Pages for iPad Apple Teacher Badge
For today's review, we continue with the Apple Teacher program put out by Apple, Inc., though this time we are reviewing both the badge and app for Pages. Pages is a simple program - it is a word processor for Apple devices, and is highly comparable to Microsoft Word. To get the Pages app, you can simply visit the App Store and search "Pages," and it should pop right up. Here;s a quick and dirty guide on how to use Pages, straight from the horse's mouth: help.apple.com/pages/ipad/3.3/. You can access Apple Teacher here: appleteacher.apple.com/desktop/.
The Pages app is, like many Apple programs, simple and very user-friendly, and thus is very easy to master. As it is a word processor, it is very similar to Microsoft Word in both functionality and design. For those who are new to pages, like myself, you'll find that the app runs very smoothly and is quick to learn how to use. Virtually every function that Microsoft Word or related word processors can do, the Pages app can do just as well. Since I am using the iPad version of pages (there is a different app for Mac users), it did take me a little bit of adjustment time to figure out what functions corresponded to the different menu locations throughout the app and keyboard, but it certainly wasn't like using a completely different product.
Perhaps this sounds like circular reasoning, but one of the biggest issues I have with the Pages app is that it is not on a traditional computer. I am a non-contemporary person when it comes to typing word documents - I like to keep it on a computer and program I have high experience in. Being on an iPad changes the game so to speak when it comes to editing text documents. Maybe my issues with this are because my fingers don't tend to work properly 90% of the time (i.e., I'm a clumsy fool), but I am much more adept at typing and using a mouse to edit my documents.
My other issue with Pages is an issue of document retrieval and compatibility. Due to the nature of Apple products in general, documents which are stored directly on the iPad are either very difficult or nigh impossible to access directly. This utterly irks me, and is a gigantic reason why I argue for PC and Android over Apple products, but that is a soap box for another time. In addition, Pages no longer supports the OpenDocument file format, which means its compatibility with Windows is hot garbage. It can export the file into other formats, but this is often a tedious task to fully modify it into a viewable Word document.
Overall, Pages is a neat app for anyone to use - if you're dead set on solely using Apple devices. It's utter lack of compatibility with the best word processor currently is a crippling blow to it's functionality, despite it being easy to access and learn. A good app, but its potential is destroyed by its refusal of compatibility.
The Pages app is, like many Apple programs, simple and very user-friendly, and thus is very easy to master. As it is a word processor, it is very similar to Microsoft Word in both functionality and design. For those who are new to pages, like myself, you'll find that the app runs very smoothly and is quick to learn how to use. Virtually every function that Microsoft Word or related word processors can do, the Pages app can do just as well. Since I am using the iPad version of pages (there is a different app for Mac users), it did take me a little bit of adjustment time to figure out what functions corresponded to the different menu locations throughout the app and keyboard, but it certainly wasn't like using a completely different product.
Perhaps this sounds like circular reasoning, but one of the biggest issues I have with the Pages app is that it is not on a traditional computer. I am a non-contemporary person when it comes to typing word documents - I like to keep it on a computer and program I have high experience in. Being on an iPad changes the game so to speak when it comes to editing text documents. Maybe my issues with this are because my fingers don't tend to work properly 90% of the time (i.e., I'm a clumsy fool), but I am much more adept at typing and using a mouse to edit my documents.
My other issue with Pages is an issue of document retrieval and compatibility. Due to the nature of Apple products in general, documents which are stored directly on the iPad are either very difficult or nigh impossible to access directly. This utterly irks me, and is a gigantic reason why I argue for PC and Android over Apple products, but that is a soap box for another time. In addition, Pages no longer supports the OpenDocument file format, which means its compatibility with Windows is hot garbage. It can export the file into other formats, but this is often a tedious task to fully modify it into a viewable Word document.
Overall, Pages is a neat app for anyone to use - if you're dead set on solely using Apple devices. It's utter lack of compatibility with the best word processor currently is a crippling blow to it's functionality, despite it being easy to access and learn. A good app, but its potential is destroyed by its refusal of compatibility.