Kindle vs iBooks

For those with the patience to listen to my comments on Twitter, you probably heard me making note of how terrible the new version of the Amazon Kindle app is for the iPad. The last version made a few changes to what I once considered the best e-book reading app on the device.

After a few emails from helpful friends, some gyrations with file formats and and upgrade to my version of Calibre, I had all of my Kindle books residing happily in the constantly-improving iBooks app.

Overall, I much prefer the reading experience on iBooks at this point, for many reasons. I'll address them in a minute, but first I wanted to show you why I feel the Kindle app has gotten so bad.

Where Amazon Went Wrong

Here are two screenshots of the same page in both apps. I greyed-out the Kindle app version to better differentiate the two. Key to note here is the amount of "breathing room" there is around the text. In the previous version of the Kindle app, the text used to float inside the frame much like the iBooks version but with the latest release, it is cramped on all sides.

(click the pictures to enlarge)

 

While it is distracting enough while reading, if you display the interface elements to do something like look at the time, check your progress through the book, or add a bookmark you can see that the interface elements cover the text in the Kindle version. Why? It's inexplicable, distracting and downright ugly.

 

I'll admit that one spot where Kindle gets it right is the Library display. There are rare occasions where the skeuomorphic design might work but the whole bookshelf idea is not one of them. I much prefer the Kindle version of this screen.

 

What's A Good Solution?

Before Amazon laid this egg, I had been almost all of my ebooks from them. I figured their versions would be portable to my Kindle 2, my iPhone or my iPad. Another big plus was that the Kindle app for iPad had a "night mode" long before iBooks did which it made it the best choice for reading at night, as I generally do before bed.

Since Apple opened their online bookstore, I rarely bought ebooks in iBooks format but it was sometimes necessary if they weren't available from Amazon. It was rare however as, even now, I can count the number of iBooks epubs on one hand. I even pre-ordered the Steve Jobs bio on Kindle which seemed somewhat of a betrayal at the time.

But, as with all things (especially software development!), time marches on and with each release Apple improved the iBooks app. When night-mode was added, I seriously started to look at it for handling the bulk of my reading. Still, ebook pricing was generally more favorable on Amazon and the selection was much better so moving was not going to be an easy choice.

That said, some events have conspired to precipitate an quicker move to iBooks than I had previously anticipated (*cough-IOS6beta-sneeze*) and I needed a good way to read books on my devices. After some asking around, it turns out many had solved this problem before and were eager to proffer solutions. Thanks for all of the help, folks.

At this point, I've come up with a decent (if fiddly) method for moving my books to iBooks in epub format. I can switch back and forth depending on my needs at the time and, if Amazon ever decides to improve their Kindle app (or at least restore it to it's former level of usefulness), this way I'll be able to switch back. The issue of having a perfectly serviceable app become unusable (for me) is something I've rarely had to contend with (Instacast is another example of an app that had a misstep but, after their last release, they seem to have corrected the most glaring issues). I'm hoping Amazon corrects their problems and gives me the options which I appreciate for things like this. Until then, at least there is one really excellent choice for epub reader in iBooks. It is gorgeous, works really well and its bookmark cloud-sync seems to be working flawlessly.

Echosphere Note: Frederico Viticci's iOS Wish List Post

Frederico Viticci writes good stuff. His latest article about iOS features he wants to see is a long piece detailing dozens of interesting ideas. Some of them are feasible, even useful, but others seem like they are missing the point of what most users want from their iOS device and would only increase the feature bloat that is making iOS more difficult to maintain (given the number of bugs that have crept into the OS in recent releases) and harder for new users to come to grips with.

Some of his ideas are "expert" level and could be implemented through settings screens. I think most of this higher level functionality would be useless to most users however or, even worse, degrade the experience of people who just want to use their phone to get stuff done.

Other ideas Viticci presented fall in the "why would I ever want to do that, even if I could?" category.

