Reeder 2 is Now Available for iPhone and iPad

The wait is ~*finally*~ over. You can now pick up Reeder 2 from the iOS App Store for only $5, and it works on both iPhone and iPad. The previous iPhone version of Reeder already supported Feed Wrangler – my RSS service of choice – but this update also brings Feed Wrangler support to the iPad.

I've sorely missed being able to use Reeder on my iPad, and it feels good to have it back. My initial impression (after only 10 minutes of playing with it) is very positive, other than that it took a long time to sync my Feed Wrangler Smart Streams.

And as always, Federico Viticci published his review of Reeder 2 immediately after the app was available for purchase. Go check it out.

Writing on the iPad

Federico Viticci's epic review of Editorial is now available as an awesome book on the iBookstore, and is packed with a ton of new content for your enjoyment. For a limited time, it's available for only $3, so be sure to pick it up today.

If you're like me and you do a lot of writing on your iPad, this is an invaluable resource.

Congrats to Federico on publishing his very first book!

UPDATE: Looks like the book is already a success.

Editorial for iPad is Out

I've been anxiously awaiting the release of Editorial after Federico Viticci mentioned it a while back, and now it's finally here. Speaking of Viticci, you should go read his epic review of the thing.

If you'd like a more summarized description of Editorial, go check out my post about the app on Tools & Toys.

'Some Great iOS Apps, Currently Free'

Over at Tools & Toys, Shawn Blanc and I put together a list of some awesome iOS apps and games that have gone free this week to celebrate the App Store's 5th anniversary.

Seriously, this list is full of great stuff, so go check it out.

1Password 4.2 Released

This is a pretty big update, if you're an iPad owner. Now you can generate passwords right from within the browser (they're calling it "1Browser" now), just as if you were using the desktop app.

They've also added 'Go & Fill' bookmarks to the iPad version, which really streamlines the process of logging into websites, saving you from having to go back-and-forth between 1Browser and the Vault.

The iPhone will be receiving both of these awesome features in a later update, but for now you can still use the other new goodies: the ability to share encrypted logins (be very careful with this) and advanced search functionality.

If you want to get the update now, click here.

The iPad Apps that Power my Tools and Toys Workflow

One of the topics I’ve been most enthusiastic about lately is the idea of using only an iPad to do all my work. I’m not talking about my day job here, but rather my writing workflow, and more specifically the writing I do for Tools and Toys.

(I would love to have a nice workflow setup for Unretrofied, but unfortunately the Squarespace iOS app is pretty terrible and there are no alternatives due to their lack of an API. So while I may do some writing for Unretrofied on the iPad using Byword, I almost always publish from the back-end CMS on a desktop or laptop.)

Since Tools and Toys runs on WordPress, there are a wider array of apps I can use for publishing, which makes an iPad-only workflow more feasible. I’d like to discuss the apps I use to get the job done, but first it helps to know the ground rules for every T&T post:

• Each post must contain an image, 600px wide being okay but 1200px being better for Retina displays. Either way, the site will display the image in a 600px wide box.
• Image file sizes should be reasonable so as not to delay page-load times. The 150kb–200kb range is fine.
• These images must be hosted on the site’s Amazon S3 account.
• There are three custom fields used within the CMS: the image link, the product link, and the name of the store/website where an item can be bought.
• Stephen Hackett and I each have a particular posting schedule, so we need to be able to schedule final drafts to be automatically published at a later date/time.
• When we link to something on iTunes or Amazon, we must use affiliate links.

Obviously there’s no one app that can do all these things, but I’ve managed to accumulate a variety of apps that have allowed me to do my work on-the-go. So far I’ve managed to get the entire workflow down to a handful of apps.

The first app, Instapaper, comes into play long before I ever write anything. I’ve got a special folder set aside where I like to save ideas for potential products to write about. If I come across something cool out on the web, I save it to this folder and reference it later when it’s time to write a new post.

The next two apps I use are Safari and Mail.app. I use Safari for finding links and images, as well as researching items to make sure I know what I’m talking about when I’m writing about them. When I can’t find a nice, hi-res image of a product anywhere, I use Mail.app to ask the makers of those products if they have any images I can use. Everyone I’ve ever talked to has been super nice and helpful.

