Staying on script: iTalk Recorder Premium for iPhone and iPod touch

Depending upon the day and the weather, my commute to work can last anywhere from 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours each way. I generally don’t mind this, as it affords me a peaceful opportunity to listen to music uninterrupted, and to just think. It’s on I-271 and St. Rt. 8 that I tend to come up with my best ideas for stories, then figure out the next day why I could nevery possibly make them work.

Every now and again, however, one will stick, and there’s nothing worse than sitting in front of the computer after the kids are in bed and thinking, “What the hell was that idea I had in the car?” Or on that hike. Or in the shower. Okay, maybe not in the shower, but you get the idea. Sticking with the car for a minute, I’m not about to pull over to document an idea, and I’m certainly not going to start texting while tooling down the highway. This is where iTalk Recorder Premium from Griffin Technology comes into play.

Now, I know Apple has their free Voice Memos app. I don’t use it because iTalk is better (Griffin also offers iTalk Recorder for free, but if you can’t spend $1.99 (currently) for the “pro” version, you’ve got no business paying AT&T’s monthly iPhone rate.

So, why do I prefer iTalk? First, it’s because of the big, shiny button. Seriously.

You hit that jolly, candy-like button to both start a recording and to stop it. This is key when I’m driving, as I barely need to glance down to begin and end a recording. Eyes on the road, hand at 10:00.

I can then record for five seconds, five minutes, whatever it takes to flesh out the idea (or at least give myself a reminder to expand upon later). Each recording is saved in a separate file. If I have the time and the ability, I can save the recording under a specific name. If not, I just get a generic “Untitled X” name until I rename it or trash it later.

iTalk will display helpful bits of information such as the input level, the selected sound quality (Good, Better, Best), and the file size and time. None of this matters to me, I just want to be able to record and save quickly and easily. Good to know these features are there, though, if you want them.

Recordings saved to your iPhone can be shared in two ways. You can sync them with your computer using the iTalk Sync companion software (free for Mac and PC), or you can e-mail the audio clips directly from your iPhone. Because I mostly use iTalk for reminders and ideas, I rarely sync the clips with my Mac; I either incorporate them into my project or save them for later in MacJournal, which I’ll cover soon in this column.

The ability to e-mail them, however, is fantastic. If I come up with an idea I want to both remember and share, which happens often whem I’m collaborating with another writer, I can record it and send it off to my co-writer. No need to text, no need to type out an e-mail on my iPhone. He gets what I get, complete with my level of enthusiasm (or lack thereof), and we can both consider the idea until we have time to discuss it. Why not just call him from the onset? Because phone calls aren’t recorded, and it’s possible we’d both lose the idea or a particular phrasing that would really work.

iTalk has other uses, as well. Record conference calls, lectures, concerts or your kids singing in the back seat. Whatever. I’ve done all that, but it’s iTalk’s ability to prevent me from losing story ideas without crashing my car that makes it one of my five most useful iPhone apps, and certainly the most valuable to me as a writer.

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