I wanted to go through his list and add comments where I took issue (or agreed fully) with his thoughts. This isn't a full run-down on his ideas, however, and I'd encourage everyone to head to macstories to read the full treatise.

iOS 6 Wishes

Sync browser tabs through iCloud: I have no idea why I'd ever want to do that. So many websites aren't really that useful on the iPhone and with all of the link sharing/link saving applications and websites (Pinboard, Instapaper, etc), I use my computer to view websites I specifically don't want to see on my phone or iPad.

Facebook integration: Don't even get me started on Facebook. It needs to stay as far away from me as possible and integrating it into the phone will just make its annoyance more ubiquitous. I'd rather they find ways to diminish its presence and given that Facebook is, in some important ways, a competitor to Apple I can't see them ever doing this for their own sake.

Search in All Mailboxes: Interesting but impossible idea. Searching offline mail folders from a phone would require a server archiving and indexing component that would be too difficult to even envision let alone implement. How would you feel about Apple having an indexed version of all of your email, no matter which service handled the email originally? That's the only way it could be done though.

Copy link and text in App Store, Sharing options in App Store and iTunes wish list: Good ideas but not too important in the scheme of things. It's one of those things that I can't see a lot of users making use of.

Per-contact read iMessage status: I'd like this but it would be a pain to implement and actually use. It's one of those expert level things I mentioned above. I would hope "fixing iMessage" would rank higher than this...

Mail-style rich text system-wide: I guess. I personally don't use rich text if I can avoid it and I can see where a writer would want something like this but all I can envision is getting emails from my mother with blue backgrounds and comic sans fonts and shudder at the thought. I'd blame Frederico for each one of those emails...

AirDrop: I love this idea but it does belie the whole notion of using iOS as a simple device devoid of a file system (on the surface anyway). Viticci makes it sound some neat and interesting but where do those files go? How do you open them? How do you send them to the apps that need to handle them? I'd prefer Apple concentrate on fixing iCloud.

Move multiple icons at once: Terrible idea.

Rethink the iOS Home screen concept and Rethinking iOS Multitasking: I like the idea of live icons with the ability to have the current weather on an icon or a cloud when it's cloudy and maybe a temperature display. There's a lot you can do with that idea. But the Home screen metaphor is going nowhere and the current handling of multitasking is going nowhere either. I am not averse to a "running apps" page at the end of my screens list, but the point of the Home button interaction to bring up the running apps is not to keep them sequestered where they are out of the way but to make it fast to access the last few apps you used. The double-tapped Home button is annoying at times but I'd rather move that control to something more obvious and less "clicky" than completely blow up the paradigm for a mis-guided sort of convenience. Regardless, the way the the OS itself multitasks is pretty much perfect for a good blend of preservation of battery life and usability.

Deeper Gmail integration: Isn't that why Sparrow exists? Most people don't use Gmail, instead using their work's Exchange, MSN, Yahoo! and others, so enabling these very Google-specific features wouldn't be the typical sort of wide-brush approach that is common to Apple's development. Would I like it? Sure. Will it happen? Nope.

Automatic app updates option: OK. I can somewhat agree to this, as a developer, but there are things like data caps, bad WiFi connections and other things that are very connection-specific that make this type of updating problematic. As someone who has to deal with users and connectivity issues a lot, I can assure you, not everyone enjoys the same level of connectivity as the most tech savvy of us.

Open up Siri: Yes, sure. That'd be nice but first concentrate on "Fix Siri".

Better inter-app communication: I think this will definitely be a big feature consideration of future OS versions but it has a large number of problems for implementation, not the least of which is security.

Improve Notification Center: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes

Make iOS devices aware of each other’s presence: I am not sure I'd like this but I am sure they'd allow those of us who like privacy and dislike most people to turn it off.

Bring AIM to iMessage for iOS, and let us selectively mute threads: They need to fix iMessage first. That shit is severely broken, especially when integrating it with my Mac. (iMessage beta actually broke iMessage so badly on my phone I had to delete it from my machine and remove all traces of it to get my phone's iMessage to work again. Crazy!)

