Journalists Using iPad

[coolnumbr12]

I'm a journalist that just received a brand new iPad 2 for christmas from my wonderful girlfriend.

I did a search and didn't see a thread already dedicated to people in the profession that make use of this awesome device.
How do you use it? What apps have been the most useful? Which ones would you stay away from?

Currently, I've got all the newspapers and magazines I read downloaded which makes it awesome for keeping up with stuff and not having to carry them all around with me. Can't wait till my subscriptions are up for renewal and I can change to "digital only" to start cutting down on my paper use.
I also love all the tablet only publications like The Atavist and The Daily. I'm taking a class next semester call "Long Form Digital" with an editor from the Atavist, and really excited I now have an iPad.

Anyway, I want to start incorporating this more into my daily usage as a journalist. Ideally, I want to take this thing with me on reporting assignments.
My dream would be to have some sort of notebook that safely holds my iPad on one side and papers on the other that. Anyone know of anything like this? There are so many products out there for protecting your iPad, its a bit overwhelming. What do you guys think are the most effective?
What about bags? I'm thinking of getting one of those Timbuk2 ones that has a sleeve designed to hold a tablet.

When I need to interview someone, I could pull it out, open a notetaking app, and use a stylus to handwrite notes while recording audio.
I picked up the Targus "executive" stylus+pen but I will be returning it. The design is uncomfortable to hold and its much too heavy.
Any recommendations on the best stylus until that awesome looking iPen on kickstarter comes out?
I also got noteability and it seems to be working pretty well. My only complaint is with the palm-gaurd. Any other recommendations for apps with notetaking + audio recording?

(I know some of these questions have dedicated threads, but I thought I would put them in here to jump start discussion of using the ipad exclusively for journalism purposes)

 

[SweetPoison]

Welcome!

 

[DrHouse]

Surely you will need Pages to write your articles. I have to write reports as a software consultant, and it as proven to be a great app for short to medium size documents.

As for note taking with a stylus, I use Penultimate that is the closest thing to pen&paper. There are other note taking apps that can do more, but I wanted the app to make writing as natural as possible.

Another tool that you could find useful is a mind mapping tool. I use Simplicity+ (free to start, but I got the in app purchase functions). Mind mapping is a great way to organize your ideas before putting it down. At the same time, I find it as the best solution for taking notes when asking questions with a customer as you can rely on short sentences and organize them in a hierarchical view.

VicoPad addict!

 

[coolnumbr12]

Yah I was looking into Penultimate but I really like noteability's audio recording feature. I see it being very helpful doing interviews and press conferences.


And I'm having a hard time finding this Simplicity anywhere... Is it not an app?

 

[DrHouse]

Yah I was looking into Penultimate but I really like noteability's audio recording feature. I see it being very helpful doing interviews and press conferences.

And I'm having a hard time finding this Simplicity anywhere... Is it not an app?

My bad, it's SimpleMind+. Darn autocorrect...

VicoPad addict!