Among the first items to consider is an external keyboard.  For US$69, one can buy either a wireless keyboard or a keyboard dock.

There are already a number of applications writers will want to explore:

• GoodReader [US$1.00]:  Capable as a PDF reader.  I understand that with some tweaking this application can open Microsoft Word.
• QuickOffice [US$10.00]:  While the version for the iPhone does not work well on the iPad, an iPad-specific version will reportedly be availabe sometime this summer.
• Of course, already receiving acclaim are the Apple office applications with iPad-specific versions — Pages, Keynote and Numbers — all costing US$10.00 each.  These apps were among the top five downloads over the past week
• Being a musician myself, I’m intrigued by three iPad applications that are getting good reviews;  Nota [$8], Pianist Pro [$10] and Tab Toolkit [$10].

Have any of you readers tried out any of these apps?  Or, more interesting, have you found other iPad applications that will be useful to writers?  Please share with us.  Zamantha has rounded up some articles citing additional applications — see below.

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• So Apple… What’s The Deal With The Rest Of The iPad Apps??? (geardiary.com)
• Five apps I love on my iPad, and three that need more work (tuaw.com)
• First look: iWork for iPad (macworld.com)
• Self-published electronic books to make it to Apple’s iPad for almost no cost (digital.venturebeat.com)
• Does the iPad need Microsoft Office to succeed? (macworld.com)
• Memeo announces Memeo Connect Reader for iPad (macworld.com)
• Steve Jobs: 450,000 iPads Sold, 3.5 Million Apps Downloaded (mashable.com)

This announcement is so new that there’s no additional information yet from Google search, other than a few tech blogs expressing their praise for this application and what future versions might bring to the iPad.

NOTE:  While you are here, click on the related article link about creating a book cover.  It will take you to a brief and fascinating video that’s fun and amazing to watch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to Design a Book Cover in 2 minutes (neatorama.com)

• new, inexpensive version of  iWorks applications [$9.99 for the word processor],
• a convenient dock and physical keyboard for those not comfortable with the touch-screen keyboard,
• an attractive e-book reader
• use of the open ePub format [great news for us writers]
• an iBookstore, drawing on the catalog of several major US publishers, including Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette
• a New York Times application designed especially for the iPad [a harbinger, I'm sure, of similar apps for other publications],
• Wi-Fi and 3-G connectivity, plus syncing with computer via cable
• and, finally, a surprisingly reasonable price [$499 for the most basic model without 3-G!]

With the iPad, writers can now retreat to the woods and be perfectly happy — and productive.

Gizmodo is making available several short videos of the Apple live presentation.  Here’s the one which will interest writers the most.

• What it looks like to read a book

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  LEAVE US A COMMENT.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Apple iPad eBook App is called ‘iBooks’ [IBooks] (i.gizmodo.com)
• iPad to feature Apple’s iBooks e-reader app (macworld.com)
• iPad vs. Kindle: Will Apple’s New Product Make eReaders Obsolete? (huffingtonpost.com)