Is Writing a Thesis on an iPad Do-able?

[palpatine]

I respect you're preferences & embrace choices.

Just out of curiosity. And as one that owns & enjoys an iPad 4, MBA & MBP, what about assembling three components to replicate the form factor of a laptop appeals to you?

Open minded & a frequent annual upgrader to the latest Apple offerings, I always enjoy hearing others talk about what they use & why.

Modularity. I can mix and match as needed.

At home: iPad + MBA + Nexus 7 = 3 monitors.
On campus: iPad.
Trip: iPad + N7 = 2 monitors.

The MBA is nice, but the screen is small, not as nice to read as the iPad's, and if I am going to carry around the iPad anyhow (for reading), why not just leave the MBA at home?

Out of the house I get double the battery life, I can use the iPad in portrait, I can do handwriting, I can read comfortably, I can work anywhere (in bed, in line, etc.), and I can use Logmein to access any files / programs on the Mac if needed. Occasionally, I'll type on the iPhone (pair external keyboard with it), but usually just use the iPad. One combination I rarely do (but coincidentally, will tomorrow), is the N7 and iPad.

A short essay... sure. A thesis... sounds very tough on the iPad. It is definitely do-able but you might save some headache using your PC/Mac. Mouse support is crucial for me when doing word processing, spreadsheets, etc... that's one thing I like about Android.

I don't miss the mouse a bit, because of the keyboard shortcuts (external keyboard). Navigation is a breeze.

 

[kjs862]

Typing more for a traditional keyboard.

Ipad more content consumption.

 

[palpatine]

Typing more for a traditional keyboard.

Ipad more content consumption.

iPad + external keyboard = the best of both.

 

[maxosx]

iPad + external keyboard = the best of both.

Close but not quite.

I bought a ZAGG ProPlus with backlit keyboard to use with my iPad 4. I write a lot both for business & pleasure. Widely regarded as the best new keyboard created, I do enjoy it if only it wasn't quite so cramped. That's not a bad trait of the keyboard, but rather the size limitations of the iPad.

That said its certainly better than typing directly on the iPad, it's all a matter of personal preference. Something I understand & respect.

At the end of the day, I'm not size or weight sensitive and greatly prefer my 13" MBA for writing. For the engineering work I do, either my 15" retina MBP or late 2011 15" hi-res anti-glare MBP are the tools of choice.

 

[thewitt]

My hands are too large to use the Zagg or other keyboard cases. The external full size works perfectly for me however.

 

[palpatine]

Close but not quite.

I bought a ZAGG ProPlus with backlit keyboard to use with my iPad 4. I write a lot both for business & pleasure. Widely regarded as the best new keyboard created, I do enjoy it if only it wasn't quite so cramped. That's not a bad trait of the keyboard, but rather the size limitations of the iPad.

That said its certainly better than typing directly on the iPad, it's all a matter of personal preference. Something I understand & respect.

At the end of the day, I'm not size or weight sensitive and greatly prefer my 13" MBA for writing. For the engineering work I do, either my 15" retina MBP or late 2011 15" hi-res anti-glare MBP are the tools of choice.

I don't know who regards it as the best new keyboard, but the Apple bluetooth keyboard + Incase Origami is (in my opinion) far superior to the Zagg keyboards I have used, because it is full-sized, has an incline, and can easily be left behind if you don't plan on doing any writing that day.

Earlier in the thread I mentioned that my dissertation is in the humanities. I would not know if you could write a thesis / dissertation in the sciences on it, but it probably would be a bit more difficult and involve LaTeX.

 

[kjs862]

iPad + external keyboard = the best of both.

This is good too.

But honestly for something like an essay I would prefer a larger screen and true multi tasking for looking up stuff and wiki and other resources.

 

[maxosx]

I don't know who regards it as the best new keyboard, but the Apple bluetooth keyboard + Incase Origami is (in my opinion) far superior to the Zagg keyboards I have used, because it is full-sized, has an incline, and can easily be left behind if you don't plan on doing any writing that day.

