Does it do basic formatting yet? Maybe italic bold and underline will work if I use the HTML codes? I guess I’ll find out after I post this. Even if it does work, what a pain.

Hello dear readers! Yes, I’m testing out this latest version of WordPress for the iPad by using it to write a review of itself. So far it has crashed 4 times on me, which is already a FAIL. I was hoping they’d been able to include some basic formatting in it, but no, it appears not.

The new features include video uploads and some back end blog maintenance enhancements. Great, but … why? The iPad has no video camera, and the Safari browser works just fine for logging into your WordPress site and doing comment maintenance. It seems to me it’s misspent effort. Improve the writing interface and graphics handling and you’d have a winner. Until then I have to declare BlogPress the reigning champion for blogging on the iPad.

Okay, it’s crashed 5 times now. At least it didn’t lose what I’ve written.

Make that 6 crashes!

7 crashes! 8! I give up. FAIL! Plus, the preview feature doesn’t work. (see screenshot – that’s all I get when previewing this very post)

[Gone past 10 crashes now. Have stopped counting.]

The software industry gets away with this kind of thing, but only because they usually give the crippled version of their program away for FREE. But imagine buying a computer and getting it home, setting it up, only to find it’s as slow as snot, and to actually get the full speed out of it you have to pay an extra $50.

That’s exactly what Intel wants to do. They’re trying it out now to see how people react.

Thank goodness I’m not the only one to react negatively to this:

• Facepalm of the Day: Intel charges customers $50 to unlock CPU features – ZD Net
• Intel + DRM: a crippled processor that you have to pay extra to unlock – BoingBoing

If Intel doesn’t get a signal — a very LOUD signal — that this isn’t acceptable, then you’ll see all sorts of other business follow suit.

If you agree, this is what I suggest you do.  Tweet:  I don’t want your stupid, crippled processor, #Intel

And tell your friends to do it, too.  This should send a clear message to not only Intel but everyone else in the industry.

I had such high hopes for this app. It seemed promising. The feature set came across so impressive and useful that I bought it immediately.

Silly me.

The reality is, this is a toy for would-be writers so that they can pretend they’re writing something. Two clues that it’s not actually for professional use:

1. It gives you a choice of parchment background styles for you to write on.
2. It presents your manuscript to you as if it’s already published in a hardbound book.

Ergo, this is a wish-fulfillment app, not an actual writing tool.

It could be saved, though. Add the ability to format your text, and improve the export feature so that it gives you a professionally formatted manuscript, and it would actually be useful. I mean, I don’t really have anything against it being on a parchment background, or looking like it’s already hardbound. What does piss me off is that I spent money on it without realizing it won’t do simple — and I mean basic — things like indent your paragraphs and underline words.

For you aspiring writers out there, here’s an important tip: professional publishers like to see their manuscript submissions in a specific format. This app claims to enable you to produce a submittable manuscript within the confines of the app itself, and that is not true.

Until Black Mana Studios fixes at least this basic flaw, there’s no way I can recommend this to anyone who is serious about creating a manuscript on the iPad. Take your money and instead buy Apple’s Pages. It may not come with all the plotting tools, but at least it gives you all the standard, necessary formatting features you’ll need to produce a professional manuscript.