Over the last year, I have moved more and more of my work effort and workflows in the direction of the iPad and via the cloud. This next month I am going to put that to the test and only attempt to work off my iPad while traveling overseas. I have been using an iPad for four years now; originally it was for consuming content, not creating content. I had been using my laptop or desktop for content creation. But I loved the lightness and smallness of the iPad and the ability to work pretty much anywhere instead of having to be solely at my desk.
I first installed Dropbox to be able to share files I was downloading to my PC for consumption on the iPad. Then I got a nifty mind-mapping tool and started outlining book projects, sending my OPML files to my desktop for further development. Then I installed Evernote and used it for research and sourcing text to ensure I was doing proper footnoting while writing; I also edited and annotated my draft copies of books on the iPad in the Kindle app.
Recently, I got Office 365 and am now using Word and Excel on the iPad. While I cannot work quite as fast with the smaller keyboard and I also have to use my fingers to ‘select’ and drag to highlight text for editing, I can now pretty much do all my work on the iPad with the exception of using Scrivener (coming soon!) and the high-end Adobe products. I do have some great iPad Adobe apps which sync up with the Adode CC (Creative Cloud) to draw and load into Illustrator and I can do the basic and most important image rendering in an Adobe version of Photoshop for iPad.
I believe I will be able to do everything I need (maybe not quite as quick or as easily as if I was using my desktop) from my iPad. The type of work I am going to be doing over the next four weeks while on the road includes:
- Writing blogs for my two websites, SAZ in the Cellar and InkIT Publishing
- Restructuring and adding content to InkIT Publishing website
- Writing the content to my new book on authoring processes and workflows
- Developing and scripting the content for my upcoming Udemy training course on Wine Appreciation
- Heavy-duty training via the cloud with Lynda.com and Udemy.
- Doing some accounting, processing orders and generating marketing materials as required. (While not having access to the high-end Adobe products, I will be able to insert my JPGs into PowerPoint 365 and modify on top of them if required.)
That is a lot of work I can do on the road without having to carry a computer with me! And with my cloud subscriptions to Adobe CC, Office 365, and now pro/premium subscriptions with Evernote and Dropbox, I can work off of all my files on the cloud on any device I want. And if I need to download a temporary copy of an Adobe product to a PC, I can do so.
Managing files and adapting workflows for the cloud takes a bit of getting used to, but I am finding it far better than just working locally and am able to be productive no matter where I am or if I have a device with me or not.
Via le Cloud and via le iPad!
Steve Shipley, author of Wine Sense, available now!
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