Earlier in the thread I mentioned that my dissertation is in the humanities. I would not know if you could write a thesis / dissertation in the sciences on it, but it probably would be a bit more difficult and involve LaTeX.

Most of the major reviews compare only the keyboards that double as cases that end up being one unit when closed. So the user has a single item to carry. While I've seen the combo you use & do not disagree its a better keyboard, it's a bit cumbersome for those of us that travel extensively via air. It's nearly impossible to fit the combo you use on an airliners tray table. The extra width of the keyboard alone is prohibitive as is the larger foot print. Not to mention there's nothing to hold that combo together like a one piece laptop. Or the two pieces that fit together as one like the ZAGG or others.

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My hands are too large to use the Zagg or other keyboard cases. The external full size works perfectly for me however.

Precisely. It's just that the BT Apple keyboard & separate stand w/ iPad requires a larger work surface or footprint. At a desk that's not an issue, but in smaller workspaces its a problem.

 

[Giuly]

Close but not quite.

I bought a ZAGG ProPlus with backlit keyboard to use with my iPad 4. I write a lot both for business & pleasure. Widely regarded as the best new keyboard created, I do enjoy it if only it wasn't quite so cramped. That's not a bad trait of the keyboard, but rather the size limitations of the iPad.

That said its certainly better than typing directly on the iPad, it's all a matter of personal preference. Something I understand & respect.

At the end of the day, I'm not size or weight sensitive and greatly prefer my 13" MBA for writing. For the engineering work I do, either my 15" retina MBP or late 2011 15" hi-res anti-glare MBP are the tools of choice.

I think by keyboard he (or she) meant something akin to the Logitech Tablet Keyboard or even the slightly larger Wireless Solar Keyboard for Mac/iPad/iPhone, not a keyboard cover.

 

[Night Spring]

But honestly for something like an essay I would prefer a larger screen and true multi tasking for looking up stuff and wiki and other resources.

It's nearly impossible to fit the combo you use on an airliners tray table. The extra width of the keyboard alone is prohibitive as is the larger foot print. Not to mention there's nothing to hold that combo together like a one piece laptop. Or the two pieces that fit together as one like the ZAGG or others.

As I mentioned before I'm also like kjs862 -- I prefer a larger screen for writing longer pieces. Also, maxosx brings up another good reason why I find a laptop preferable to keyboard + iPad. Finding space to set up iPad + keyboard, and making sure they all stay up without falling down is a pain, especially in tight spaces like Airplane or train/bus. As for keyboard cover or cases, those keyboards are too tiny for me to really type on.

Of course, this all comes down to personal preference, and if I were living a different lifestyle, with different commuting patterns, office environment, sets of things I have to carry, etc, I can easily see I might prefer something else. But for now, I prefer to carry my MBA + iPad when I need a keyboard input device, and leave the MBA behind when I know I can just get by with my iPad.

 

[philosopherdog]

Funny how some people who have never bothered mastering typing on an ipad assume it is universally the case that it is not easy to type on. Learn to type on it first. There are some nice typing programs out there. The other thing is you could do the bulk of your thesis writing on this thing. It could function as a distraction free writing device. Dropbox your files; format and edit on another device. AIwriter is awesome. This device is great for writers. Editing, not so much.

 

[metanoiac]

For longer writing, I would always go with an external keyboard (regardless of whether it is an iPad or MacBook), since it is much more ergonomic. From the writing perspective, an iPad with external keyboard is actually quite a good machine, since it can allow you to focus better on your writing task. See this post here: http://www.joachim-scholz.com/academipad/2012/05/27/writing-ipad-keyboard/

In terms of a longer thesis document: I don't think that Papers or Sente already manage citation / reference management in their iOS versions. So unless you want to include your references manually, this would be a problem. You can write the thesis in an app like Byword and leave placeholders for references there. But the ultimate formatting would have to be done on a Mac in order to get the list of references and formatting right.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Pages for iPad. $9.00. Has same function as the mac version. Font, spacing, footnotes...etc.

