-keyboard-case)that snaps on the iPad like a case. Also, I use the Office2 HD app to do my writing. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id364361728?mt=8). The reason I like that app the best is because it sync directly to Google Docs and Dropbox, the interface is similar to the old school WordPerfect and it has a word count feature. Ohio University Lancaster Shane Tilton Director of Electronic Media Herrold Hall 204 1570 Granville Pike Lancaster OH 43130 T: 740.654.6711x223 tiltons@ohio.edu www.lancaster.ohio.edu • www.ohio.edu/compass www.twitter.com/ohiou_lancaster www.facebook.com/OULancaster www.myspace.com/ohiouniversity The best student-centered learning experience in America ________________________________________ From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Greg Wise [Greg.Wise@asu.edu] Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 5:59 PM To: Air-L@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-L] Writing and iPads Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check. Cheers, Greg Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax) _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
There are two different angles that I see here, there is the angle of Paleography or the study of handwriting, and thus digital paleography, which has been discussed on the Humanist list which is an old digital humanities list that is still quite popular. I only know of one or two people doing this work actively. then there is the question of studies of rhetoric, composition, research practices, etc. etc. that go into the modes of productions of the work, and those are huge well established fields that have been around since the 1950's. Though the modes of research is less popular by far than the other two, there is a book every few years that considered aspects of that. so Ipads... I don't actually write on mine, i do compose music sometimes, but I don't even use it to answer email unless it is my only option. I'm as such wondering about what is really changing and where with respects to pad culture, whether ipad, or not, and 'writing' . I used google scholar in the humanities and social science side and put in ipad and composition, and found.... quite a bit... too bad i have to go back and finish like 8 other projects before i can allow myself to get curious about another:)
First, let me respond to the original prompt that was looking for research about how the change of form factor (an iPad or really any tablet computer) effects the style and context of a writer, as I failed to answer that part. There were three pieces of research that I found semi-related to this: 1.) Lauren Waugh's "Constructing an Argument in the Age of Social Media: Explorations of Visual Thinking Within the Writing Process" (http://lawaugh.squarespace.com/storage/pdf/final_lores.pdf) is a good analysis of the usability of form factor with a theoretical framework built on visual communication/graphic design research. 2.) James Hahn's "Rapid use study of the iPad on a campus bus" (Poster is at https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/25041/hahn_rapid.pdf?s...) was a good ethnographic study of using the form factor in a mobile environment. 3.) "Laptops and Inspired Writing" (http://www.jstor.org/pss/40961529) is a good overall article dealing with pedagogical issues associating with writing in the different form factors. To answer Charles' question; since I previously used netbooks to write, the size wasn't an issue. The iPad2 case is a little bit bigger and for me it is easy to use. It's a little smaller than the Apple Bluetooth keyboard. If you can use that with no issues, you should have very few issue with the Zagg case. I am considering writing an auto-ethnographic article about replacing my laptop with an iPad as a main mobile work environment. I bought the first iPad day one and the iPad 2 day one and really sought to simplify my writing experience with this tool. On Jan 14, 2012, at 12:37 PM, Jeremy hunsinger wrote: There are two different angles that I see here, there is the angle of Paleography or the study of handwriting, and thus digital paleography, which has been discussed on the Humanist list which is an old digital humanities list that is still quite popular. I only know of one or two people doing this work actively. then there is the question of studies of rhetoric, composition, research practices, etc. etc. that go into the modes of productions of the work, and those are huge well established fields that have been around since the 1950's. Though the modes of research is less popular by far than the other two, there is a book every few years that considered aspects of that. so Ipads... I don't actually write on mine, i do compose music sometimes, but I don't even use it to answer email unless it is my only option. I'm as such wondering about what is really changing and where with respects to pad culture, whether ipad, or not, and 'writing' . I used google scholar in the humanities and social science side and put in ipad and composition, and found.... quite a bit... too bad i have to go back and finish like 8 other projects before i can allow myself to get curious about another:) _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hi Greg, I'll add to the growing list of interesting references. Daniel Chandler has a nice piece on the phenemonlology of writing by hand from 1992. Not a particularly systematic treatment of the question you're asking, but he quotes many writers who talk about what handwriting means to them and how they feel about typing or word processing. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/phenom.html Cheers, Annette ***************************************************** Annette N. Markham, Ph.D. Visiting Scholar, Department of Communication University of Arizona, Tucson amarkham@gmail.com http://markham.internetinquiry.org/ Co-Editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics http://www.ijire.net <http://www.ijire.net> On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 3:59 PM, Greg Wise <Greg.Wise@asu.edu> wrote:
Hello, all, A friend of mine who is a writer of fiction is wondering about the effects on one's prose of writing on an iPad v. desktop/laptop, and was looking for either studies that have been done, or anecdotal accounts from (literary) writers. So far most of the anecdotal stuff out there is about which apps to use, and few are reflecting on if there are changes to one's writing. And it's probably too soon for any systematic research to have been done. But I thought I'd check.
Cheers,
Greg
Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax)
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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participants (8)
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Annette Markham -
Bob Rehak -
Charles Ess -
Gordon Titchener -
Greg Wise -
Jeremy hunsinger -
Matt Munley -
Tilton, Shane