Once I’ve got an image, or a set of images, I use an app called Reduce to batch-resize them. I even have a preset stored in the app: 1200px wide, 150kb file size. I run the photos through that preset, and the app saves a copy of each image to a “Reduce Export” album on the iPad for easy management.

The way I currently upload these images to Amazon S3 is with the iFiles app, which presents the most convoluted part of my current workflow. It’s an okay app for uploading, but it seems to have no way of renaming files or copying their public URLs, which is why I’m still on the lookout for something better.

Since I can’t rename from within iFiles, what I’ll typically do is remotely login to my office PC using LogMeIn Ignition¹ and do it there. This step is technically unnecessary, but I prefer having a file name that uses the name of the product rather than something generic like “Photo02272013.jpg” or whatever.

Why is that, exactly? Well for one thing, it makes it easier to locate a particular image in our list of previous uploads if I need to. Secondly, even though I can’t copy the public link, I can simply take the url http://i.toolsandtoys.net.s3.amazonaws.com/img/file-name.jpg and substitute the file-name portion with the easy-to-remember file name I just made. A bit ghetto but it works.

Let’s just say that my life will be a lot easier if I can find a suitable replacement for iFiles.

Now that I’ve dealt with images, I’ve got to manage the text stuff. My absolute favorite app for writing and publishing to WordPress is Poster. It’s beautiful, easy to navigate around, and it features everything I need to publish a post, including those custom fields I mentioned earlier.

Next up comes the links. Regular links are easy to copy and paste, but when it comes to affiliate links I have a couple of tools at my disposal. The first one is Launch Center Pro, in which I’ve set up custom URL schemes for each link-type. They both operate based on whatever’s saved to my clipboard. Since this app was more intended for iPhone than iPad though, I tend to use TextExpander snippets to generate the links instead. Poster includes TextExpander support so these snippets are a breeze to use.

Lastly, we’ve got Dropbox. This is where I store any drafts or images I have yet to put together as final posts. I can access them from anywhere, and Poster can pull text files from Dropbox in order to create new posts. Doesn’t need much more explanation than that.

So there you have it. There are still some kinks to be worked out, and the overall process of putting things together could be a little smoother, but the sheer fact that I can do almost everything straight from my iPad is awesome to me.

Before I end this post (which is incidentally about 20x longer than most T&T things I’ve ever written), I’d like to thank Shawn for giving me the opportunity to write for the site. It’s been a blast so far and I look forward to where the site is headed.

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1. This app is incredibly expensive these days at $130, but I bought it years ago when it was on sale for $20 and I had an iTunes gift card.  ↩

Trying to Make the iPad Something It's Not

Earlier today, I tweeted in response Ted Landau's Macworld piece, Why the iPad Still Can't Be a True Mac Replacement:

"I think the problem here is that they're trying to shoehorn a desktop workflow into a place where it doesn't fit."

I'd like to expand on that thought a bit.

In his piece, Mr. Landau lists several things the iPad would need to have–or do differently–before it could become a serious competitor to the Mac:

• Some kind of backup solution
• A visible file system, however basic
• Ability to hook up more peripherals
• Better typing capabilities (this one feels a bit unexplained; he doesn't specify exactly what it is he's looking for)
• Multiple-window management

Do I think these are terrible ideas? No, not particularly. On one hand, I'm sure they would benefit certain people looking to use the iPad as their main workhorse. But on the other hand, I think these sorts of "needs" stem from old ways of thinking.

I understand why somebody would desire these features. The desktop metaphor has been an integral part of personal computing for nearly 30 years now, and it's simply what people are used to. Still, that doesn't mean we should think about shoehorning desktop-like features into the iPad.

The iPad was never intended to compete with the Mac anyway. Why would Apple undercut their own product line like that? It's possible that they see it as a transitional device that will gradually encourage migration away from the Mac and onto the Next Big Thing, but for now it's more of a complementary companion device than a conflicting one.

Of course, the iPad is certainly powerful enough act as someone's only computer if needed, but not so feature-robust that Mac lovers should be worried about their favorite computer disappearing from the Apple lineup anytime soon.

