Back when I decided to buy the iPad 2 one of the main things I wanted to use it for was blogging. I didn't want to always have to sit in my office at my desk to compose blog posts. I had an Apple bluetooth keyboard that worked great with the iPad, and even a fancy little case to put them both in so it functioned almost like a touch-screen laptop. The only things missing was a decent app. I had planned on using the web browser to create blog posts on the iPad.
However, that experience was less than ideal. There is no real good way to do it. Adding images is nearly impossible. You can only edit the html, instead of the normal "compose" mode that you have a full-featured browser. I didn't like it and I found myself never using it. I found an app called Blogpress that worked okay. I initially had it on my iPod and on my wife's iPhone to post pictures to her own blog. It was better than nothing, but the interface was clumsy and there was always weird stuff happening. The Blogpress iPhone app isn't horrible, but they have a lot of work to do on the iPad version.
Trying to blog on the iPad was way worse than I thought it would be. However, I found the Blogsy app. There is no iPhone version, which I would like to see, but I decided to go ahead and get it. The screen shots looked nice and it had good reviews. I was immediately impressed by it. Now it is my main way of blogging. It still has a fair share of quirks and bugs, but the developers are constantly improving it with updates. If the app crashes it sends a report to the guys at Blogsy so they can look into it further. Images still don't always align correctly on blogger, but they are fixing that in the next update. Anybody who owns an iPad and would like to blog with it, the Blogsy app is a must. I think it cost $4.99 and it is totally worth it.
For a hardcore blogger any sort of tablet probably isn't the way to go. Even as the apps improve, for a person whose main use is blogging, a Macbook air or other ultra-portable laptop would be a better option. That is initially what I wanted to get, but I couldn't justify spending the money. The iPad was cheaper, and offers a lot of other functions that are cumbersome on a laptop. The iPad is great for browsing the web and reading blogs or other online content. I haven't used it for reading books, but it would be fine for that too; especially if you want to read in a dark room. At some point I would love to get a 13" Macbook Air, but for now the iPad with a keyboard is a solid substitute as long as I am using the Blogsy app.
