You may have noticed that some Newswatch 16 anchors are using iPads rather than paper scripts. It makes a lot of sense. It saves wear and tear on our printers. We spend less on ink and paper. Believe me, it adds up. For example, one of my weekend morning broadcasts is about 70 script pages. That's 140 pages per weekend. 7280 pages per year. That's a lot of paper and a lot of dead trees. It's also a lot of money, and I hope people at the home office are pleased.
However, paper does have its advantages. I like making notes to myself in the margins. I circle and underline names, words and phrases I want to stress and emphasize. I resisted the transition to iPad for a long time.
I gave the issue some thought, and decided it was time to get with the program. I started using the iPad for the Good Morning America updates. Then, I used it for some portions of the weekend morning broadcasts. I recently started using it for the entire four hours, both days.
It wasn't as difficult as I feared, although my swiping technique needs a little bit of work. iPad veterans Tom Williams and Mindi Ramsey offered some pointers, trips, and tricks. My first broadcasts weren't perfect, but they were pretty darned close.
I'll miss the paper, but it's time to move on.