I do think that the whole desktop metaphor, one where we must manage multiple windows and external devices, is slowly on its way out. Kids growing up with iPads aren't going to care about these things in the future. Nobody is going to call for multiple windows on-screen. But still, all of that is probably a LONG way off. And by that point, there will probably be another couple of huge paradigm shifts that we haven't even imagined yet.

For now, I see the Mac and iPad sticking around together for a while. And that's perfectly okay.

My Path to the iPad

Time for another piece about my personal life! Apologies in advance if you're getting sick of these :)

As I stated recently, I've been wanting to overhaul the tech situation in my life for a while now. To recap: despite having been an Apple Store employee a while back (October '07 - December '08), and having access to decent discounts on Mac products at that time, I've never been able to comfortably afford an iMac or MacBook. Also, long-term budgeting for big tech purchases isn't something I have much experience with.

You see, I grew up in a humble mobile home (albeit a double-wide model) which was on a dirt road at the outskirts of a small town. Because of the location, the only internet connection available my whole life was 56K dial-up. It wasn't until after I moved out in my early 20s that my parents could even get a basic DSL line run to the house. (My dad now uses that connection to play World of Warcraft, which sure is...something.)

Needless to say, we weren't big computer purchasers. There wasn't much of a reason to be, honestly. I mean, we were using AOL as our ISP, with all the requisite dialup noises that were enough of a deterrent alone. Of course, this means that I missed out on a lot during Web 2.0's heyday, but overall I think it was probably a good thing because it forced me into a not-overly-consumerist mindset that is still a big part of who I am today.

My first Apple purchase only came about when I managed to scrape together enough money to pick up an iPhone 3G several months after it released. Rather than upgrading every year, I waited three years before picking up an iPhone 4S (which is still my current phone), and that's where my Apple product history ended until Friday.

When I think back on this stuff, it seems odd even to me that I would ever have thought to apply for a job at Apple, given that my only prior experiences with Macs were with the old machines at my elementary and junior high schools, and those were mostly used for playing Oregon Trail or Math Munchers. I had no real sense of what a Mac could do outside of playing games.

Let's just say I had a lot of learning to do.

To this day I've still never owned a Mac, but I certainly developed a strong interest in them while working at the Apple Store, and nearly all of the tech blogs I keep up with even now are pretty Apple-oriented.

After my cheapy Windows 7 laptop crapped out, I didn't bother replacing it with another cheap Windows machine because I was too busy salivating over the 15" MacBook Pro model of the time (not literally you guys, ew). And I still couldn't even afford that computer without cutting out a ton of other expenses and living on ramen noodles for a year or two. Didn't seem worth it at the time.

The iPad had become pretty popular by this point, but the thought of replacing a laptop with such a device seemed crazy to me. My thoughts at the time sounded something like this: "It looks nice and all, but how could it possibly do all the things I want?"

The answer wouldn't begin to hit me for several months. Many people were proclaiming the iPad as the device to lead us into a post-PC era, but deep down I never believed them. Surely they couldn't be serious.

But then, more and more people started making the switch, ditching their old MacBooks (or other laptops) and instead preferring instead to carry around an iPad exclusively, often with a physical keyboard setup. This happened to be around the time I started taking a serious interest in writing, so something in the back of my mind began to wonder if I'd been enturely wrong about the iPad.

Then, Shawn Blanc published a piece explaining how his iPad had all but replaced his MacBook Air as a mobile workstation, and Federico Viticci began writing a series of articles showcasing the ways iOS apps can work together to complete fairly complex tasks with minimal input from the user. Lots of other writers got in on the fun as well, but there are far too many to list here.

Eventually, I became convinced by these kinds of testimonials. The iPad started looking more and like a suitable and legitimate replacement for a laptop, although admittedly, it couldn't have gotten there without the help of the App Store.

The abundance of 3rd-party writing and productivity apps has created an environment where people can accomplish just about anything they want as long as they've got the right app(s) and they're willing to work within the inherent limitations of iOS. As it turns out, a large and ever-growing population of people are perfectly willing to do just that. It was quite a recurring theme throughout 2012 in fact.