Calculations in Spotlight: That'd be nice but if you really want to be that type of power user, you should be using Launchbar already. And the rest of the user population wouldn't use it if it was there.

Let users change default apps: That would be great. It would likely be problematic for them to implement (or for us to use) but still a great addition to the OS.

Make Notification Center for iPad Mountain Lion-like: Sure. Sounds great.

Improve Notes with Mountain Lion features: Who uses Notes? I only know one person who uses the Notes in iOS but it's only because she is somewhat stubborn. For someone who wants an "improved" notes, they should rush out and buy Drafts or Nebulous Notes immediately.

Documents UI for iCloud: This should probably be Apple's first priority. iCloud is so essential to the company's future and the current implementation needs a lot of work. No iWork integration yet? Really, Apple?

VIP contacts for Mail and Messages: I love the idea of VIP contacts.

Easy access to WiFi, Bluetooth switches: At the very least allow developers to build apps to do this...

~~~

I disagreed with a lot of what Viticci says in his wish list but it was an enjoyable read. It gave me a lot to think about. Thanks, Frederico!

Tech Note: The Cosmonaut Stylus

There have been quite a few reviews of styluses (stylii?) over the last few weeks.

Until the release of 53's Paper, I hadn't devoted more than fifteen seconds to the thought of a stylus for my iPad. Before that app, I would have rather wrestled a badger than go back to hauling a stylus around. I was scarred from using a Palm Treo for many years, and then a Windows phone; both of those had very stylus-centric interfaces. Adding to my antipathy was the fact that my kids are always arguing over a lost Nintendo DS stylus.

Despite my hatred of them, a stylus was inescapable in those dark days but thankfully, in 2007, Steve Jobs saved me from the indignity of poking electronics with a stick when he introduced the iPhone touch interface. I haven't looked back at those times, except for the occasional mocking of Samsung Galaxy Note users, with their ridiculous, stylus-equipped, huge-ass phones.

But then Paper showed up on my iPad and a quiet voice in the back of my head whispered, "This might be better with a stylus." Uh oh.

It took a few weeks of convincing myself but I finally decided to take the plunge and ordered the Cosmonaut from Studio Neat.

I wish I had waited a few more days until the Verge stylus overview came out because I might have stuck with my original choice of the Bamboo. The finer control offered by the Bamboo would be welcome at times.

That said, the Cosmonaut is sturdy and has a nice, tactile heaviness to it. It feels substantial and weighty. At first I felt like I had to press too hard on the iPad with it to get a mark to appear but that feeling passed after a few minutes of serious scribbling.

As it stands now, I've gotten thoroughly used to the Cosmonaut and really like it for drawing and diagramming, especially in Paper. To be honest, I haven't tried it with any other apps because I much prefer typing for most tasks. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is my nearly-illegible handwriting (and if it's not plain text you can't search it, or cut and paste it into an email, or edit it in nvALT, etc. etc.).

So, that said, the Cosmonaut is a great drawing implement for the iPad. If you're looking for a stylus that's not fiddly, easily lost or broken, this is the one to buy.

(yes, that is a picture I drew of our corgi, Orbit, in Paper using a Cosmonaut)

Work Culture: iPads and MacBooks in Meetings

I found a link to a website recently called Gridwriter which has a bunch of read-worthy articles on it. I like Robert's writing style and have been having fun digging through his thoughts on various subjects near and dear to my heart (GTD, technology, etc.)

One that struck a chord was about why he refrains from taking notes on an iPad when in meetings. In the article he mentions the snarky comments and sideways glances you get when walking into a meeting with an iPad. I certainly got my fair share of those when I first did it. In fact, I was asked not to bring it after one meeting and people dismissively commented about me "checking my instant messenger" during the whole meeting, when all I was doing was taking notes.

I took the criticism to heart for a while but was bothered that I had to change my workflow, certainly for the worse, for the whims or perceptions of people who don't view technology with quite the same type of interest or curiosity that I do.

For a while, I did what Robert did -- scribbled down notes in a paper notepad and transcribed them to my iPad or Macbook when the meeting was over. This was problematic for me, because my meetings are often back-to-back with subsequent meetings and I rarely have the time or inclination to type eight hours worth of notes into OmniOutliner at the end of the day.

I started thinking up ways to combat the negativity and skewed perceptions of those who didn't feel like taking a laptop or iPad into a meeting was appropriate or productive.

Sit in a spot where others can easily see your screen.

Make it obvious to those around you that you're single-tasking and taking good notes on the proceedings. If possible, sit with the biggest critic in clear view of what you're doing.

Read back from your notes when appropriate.

Often, someone will bring up a point from earlier in the meeting and will have characterized it incorrectly or forgotten exactly what was agreed to. Reading from what you typed can certainly prove the point that you were typing the proceedings rather than checking email.

Don't multitask, even if it helps.

Someone mentions they need access to a github repository. You quickly tab over to Safari and grant them access. While it looks to you like you were being helpful and efficient, to those who don't like laptops or devices in meetings, it just looks like you weren't paying attention. Avoid this situation. Instead, press your OmniFocus hotkey or switch to OmniFocus for iPad and quickly dump the github access request into your Inbox and do it later.

Send meeting minutes out right after the meeting

If you were responsible for producing the meeting minutes, send them out as soon as you can after the meeting. If you're using a workflow like mine, you can tab over the Marked and produce email-ready meeting minutes in literally seconds.

