Typing on the iPad can be a real chore, especially if you have to make a lot of edits. At present, you have to spend quite a bit of time and use very precise finger movements to get the cursor into a certain spot, leaving you with an angry scowl and a finger cramp.
So what’s the solution? YouTube user Daniel Hooper (via iDownloadBlog) thinks he has the answer, and has produced the great concept video above to show the world how he thinks Apple should have implemented text editing on the iPad in the first place!
When performing lots of edits in larger documents the direct interaction metaphor falls apart for cursor control. Even short portions of text can be painful to edit when you need to move the cursor to a precise location. Would you ever want to write a document on your computer without using the arrow keys? This is the reality iPad users face because they do not have the equivalent of arrow keys. There is a better way.
Indeed, using natural gestures, like the dragging gesture Hooper shows, does seem natural. In fact, it seems like something that is right up Apple’s alley – why didn’t they think of this in the first place? This goes to the top of my list of things I want to see in iOS 6.
What do you think? Do you find this concept interesting? Would you be interested in seeing this in iOS 6?