Fast-forward to today. I've been at my full-time job for 4.5 years and I've got a few pay raises under my belt. My wife's Irish dance school has slowly been growing and she's got a decent number of students now. We're still not making a ton of money by any stretch, and I've grown of tired my dead-end day job, but we're at least living a little more comfortably now than our previous years of living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Several months ago, my wife and I decided that we would finally try to invest in the Apple ecosystem and we began budgeting ourselves pretty strictly. The goal was to set aside a little extra money each month after we'd paid the bills and put money into our emergency fund. We weren't always successful but over time we've managed to build up a decent-sized 'Apple Fund'. Eventually, the question became: which devices do we need, exactly?

With the iPad's newfound role as a legitimate computer replacement, it seemed feasible for each of us to get one of those for mobile use and then get an iMac for the house at some point. I considered this scenario in my previous piece:

"If we've got an always-on iMac powering things at home, we could feasibly do the iPad thing and have no problems at all. She doesn't care about getting into the nerdy stuff, and most of my usage will probably be reading and writing, so really it just comes down to how much I want to tinker with scripts and stuff on the go."

I've since decided that having the ability to tinker with scripts just isn't worth the additional expense to me. Like I said, my main uses for it will be reading and writing. An iPad is well-suited to (and more than capable of) accomplishing those tasks, and even with the additional purchase of a keyboard/case it's still cheaper than buying a MacBook Air. Plus, I can always do that sort of thing on the iMac whenever we decide to get one.

So, I took the day off work yesterday and went back to visit ye olde Apple Store. After playing around with the various iPads one last time, I went ahead and picked up a 16GB wifi-only iPad 4 w/ Retina display. I'm still a big fan of how light and portable the iPad mini is, but the bigger Retina display won out in the end.

Now that I've finally made a decision after months of consideration, what do I think about the end result? Well, I've been spending the better part of 72 hours toying with this thing and it already feels like I made the correct choice.

I still have yet to get a physical keyboard, but I've already done some writing on the device (in fact, I'm writing this piece on it right now) and it's been a sheer joy so far. I'll probably never reach 90-100WPM using the on-screen keyboard like I can on a physical keyboard (HUMBLEBRAG FULLY INTENDED), but it's noticeably easier to write with than the iPhone keyboard I've grown accustomed to these past few years.

I want to mention just how friggin' beautiful the Retina display is on this thing. I've found myself becoming lost in photo blogs, Vimeo videos and comic books. All apps just look nicer than their iPhone counterparts. Even the text I write is rendered gorgeously. Talk about encouragement to write more!

I'm also in love with a couple of the multitouch gestures:

1) "Pinch" the screen with 5 fingers to exit an app to the homescreen. I don't have to care where the home button is in relation to the iPad's orientation.

2) Swipe up with 4 fingers to bring up the app switcher tray. Much better than double-clicking the home button.

These are completely natural-feeling interactions and my workflow already feels 10x better just from using such simple gestures.

So that's where my tech situation is at right now. I will continue to gradually add new things into the mix, such as a keyboard and some sort of bag to carry this stuff around in. The iMac will be further down the line, hopefully before the end of 2013.

I'm only getting started but I'm already super excited about all this. Not to suddenly get all "consumerism is the bee's knees!" about it, but after going through life without a lot of nice things to my name, it feels nice to treat myself for a change.

Made With Paper

Paper is one of the most popular apps for the iPad, and for good reason. It's the perfect app for expressing your artistic side, and people have been able to create some quite impressive artwork with it. Developers FiftyThree obviously know this, and they've put together a gallery of some fantastic pieces created with the app that I highly recommend checking out.

I'm continually amazed by the stuff people can create with tools like this.

Overhauling My Tech Life

This morning, Shawn Blanc provided a handy Mac media server setup guide that I think is worth checking out. This particular quote at the end struck a chord with me though:

"See? For some of us, all we need to for an iOS-only workflow is a Mac at home doing the heavy lifting."

For several months now, my wife and I have been saving up some money on the side so that we can do an overhaul on our home tech situation, and an iOS-workflow is actually something I've been considering.

Some Background

Each of us owns an iPhone 4S, but we have no Macs or iPads at the moment. This may come as a surprise to some of you considering the content of this blog and the fact that I used to work for Apple, but it's not really something I've wanted to make a big deal of on the blog.

