About the Author
Jessica Thornsby is a technical writer based in sunny Sheffield, England. She writes about Android, app development, rooting and flashing mobile devices, Eclipse, Java, and all things Apple. When not wordsmithing about technology, she writes about her local food scene, and for various animal magazines. On the rare occasions when shes dragged away from her keyboard, she enjoys beer gardens, going to concerts, cooking tongue-blistering curries, and obsessively researching her family tree.
Josh Clark (author, previous edition) is a designer specializing in multi-device design, strategy, and user experience. Hes the author of many books including Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps and Designing for Touch . When hes not writing about clever design and humane software, hes building it. Joshs agency, Global Moxie, offers design services, strategic consulting, and training to help creative organizations build tapworthy apps and responsive websites. His clients include AOL, Time Inc., eBay, and many others. In a previous life, Josh worked on a slew of national PBS programs at Bostons WGBH. He shared his three words of Russian with Mikhail Gorbachev, strolled the ranch with Nancy Reagan, and wrote trivia questions for a prime-time game show. In 1996, he created the uber-popular Couch-to-5K (C25K) running program, which has helped millions of skeptical would-be exercisers take up jogging. (His motto is the same for fitness as it is for using software: no pain, no pain.)
About the Creative Team
Dawn Mann (editor) is assistant editor for the Missing Manual series. When not working, she plays soccer, beads, and causes trouble. Email: .
Kara Ebrahim (production editor) lives, works, and plays in Cambridge, MA. She loves graphic design and all things outdoors. Email: .
Julie Van Keuren (proofreader) quit her newspaper job in 2006 to move to Montana and live the freelancing dream. She and her husband, M.H. (who is living the novel-writing dream), have two sons, Dexter and Michael. Email: .
Ron Strauss (indexer) specializes in the indexing of information technology publications of all kinds. Ron is also an accomplished classical violist and lives in Northern California with his wife and fellow indexer, Annie, and his miniature pinscher, Kanga. Email: .
Tina Spargo (technical reviewer), her husband (and professional musician) Ed, their children, Max and Lorelei, and two silly Spaniels, Parker (Clumber) and Piper (Sussex), all share time and space in their suburban Boston home. Tina juggles being an at-home mom with promoting and marketing Eds musical projects and freelancing as a virtual assistant. Tina has over 20 years experience supporting top-level executives in a variety of industries. Website: www.tinaspargo.com.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the entire team at OReilly for their support and encouragement, and for generally being such awesome people to work with. Thank you to Dawn Mann for guiding this manuscript through the writing process; technical reviewer Tina Spargo; production editor Kara Ebrahim; and all the other talented people Ive been lucky enough to work with on this project.
Id like to thank my friends and family for putting up with me during the writing process (and in general!), but special thanks have to go to Pauline, Peter, and Toby. Last but not least, Id like to thank my menagerie and writing-buddies for keeping me entertained even when Im shackled to my keyboard: my house bunnies Stewart and Peanut, and chinchillas Taco and Buca.
The Missing Manual Series
Missing Manuals are witty, superbly written guides to computer products that dont come with printed manuals (which is just about all of them). Each book features a handcrafted index and cross-references to specific pages (not just chapters). For a full list of current and upcoming Missing Manuals, head to www.missingmanuals.com.
Introduction
The words productivity software dont exactly make your skin tingle. Most of us use a word-processing or spreadsheet program because we have to. Its how we get our day-to-day work done, pushing through the words and numbers that office, school, or household demands impose. Whats to get excited about?
Until recently, not much. For decades, word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs have been blandly efficient tools that solemnly transferred your work to page and screen. Bland gets the job done, but it doesnt inspire. You and your ideas deserve an environment thats more stirring than that. Dreary work tools dont cut it.
An inspiring spreadsheet program? A rousing word processor? The concepts seem improbablebut as usual, Apple beats the odds. When the company originally unveiled its iWork collection of programs, Apple proved that doing serious work doesnt have to feel serious. And with all the subsequent updates, Apple has remained true to that mission. The iWork package includes Pages, Keynote, and Numbers: iWorks word processor, presentation program, and spreadsheet program, respectively.
All the iWork programs put an unprecedented emphasis on the design and polish of your final documents, making it easy to create results that look not only professional, but actually stunning. Its like youve got an entire art department on the payrolland, in fact, thats not far from the truth. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers all come stacked high with prebuilt templates that you can put to use right away, letting the skill of Apples talented designers shine through in your own work. Although the template concept isnt anything new, the quality of Apples design raises the bar to a whole new level.