 

[kjs862]

And no matter what your Joyce is, don't forget Siri.

 

[jojoba]

I do most of my academic writing on my Air for two main reasons: Scrivener, and reference management.

I absolutely love the way Scrivener helps me work with my articles in a non linear manner, and while I sync my Scrivener projects to my iPad and use Elements on the go, the functionality is nowhere near what I get on the Air.

Like metanoiac said, reference management is the other reason why I use my Air as my main academic writing tool. I like to reference my papers from the outset, rather than having it build up as a major chore towards the end.

Finally, I work in a windows environment where I'm often expected to share and comment on texts that are circulated in Word format, and I prefer using my Air for that.

Having said that, I use my iPad extensively for academic work, reading and marking up research articles, taking notes, brain storming, and jotting down shorter paragraphs that will eventually be integrated into an ongoing writing project. Like palpatine, I will often go with iPad and external keyboard rather than my Air when I go away for a day or on shorter trips, due to the stylus input / long battery life/ 3G combo.

 

[palpatine]

While I've seen the combo you use & do not disagree its a better keyboard, it's a bit cumbersome for those of us that travel extensively via air.

I travel on a regular basis and love it on the plane. It fits perfectly fine on the tray table, even in economy. I use it on trains if I am riding something like the bullet train in Japan, but in the states a lot of trains do not have tables to set it on, and this combination of Origami Workstation and iPad doesn't work as well (it's OK, but not great) on your lap. I've found the Zagg keyboard quite nice to use on my lap, but since I don't write there much, it isn't worth it for me (keyboard is too small - as has been said before).

This device is great for writers. Editing, not so much.

Yes. Typing on the iPad with the virtual keyboard is fine, but at least for me, that only gets as far as the rough draft. Most of my writing involves lots of editing, or jumping around the document to write in different places, and on a thesis / dissertation-length project I strongly recommend that people invest in an external keyboard and learn a few of the basic keyboard shortcuts (with these, you won't even miss a mouse). My preference is for the Apple bluetooth keyboard + Incase Origami Workstation.

In terms of a longer thesis document: I don't think that Papers or Sente already manage citation / reference management in their iOS versions.

Bookends does.

So unless you want to include your references manually, this would be a problem.... But the ultimate formatting would have to be done on a Mac in order to get the list of references and formatting right.

I recommend manually. I have all of my references (thousands) in Evernote. If you want, of course, you can just use reference manager software, export the list in html, and copy/paste that into Evernote as well. I have to do a lot of editing to the footnotes anyhow (the software never gets it right), so one way or another, it is a manual process (in my field, at least). I keep one copy of the bibliography formatting, and one of the footnote formatting, so it is just copy/paste. No big deal.

As for footnotes and formatting, Pages on the iPad does a phenomenal job. At some point, in the later stages, it does make it easier to tidy it up on the Macbook, but I can do that at the end of the week, or at night if I am in town. That's why I say you "could" easily do the entire dissertation on the iPad now, but realistically, for some of these more complicated formatting things, you'll probably want to at least have access to a computer at some point before submitting the final project, so it is maybe a 90% iPad / 10% computer process in terms of total time spent on the devices.

 

[irDigital0l]

I would prefer a computer...

I find that forcing myself to type on the iPad just makes it loose productivity whereas typing long pages on a PC feels normal.

 

[charlituna]

Not if he used an iPad.

Attempts at being cute but lame in the end.

Any time length in writing something like a thesis is about the writer, not the tools.

In the end, use what works for you and hang everyone else's opinions. They aren't doing your work. The only solid advice given was try it and return it before the period is up.

 

[Essenar]

All these posts and not one person has asked the most important question...