If you look back through the archives, you'll notice that I talk about iOS a lot, but not so much the really nerdy Mac stuff that I'd love to sink my teeth into. I've also had to come up with some Windows workarounds for my Tools and Toys writing workflow in the meantime, which is a bit of a pain.

All of this is going to change soon, which I couldn't be more excited about.

Current Setup

Here's what I'm working with right now:

• At my full-time job, we only use Windows 7 Dell desktops. This happens to be where I get most of my writing work done at the moment.
• At home, my wife has a Windows 7 laptop that is servicable, but it tends to overheat and gets bogged down easily.
• My own laptop completely died over a year ago and we've never had a desktop, so whenever I'm writing at home I'm either on my iPhone or her laptop. Blech.

Decisions, Decisions

We know for sure that we want to set up an office area at home with a 21.5" iMac (probably not the newest slim model but the one prior, since she occasionally requires an optical drive for burning CDs), but for our respective mobile purposes we're still undecided on whether to get MacBooks or use iPad+keyboard setups.

If we've got an always-on iMac powering things at home, we could feasibly do the iPad thing and have no problems at all. She doesn't care about getting into the nerdy stuff, and most of my usage will probably be reading and writing, so really it just comes down to how much I want to tinker with scripts and stuff on the go.

At this point she's leaning toward getting an iPad 4 regardless of what I do, but I'm still deciding between:

• 13" MacBook Pro (non-Retina, because it's too expensive otherwise)
• 13" MacBook Air
• iPad 4
• iPad mini

If I opt for either iPad, there are further decisions to make, such as what keyboard to use. I've heard great things about using an Apple wireless keyboard along with the Incase Origami Workstation, but there are lots of great iPad-specific keyboard cases to choose from as well. There's also a case to be made for waiting until a Retina iPad mini is announced later this year (as is rumored) before I make a final decision.

Perhaps I'm just thinking about this stuff too hard, but this is a seriously huge expense for us and I do not take it lightly. Any recommendations are more than welcome here.

The New 128GB iPad

An interesting thing happened today. Although we're only a few months into the iPad 4's product cycle, Apple introduced a 128GB model to the lineup this morning, which will be sold at $799 for the wifi-only model and $929 for the wifi+cellular model.

But the most interesting aspect of this isn't even the mid-cycle thing, it's the idea that Apple is pushing to reframe the iPad as a device for pros. Of course, plenty of professionals already own and use iPads for work, but Apple seems to be strongly suggesting that anyone currently using MacBooks for work should start thinking about making the switch to iPad, and soon.

And why not? A 128GB iPad combined with a keyboard case or similar accessory is certainly a compelling choice even compared to a MacBook Air. I'd wager that most people are perfectly capable of getting their work done on an iPad and have no real need for a laptop anymore. There are limitations within iOS that may keep true Power Users™ using their MacBooks even years from now, but these people are fringe cases and their numbers are ever-dwindling.

Not everyone uses nerdy stuff like Keyboard Maestro macros or TextExpander snippets or application launchers like Alfred/LaunchBar. Most people aren't writing AppleScripts to accomplish tasks. All they need is the right kind of app for a specific task, and iOS is a goldmine for things like that.

I expect the next few years to be pretty interesting, since Apple appears to be rapidly chipping away at Microsoft's iron grip on the work/productivity market.

iPad Mini First Impressions

I wanted to write this post up yesterday, but things didn't really go according to plan. I had to go into the office for most of the day, and when I finally made it to the mall where our local Apple Store is, the entire place was so packed that I couldn't find parking, and the baby was screaming anyway so it just wasn't in the cards.

A little later in the evening, while on a dinner run for my wife and I, there was just enough time to stop at a Best Buy on the way (where the parking lot was practically empty, *snicker*).

I found that this clearly wasn't the ideal way to check out the iPad mini, because their display table keeps the devices tethered in such a way that it requires actual effort to keep the thing in your hands without it snapping back to the table like a bungee cord. I wanted to see if the thing was as light as everyone keeps saying, but it was nearly impossible to tell. Oh well, at least I got to overhear a Best Buy associate refer to another customer as a "moron" so the trip was still worth it.

