chris . word

If you’re a person who uses a computer and, more to the point, an input device known as a keyboard on a daily basis for hours at a time, having a good one is highly necessary. In fact, not having one can often lead to bad results for hands, wrists, back and more.

So, over the years as I’ve written and done other work requiring long hours using a keyboard (I currently use an Apple Wireless Keyboard or the one on the MacBook Air), I’ve always been in search of a good one. Notice I didn’t say a “great” one.

I hesitate to use the word “great” because I’ve yet to find one I even consider good. Sure, many of the ones I’ve tried over the years have been decent. Some could even be considered close to good. None were even close to great though.

This brings me to the problem at, well, hand. Or, hands as the case may be. I need to find a great keyboard. I say a great keyboard because I think at this point only a great keyboard can help me.

It’s the hands, you see, they are hurting. Yes, over the years I’ve developed some pain in my fingers from all the oh so important typing. So now, I need to do something about it or pretty soon I won’t be able to type at all. The horror!

I really don’t care at this point how much it costs, just that it helps and helps me keep working. Although, as someone who’s paid both very little and quite a bit for keyboards over the years, I’m not entirely sure price is the total arbiter of “great.” If it was, I would probably have found that “great” keyboard long ago.

Given the above, I’m now in search of the perfect keyboard. If you have any thoughts on the subject, feel free to let me know. I will also be doing my research and buying several to try out over the next few weeks.

I will, of course, report on what I find out, if anything. I know there’s a lot of choices out there but based on past experience, I’m not all that optimistic.

Still, miracles do happen and I’m the kind of person who tries to keep an open mind. So, let the search commence and may the best keyboard win.

I think in the spirit of trying to make things work, and also challenging myself a bit, I’m going to try to use the iPad 2 as a writing/blogging tool as often as I can. Let this post serve as the first-ish example of that.  
 
I say -ish because I’ve already done at least one or two with the iPad 2, but that was before. Now, I’m going to take it more seriously and consider it more of an experiment, or test , then I did before.  
 
One of the first questions to ask when embarking on a journey such as this is do I use the built-in keyboard on the iPad 2 or do I use an external one? It’s an important question because, to be honest, my fingers do get kinda sore when using just the iPad 2′s touchscreen keyboard.  
 
However, that may be more a function of the fact that by the time I start using the iPad I’ve already been typing for a few hours. Maybe my fingers would hurt no matter what? I suspect they would.  
 
So, with that in mind I think I will try to use the touchscreen keyboard for now and see how it goes. I’ve got an extra Bluetooth keyboard I could use but that sorta defeats the purpose of using the iPad if you have the also lug around a keyboard.  
 
At any rate, I’ll know soon enough if my fingers can’t take it and then I will consider other options. Fortunately, as I discussed in an earlier post, the rest of the writing/blogging experience shouldbe pretty good on the iPad 2.  
 
I guess I’ll find out.  
 
In case you’re the sort of person who likes to know the more technical, nuts and bolts kinds of things, I’m going to list the tools I will be using during this experiment. Here they are:  
 
Apple iPad 2 (of course) – Apple’s device excels at so many things and has a battery that lasts a long time. It has become an indispensable part of my daily work (and fun).  
 
Blogsy – This is the primary blogging app I’m using. It allows for complete control over posts and offers the ability to insert photos and video. Pretty much everything you need and pretty easy to figure out and use.  
 
IResize – This is a great app that allows you to resize images to fit in a blog post or other writing. You can load any picture from your Photos on the iPad and change the size, resolution, etc. and then save the changed version for use in other apps like Blogsy.  
 
IAWriter – This app let’s you get back to basics and just write. It removes distractions and lets you focus on the words. Plus, it syncs with Apple’s iCloud and its own OS X desktop version to allow you to work on whatever you want and have it available on the iPad or your Mac with whatever changes you’ve made already there and synced.  
 
Other tools:  
 
Pages – Appple’s own writing App is pretty good and I used it quite a bit before IA Writer and Blogsy came into the picture. Now I use it less frequently, especially as oit doesn’t support sync across the mobile and desktop versions using iCloud as IA Writer does. At least not yet.  
 
FDX Reader – Sadly, my favorite screenwriting app Final Draft doesn’t have and iPad version yet. I’ve been assured one is on the way, but until then, I still need to use the MacBook Air when I want to write in Final Draft.  
 
However, I can at least read scripts in Final Draft format (instead of PDF) on the iPad by using the terrific FDX Reader app. This app allows you to load scripts written in Final Draft and saved as .fdx files and view them in their native format. Very useful and saves you the time and effort of saving scripts as .pdf files plus if your a writer on the go or collaborating with another writer it also makes it easier to quickly review the current draft.  
 
So, this is my challenge and those are the tools of choice. Of course, figuring out what you want to do and choosing the tools to accomplish a task is often the easy part. 

The hard part is doing the actual writing. I’m goin’ in, wish me luck.  
 
 
 

For more on my quest for the new iPhone 3G on Friday (aka iPhone day), check out this post over at TUAW where I detail the day for you.

Also, as time goes on, look for more about my experiences with the new iPhone 3G. Meantime, here’s a nice pic of the new device side by side with the old one. FYI, the new one is the one the left. You can tell because its slightly wider and also has that cool “3G” logo in the upper left corner.

Its been a long process, but I’ve finally managed to set up every bit of my home entertainment center. The biggest pain was running all the cables and trying to find enough power and the best way to have all the devices that need the internet be able to connect. But finally, it is done.

Here’s a pic of the final setup. For a bigger one, complete with notes, check out the photo on flickr.

I don’t need it but, of course, I really want it. I wonder if they’re taking orders. Check it out.

I like to take pictures. It’s really fun and sometimes even results in a great photo or two that I can be proud of. So, owning several digital cameras (and a few film ones still as well) was not a hard decision for me. That’s my new digital SLR in the photo there. The Nikon D300. A great camera.

So, if you’re still wondering what to get that special someone on your list why not be like thousands of others these days and get him/her a digital camera too? They’re fun and mostly easy to use and let you have a camera ready when you really need one. But now that you’ve decided to get some sort of digital camera, which one do you get? Its a tough decision and one with a lot of variables.

Fortunately, some people have taken most of the guesswork out of it and put together a few ideas on how to select the right digital camera. Interested? Well then, head on over here for the help you need on digital camera selection. Or, if you’re like me and want more from your cameras and don’t mind spending extra to get it, check out this guide to picking the right digital SLR camera.

Happy Shooting!

Yes, I managed to snag one on Friday (the 8gb model, btw). Yes, its very, very cool. Yes, I will have more to say about it. Yes, I can’t say it here (blame AOL, not me). So please, look elsewhere for all things iPhone from me and other far more intelligent people. In fact, why not go here.

No, I’m still sticking with WordPress but I’m moving to a new host that will give me better control over the site. WordPress is a great program and I will continue to use it over at the new host.

For the next day or two we may experience some issues as the URL of this here site changes hands to new hosts. I appreciate your patience and promise that this will be the last time I move this site around. Well, probably the last time anyway.

In the meantime, check out my article at LAist concerning the new AppleTV. Should you get one? Read and see.

Over at LAist I’ve written a little piece answering a question from a reader who asks if they should get an iPhone or not. As an unapologetic Apple and Mac fan, I think my answers were put as well as I could put them. There are a lot of other pros and cons but I tried to settle on the main ones that I feel are worth it to normal cell phone users when considering an iPhone. Anyway, the piece is up so if you get a chance, feel free to take a look.

Hey, I love iPods and I love hot swimsuit models. So this is really a win win for me. And now for you too. You’re welcome.