What is your major? If its history or some other social science, yes, you can pull it off with an iPad. And comfortably I might add. The streamlined application operating system makes it easier to focus and not get distracted by Netflix or Facebook tabs.

Is it chemistry, engineering, physics or math? Dude don't even think about it.

 

[scotartt]

All these posts and not one person has asked the most important question...

What is your major? If its history or some other social science, yes, you can pull it off with an iPad. And comfortably I might add. The streamlined application operating system makes it easier to focus and not get distracted by Netflix or Facebook tabs.

Is it chemistry, engineering, physics or math? Dude don't even think about it.

Dude, this is exactly the wrong way around.

If you are writing on the iPad, as I do, you should be using LaTeX. And where are you more likely to find LaTeX support for your thesis? In the physical sciences and mathematics.

Sure, if your iPad is your *only* computer (as the OP posted in 2010) then you may lack the ability to turn your TeX into a PDF easily, but, this can be done with a shell account on a Unix server ... something you could pay a few dollars to get access to over the internet.

If you use one of the many editors that understand Dropbox, you're well on your way. Although I have a main desktop computer that I write my PhD thesis on (it's actually a Macbook Pro that is chained to an external monitor, so acts as a desktop), I have a iPad 2 I use for 'portable' computing, including sitting outside on a lovely day and writing my thesis on it, with the first Zagg keyboard, which I find adequate enough.

I used to write in multimarkdown (which is converted to LaTeX before production of PDFs), but I find that the footnote support in MMD to be awful,* whereas in LaTeX itself the concept is pretty easy.

Although I'm writing a Classics thesis, if you're writing directly in LaTeX, as you would do for a maths or physics thesis, then you should be set to write on your iPad, the keyboard is going to be the most expensive part ... the editor will set you back $5 and given LaTeX is plain text the Dropbox account could easily be the free one.

* and actually, footnotes and bibs in the Humanities are _harder_ than they are in the physical sciences, as they tend to use a more varied collection of styles, I have had to extensively customise BibLaTeX to get it even remotely close to the style I need - the pre-built styles are nearly all for the sciences (MLA is useless to me).

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

I think by keyboard he (or she) meant something akin to the Logitech Tablet Keyboard or even the slightly larger Wireless Solar Keyboard for Mac/iPad/iPhone, not a keyboard cover.

I just picked up the Logitech last night and I love it. I posted a quick review here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17047407#post17047407

 

[youknome]

I'm currently writing a dissertation and in no way shape or form would I possibly ever consider using an iPad for this task.

 

[palpatine]

I'm currently writing a dissertation and in no way shape or form would I possibly ever consider using an iPad for this task.

I imagine a lot of grad students would agree, and among my colleagues, I think I am the only one using an iPad. It is doable, though, and (for me, at least), a more enjoyable way to write.

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The comments above about LaTeX show that a humanities writer can make use of a system traditionally associated with the sciences, and so it ought to be clear to everyone that it doesn't really matter what your specialty is. There are ways.

For the less technically inclined, notesy (iPad) + Scrivener (Mac/Windows) allows you to easily write your dissertation in plain text. Footnotes can be written inline using double brackets {{This would export as a footnote}}. In the final stages, I moved from plain text to Pages on iOS, and in the very end Pages on the Mac because of formatting issues. However, that means only about three months were on the Mac out of about three years of writing. That's not too bad

A LaTeX user could probably get all the way to the final stage without a computer. Of course, there is always the remote desktop route as well.

 

[Medic311]

i jailbroke my iPad 3 and i use a BT mouse + keyboard. works great

 

[palpatine]

i jailbroke my iPad 3 and i use a BT mouse + keyboard. works great

Jailbreaking is an option, but I've found the mouse completely unnecessary because of the BT keyboard shortcut keys that help you navigate around documents. I think you'll find me on these forums maybe a couple of years ago angry at Apple for the lack of mouse support, which I greatly enjoyed on Android, but as soon as someone schooled me about the keyboard commands, all that anger melted away.