I was determined to make it to the Apple Store today to check this thing out properly, and managed to do so just before the mall closed. I just returned from there, and here are my thoughts.

First of all, the iPad mini truly is amazingly light. I was blown away at how easy and comfortable it was to hold one-handed. Reading in iBooks and across the web felt very natural, and since reading is likely to be one of my primary uses for the device, I was pretty excited that they nailed the experience so perfectly. Now I see why people are being so forgiving of the lack of Retina display.

Even without Retina, the screen is actually quite crisp to my eyes (the disclaimer being that I have appalling eyesight without my glasses, of course) and I had to put the screen up to my nose to really make out any pixels. I managed to find a demo area where an iPad 4 and mini were sitting right next to one another, and it was only when comparing the two side-by-side that I noticed the difference.

Many companies have tried releasing "iPad killers" over the last few years, but I think the only real threat to the standard iPad would be an iPad mini with Retina. That product will absolutely dominate the market when—not if—it releases.

While I had the 4 and the mini side-by-side, I decided to try some basic speed tests, such as opening the same apps simultaneously, visiting web pages, that sort of thing. Overall, the lack of an A6X processor doesn't seem to hurt the mini in the slightest. In fact, there were certain apps that opened even faster on the mini than on the 4, although I admit that could also be chalked up to whatever the 4 was running in the background at the time.

Typing in portrait was way more comfortable than I expected, and landscape wasn't too terrible but I did have to stretch my thumbs a bit when accessing the middle of the keyboard. Not uncomfortable, but it dampened my typing speed somewhat.

A few smaller observations:

• The mini was quite cool to the touch, while the 4 was bordering on hot. This may be an instance where not having a Retina display is actually a benefit rather than a drawback.
• Due to the slimmer lengthwise bezel of the mini, picking it up off a flat surface while the screen is on can be somewhat awkward, and may still require two hands if you don't want to accidentally tap something on-screen in the process. I don't personally feel negatively about this, but felt I should mention it.
• On-screen elements on the mini were noticeably smaller than they were on the iPad 4. It's a bit odd holding something the size of a tablet and having to tap things that are sized equivalently to what you'd see on an iPhone screen, but again, this wasn't something that bothered me personally. Your mileage may vary.

After getting to see the device in person, I now realize that my concerns about a lack of Retina display were unfounded. The iPad mini is definitely the one I'm going to purchase, and I would recommend the same to anyone that doesn't require an iPad for professional purposes. If you're a web designer or professional photographer, or even a cafe owner using it as a Square register, I'd say stick with the larger iPad.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the iPad mini simply becomes the standard iPad one day, while the larger device becomes the "iPad Pro," in the same vein as MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

I'm truly impressed with the iPad mini and can't wait to pick one up soon.

iPad Mini Reviews (and Some Thoughts)

John Gruber:

“If the Mini had a retina display, I’d switch from the iPad 3 in a heartbeat. As it stands, I’m going to switch anyway. Going non-retina is a particularly bitter pill for me, but I like the iPad Mini’s size and weight so much that I’m going to swallow it.”

Jim Dalrymple:

“In addition to using the iPad mini in my normal daily tasks, I also found that I would pick up the mini and use it where I normally wouldn’t use the iPad. For instance, if I’m on a phone call, I would typically use my iPhone to look things up while I walk around or type notes, look at Web sites and things like that. Now, I’m using the iPad mini because it’s compact enough to carry around, but not so large that it’s cumbersome.”

Joshua Topolsky:

“But to think of the iPad mini as a companion to the 3rd or 4th generation iPad — some kind of secondary player to the bigger version — would probably be a mistake. With a price tag starting at $329 and heading all the way up to $659 (with LTE and 64GB of storage), this isn’t really a step down from the existing iPad (well, the iPad 2 at least) as much as it is a step to the side.”

So far, every review I've seen of the iPad Mini has been very positive. Lately, I've been thinking about finally picking up an iPad (I've never owned one), but now I'm a bit torn between the Mini and the iPad 4.

The Mini would be the clear choice if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't have a Retina screen. As noted above, Gruber's willing to make that tradeoff for the incredible lightness of the device, but after being used to the Retina display on my iPhone 4S, I don't know how much I would like taking a step backward. Plus, since this will be my first iPad ever, I want to make sure I'm absolutely making the best choice, and having a Retina display is more likely to make me keep the device around for a few years longer.

Either way, I will probably opt for an LTE-capable model, but I'm still unsure of what size HDD to get. My iPhone 4S is a 16GB, and it seems to do okay most of the time, but every so often it will reach max capacity due to all the photos and videos I capture with it. Otherwise, I do a lot of streaming via Spotify, Instacast, and sometimes Netflix/Hulu, rather than storing a bunch of media on the drive itself.

I figure that I probably won't be using the iPad camera nearly as much, so that won't be a problem, but on the other hand I might be more inclined to start purchasing the occasional movie from iTunes and syncing them with the device, something I don't feel compelled to do with my iPhone since I don't watch many movies or shows on it. In addition to that, I've heard a lot about how iPad apps take up more space than their iPhone counterparts.

At this point, I'm leaning towards a 32GB + LTE model of whichever iPad I finally choose. Now I just need to sort out whether I want the iPad 4 or the Mini, and also which color (black or white). My iPhone 4S is white, and I love it, but maybe I'll want something different for a change. We'll see.

Once I get the device and use it for a day or two, I'll let you guys know what I think.

Review: 'Drafts' for iOS

Ever have an idea that suddenly popped into your head that was so good you needed to jot it down, but by the time you get a chance to write, you've forgotten what it was? Or do you have an idea that isn't yet ready for the big time and needs to be refined first? You need an app like Drafts.

​Drafts is designed to help you get your ideas out of your head into text form in the quickest way possible. When you open the app, it promptly greets you with a blank white canvas and a keyboard. No searching for previous notes, no need to add a title first, no distractions. Once you open the app, you simply start typing.

After you've finished typing, you can tap the '+' icon on the center toolbar and save it for later, or you can tap the 'Share' icon on the right side and export it to many different places, including Evernote, Tweetbot, SMS, Facebook, Reminders, Dropbox, ​Omnifocus, Sparrow, Agenda Calendar, and a lot more.

Drafts supports ​Markdown as well, if you're into that sort of thing. I've personally been using it as a tool for practicing Markdown on the go, since it includes options to preview the HTML output of your Markdown or send it elsewhere for use.

​If you would like to go back and see all of your previous drafts, just tap the 'paper' icon on the tool bar and the keyboard will slide down, revealing the drafts list underneath. There's no organizational structure that I'm aware of (like folders or tags), but if you need to find any specific thing you can just use the search feature (obviously, it's the magnifying glass icon on the toolbar).

​Drafts has become extremely useful for me, because I often have an idea spring to mind that I forget by the time I can get it into text form. I could just open Evernote and create a new note there, but Drafts feels so much more direct and I don't feel like I'm going to forget anything by the time it opens because it only takes a second or two.

With Evernote, I have to wait for the notes list to finish syncing, then tap the 'New Note' button, then tap in the body area to start typing. Those extra seconds really do matter, especially when you're doing those same things every single time you open the app. Plus, with Evernote, I'm tempted to properly tag and title each note when I'm done, but with Drafts I don't feel that compulsion. In this case, simple really is better.

There are plenty of other features in Drafts that I haven't even talked about here. For such a simple app, it's pretty powerful, and I highly recommend it. The iPhone version is $2 and the iPad version is $3.

'What Comes After Reading on the iPad"

Khoi Vinh wrote a thoughtful analysis on the future role iPads (and other tablets) may play in our lives:

Traditional publishers are pouring millions into establishing a beachhead on tablets and e-readers, perhaps with good reason. But the intense competition and experimentation (much of it misguided) is almost assuredly unsustainable; almost all of the content apps that we see today will be gone within a few years, I predict, or they will be supplanted by browser-driven editions as their native iOS or Android apps prove too expensive and impractical to maintain.

What’s more, all of these efforts conform to a familiar pattern: at the start of nearly every technological shift, legacy brands manage to command a disproportionate amount of attention as they attempt to stake their holds in the new space, but almost always find themselves unable to sustain that attention through genuine innovation. Ultimately, it’s the pure play companies that realize the medium’s true potential.