Official iPad Thread
- Thread starter mikelove
- Start date
iPad + Pleco sounds like my ideal "Chinese reader". Though I may wait a bit for the price to go down.
character - I suppose once we're supporting points it would be pretty easy to support ranges too (or instead), both work roughly the same way. But edit tracking is definitely the hard part of this, we have to maintain all of those locations even as the document is being changed. (but lots of other apps do do that already...)
Highlighting members of a list of words is problematic for Chinese because of text segmentation - just because a sequence of characters appears in the document, that doesn't necessarily mean that those characters in that instance are actually part of the desired word. So in general I'm inclined to think that this too would be better off piggybacking on a text position / text range tracking feature.
Our dictionary databases are non-editable, that's how we get them so small and fast. Plus if we did make them editable we'd have to synchronize your edits with updated versions of the database, new entries / definitions / etc. We could make an "entry in dictionary" indicator optional / off by default and let people decide for themselves whether it was worth the performance hit, but it's unlikely we'd be turning that option on by default anytime soon.
gandq - makes sense to shrink the display area for faster reading, though normally my response to that would be to enlarge the font and hold the screen farther away from one's face - could be better for the eyes.
Highlighting members of a list of words is problematic for Chinese because of text segmentation - just because a sequence of characters appears in the document, that doesn't necessarily mean that those characters in that instance are actually part of the desired word. So in general I'm inclined to think that this too would be better off piggybacking on a text position / text range tracking feature.
Our dictionary databases are non-editable, that's how we get them so small and fast. Plus if we did make them editable we'd have to synchronize your edits with updated versions of the database, new entries / definitions / etc. We could make an "entry in dictionary" indicator optional / off by default and let people decide for themselves whether it was worth the performance hit, but it's unlikely we'd be turning that option on by default anytime soon.
gandq - makes sense to shrink the display area for faster reading, though normally my response to that would be to enlarge the font and hold the screen farther away from one's face - could be better for the eyes.
character said:
I entered the same path I entered in Stanza (iPhone), which consists of http://myIP
ort, but nothing happens.
character
状元
Just an idea, you might be able to make the points/range indicators visible in the display by inserting a rare Unicode character: http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2B00.pdf (not sure if iPhone OS supports these). Perhaps have three: small outline square for a single point, small outline diamond for start range, and small filled diamond for end range. That way users could edit the document with them, then you could strip them out/reinsert them on save/load.mikelove said:
character
状元
If it's going to be boxes/color, may I suggest that the display of the points/ranges be able to be easily turned off so one can more easily read the text? I would worry that many ranges would turn a page of text into a technicolor mess. Problematic for editing text, bad for reading. They should still be active though not visible, and keep the documents in sync when scrolling one of documents.mikelove said:
So...is an enhanced Pleco for iPad in the cards after Flashcards are out the door?
ConfuciusTse
举人
With the larger format and processing power of the iPad, have you guys thought of expanding Pleco even more into a full fledged learning tool? I could see how Pleco could partner with some of the better known Mandarin learning books and include interactive exercises for each chapter including writing practice, flashcards, and even voice intonation analysis, etc. I love Pleco for my iPod Touch but probably would not buy an iPad and Pleco for just a larger format of the same. But would definitely get an iPad if it could further my learning process in a definitive way.
character
状元
Some companies (Cheng & Tsui, for ex.) have already created web-based exercises. There may be a drive for iPad-native apps if the iPad takes off in education. So far there's no indication the iPad will sell like the iPhone/iPod Touch, so the # of users may not be there for most publishers to make native iPad apps.ConfuciusTse said:
That's the key; what feature(s) would cause existing (and new) users to buy an iPad-enhanced version of Pleco, as they will be able to run Pleco for iPhone on the iPad? An enhanced reader is what would interest me most; that's something I wouldn't want to do online and would want to do at the native resolution of the device.