~~~

While the steps I took eventually worked, admittedly, it didn't hurt that I am one of the people in the company that drive technology throughout the organization. Trying out new technology, especially stuff that's relevant to our overall business objectives, is something I need to do and obviously something I enjoy.

A few months of consistent meeting minutes, instant and search-driven recall over details of meetings from weeks before, and a clear understanding of priorities (captured in meetings and put directly into OmniFocus) helped win over the doubters and it seems like the culture around here has slowly changed. Having laptops and iPads in meetings these days is a common occurrence, and I'm a lot happier for it.

OmniOutliner Synchronization Woes and a Note-Taking Workflow

My current workflow for note-taking at work involves my MacBook Air, OmniOutliner for Mac, TextExpander, Markdown, Marked, Keyboard Maestro, and Dropbox. Sounds pretty complicated, huh? Welp... I'll fill you in on how that all works in a minute.

My Problems with OmniOutliner Synchronization

Before I get into my note-taking workflow, I want to talk about my recent problems trying to go between OmniOutliner for iPad and OmniOutliner for Mac.

Ideally, I would use my iPad take notes in OmniOutliner during meetings. It is less obtrusive, fairly single-task-focused, has great battery life and is ultra-portable.

I would like to go back to my desk after a meeting, open OmniOutliner and the notes would be there for me to mail to edit or send to the attendees.

I'd like to have one file for all of the meetings during a given week to keep the number of files down to a manageable amount and store all of these files in a central, ubiquitous area that I can access on multiple devices.

Those are the things I'd like, but that's not what I actually have.

1. I have an OmniOutliner app for the iPad which has trouble quickly bringing up files on the OmniSync server and no good way to organize them locally.

2. I have an OmniOutliner app that has caused huge problems for me because the notes I had been working on during the hour long meeting I was attending (and responsible to send to attendees after the meeting) disappeared, gone forever.

I have no fast, efficient way to work within a single file for the week, taking meeting notes as I go, and seamlessly switch between OmniOutliner on different devices.

I guess what I am getting at is that I need either iCloud or Dropbox sync in OmniOutliner for iPad to be truly, all-around useful for me. Don't get me wrong. I adore the robust functionality and features of the iPad version, but it's not feasible for me to use it for actual work.

CarbonFin Outliner

Doing some Google searching lead me to CarbonFin Outliner for iOS. It seemed to have a feature-list that would do the job so I downloaded it and took a look.

I tried to come up with a workflow that used OPML, CarbonFin Outliner for iPad and Dropbox but there were quirky synchronization problems. Also, the formatting would never remain consistent between devices and I had file clashes unless I closed one app and opened another before working on a shared file.

CarbonFin Outliner had some weird design issues present as well. For instance, in landscape mode, you can't banish the navigation/file-chooser pane on the left to maximize your screen space for actual work. As a result, the screen displays a list of files, none of which were important to the task at hand, taking up nearly a quarter of the limited iPad screen space.

Another Synchronization Workaround Attempt

I also tried using Hazel to react to file changes in my OmniOutliner files, sending the modified files to my Omnisync server directory using a WebDAV https link.

This whole process was too slow and prone to error due to connectivity issues and the speed at which files could transfer. I ended up with a lot of garbage in the WebDAV directory and I didn't want to risk corrupting my files with an errant process so I discontinued the attempts.

My Note-taking Workflow

Here are the goals of my process:

• Searchable
• Synchronized files between iPad, Macbook Air and maybe even iPhone
• Fast outline structure support (indenting etc)
• Consistent formatting
• TextExpander support
• Quick export of formatted meeting notes to send via email

The actual workflow is as follows...

Each week, usually on Monday, I create a new OmniOutliner file on my MacBook. In the header area, I type "newweek" and, using TextExpander, it takes the current date, adds seven days to it, and outputs the result in bolded markdown.

The snippet looks like this:

**Week of %m%d%Y to %@+7D%m%d%Y**

The result looks like this:

**Week of 03292012 to 04052012**

Then I name the file "weekly meetings 03292012 to 04052012.oo3" and save it in a folder on Dropbox. Using Path Finder, I can find any phrase in these files quickly and easily or search by date within a file name or date within a file itself.

At one point, I had written an Applescript that would convert every .oo3 file into a markdown-formatted text file and store it in my text file database so I could use nvALT to do targeted searching. I abandoned this extra step because Path Finder and oo3 file searching seems to work fine. Most searching gets done on my MacBook Air anyway.

Within the OmniOutliner file, each meeting gets a formatted header indicating the meeting topic and date/time. To do this, I press a hotkey and, using Keyboard Maestro scripting, it does all of the indenting and outdenting necessary to create a well-formatted meeting entry.

In addition to the tabbing and spacing, this keyboard macro emulates a TextExpander snippet I created called, not surprisingly, "newmeeting".

In TextExpander, the snippet looks like this:

**%fill:name% %m%d%Y %H%M%p**

and translated into Keyboard Maestro it looks like this:

**%Variable%MeetingName% %ICUDateTime%MMddyyyy hhmma%**

The end result is, just moments after arriving at a meeting, with just a few keystrokes I am able to start note-taking.

After the meeting, if I need to paste those notes into an email, I can do so quickly using Marked by selecting the meeting title in OmniOutliner and choosing "Preview Selection in Marked" under the Services menu.

This dumps the selected meeting notes into Marked, formatted in a default CSS that works well with Office 13 email.

Bottom Line

I have yet to find a way to integrate the iPad (and OmniOutliner for iPad) into my note-taking workflow. For now, I'll need to keep toting my MacBook Air around to meetings (not a huge dilemma, admittedly).

If I have a dead battery in my Air, I could feasibly take my iPad to handle the duty of taking notes but it is hardly ideal.

Here's how it would work:

Once I get back to my desk, I will need to export the outline from the iPad to the OmniServer login. Often I find that OmniOutliner has forgotten my credentials after a series of cryptic error messages, forcing me to delete all of my prior settings and re-entering them.

Then, on my MacBook, I connect to the Omnigroup server, log in and connect to it as a detached drive. At this point, I open the drive and navigate to the directory where I exported it and open the file. This is, unfortunately, a torturously slow, multipart process that is prone to error.

As you can see, it's a hassle.

I could conceivably ditch OmniOutliner and go with nvALT and text files for all of my note-taking but then I'd miss out on convenient OPML import/export which I often use with mindmapping software or Scrivener.

Given those benefits, not to mention the stellar outlining capabilities of OmniOutliner, it is worth dealing with a less-than-perfect synchronization setup but I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for better solutions and I'll post about it here if I find any.