ConfuciusTse - oh yes, textbook licenses are a definite possibility on iPad, we'd be crazy not to explore the idea at least.
character - it's doubtful we'll try to / be able to charge anything for an iPad-enhanced version of Pleco, though I suppose we could consider raising the price of the document reader module; $10 is already about the upper limit of what we can charge for something that doesn't involve expensively-licensed content, though. But an enhanced reader in general might help us get into a lot of classrooms / other places where we don't have much of a presence as yet.
character - it's doubtful we'll try to / be able to charge anything for an iPad-enhanced version of Pleco, though I suppose we could consider raising the price of the document reader module; $10 is already about the upper limit of what we can charge for something that doesn't involve expensively-licensed content, though. But an enhanced reader in general might help us get into a lot of classrooms / other places where we don't have much of a presence as yet.
character
状元
Are you going to treat someone with Pleco for iPhone and Pleco for iPad as having two licenses, having to purchase the dictionaries, etc. twice? I got the impression from the iPad information that one could freely duplicate previously purchased apps (for one's iPhone/Touch) onto the iPad from iTunes. So, while I don't object to paying twice, you would sort of be competing with your own Pleco for iPhone on the iPad. Too bad there's probably not a way to write an app which can run as a native iPhone app or a native iPad app, depending on where it is installed.mikelove said:
It's probably worth talking with instructors to see what features would be valuable. I don't know if something like the ability to download/run signed flashcard sets in a limited amount of time and email the results to the instructor would be useful, for ex.
But I suspect you will be too busy with WM7 to write a better reader. :|
Actually, assuming we can / do create a single application for iPhone / iPad, we wouldn't even be able to charge you for it twice; if you attempt to purchase an add-on that you've already purchased before with the same iTunes account, iTunes detects that and offers to let you activate it again for free.
(but to anyone reading this, we'd really appreciate it if you'd restore old purchases using the "Restore iTunes Purchases" function in Settings / Registration instead of by buying them again - it works just as well, but guarantees that you won't accidentally buy something new (say, the non-educational version of a product you previously purchased the educational version of - Apple treats those as two separate items), and creates a lot fewer accounting headaches for us)
Test administration would be an interesting application for Pleco flashcards, though at the moment it's far too easy to cheat - we could design a UI that didn't allow that, though. Multi-choice would be too easy / inconsistent, and self-scored is obviously out, but a free-answer test (characters / Pinyin / tones) could be interesting; maybe also include an English option (even if we don't determine ourselves whether it was correct / incorrect) and record the stroke order they use when handwriting characters, then provide instructors with a way to retrieve / review / revise scoring for the results.
I've long thought stroke order testing specifically would be a good application for this - grading it ourselves would only work with the current tap-in-the-outline UI, checking / matching strokes as they'd drawn is just too unreliable and has too much potential for false positives or negatives (which are a big no-no when people's grades are on the line), but even just recording the strokes they drew in the order they drew them and letting the instructor review them would offer something that's completely impossible on a paper test.
How much time WM7 takes up is still very much up in the air (as is the question of whether we'll be able to develop for it at all, I suppose), but given that it could be another 6 months before we see it shipping on devices we don't necessarily need to get started on it the second they release a developer kit.
(but to anyone reading this, we'd really appreciate it if you'd restore old purchases using the "Restore iTunes Purchases" function in Settings / Registration instead of by buying them again - it works just as well, but guarantees that you won't accidentally buy something new (say, the non-educational version of a product you previously purchased the educational version of - Apple treats those as two separate items), and creates a lot fewer accounting headaches for us)
Test administration would be an interesting application for Pleco flashcards, though at the moment it's far too easy to cheat - we could design a UI that didn't allow that, though. Multi-choice would be too easy / inconsistent, and self-scored is obviously out, but a free-answer test (characters / Pinyin / tones) could be interesting; maybe also include an English option (even if we don't determine ourselves whether it was correct / incorrect) and record the stroke order they use when handwriting characters, then provide instructors with a way to retrieve / review / revise scoring for the results.
I've long thought stroke order testing specifically would be a good application for this - grading it ourselves would only work with the current tap-in-the-outline UI, checking / matching strokes as they'd drawn is just too unreliable and has too much potential for false positives or negatives (which are a big no-no when people's grades are on the line), but even just recording the strokes they drew in the order they drew them and letting the instructor review them would offer something that's completely impossible on a paper test.
How much time WM7 takes up is still very much up in the air (as is the question of whether we'll be able to develop for it at all, I suppose), but given that it could be another 6 months before we see it shipping on devices we don't necessarily need to get started on it the second they release a developer kit.
character
状元
Well, they could ask the students to show the first stroke in one box, then the first and second strokes in the second box, etc. like some character learning books do. Couldn't test the students on too many characters that way, though.
Have you looked at getting Pleco into adult education classes? Perhaps a free copy for the instructor and a small discount for students if 5 or more students get a copy? Just a thought.
OTOH, it might take you a while to get up to speed with their pure Grails UI layer. :wink: