With so much note taking apps nowadays, I can’t understand why does anyone still write notes with pen and paper. You need to bring the notepad, book or that paper to retrieve that information, and most of the time you don’t have it in hand. While my phone almost always reachable and you carry when you go out. For those still like to do handwriting, there’s many app does that and they can even convert it to text notes.
So, if you still write notes with pen and paper, why?
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a notebook and pencil in my shirt pocket are faster to open than a phone app
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handwriting is faster than thumb typing
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I can sketch an electrical diagram on paper way faster than anyone can with a stylus on some janky phone screen.
3.1) Even if there was a stylus/screen combination with the same haptics, fidelity, and input recognition speed as pencil on paper, it wouldn’t be 0.78€
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I can toss the notebook and diagrams to anyone working on a project with me with zero worry that they’ll drop it, forget it, or look around in the rest of it
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I can tear out a page and hand it to anyone instantly, instead of finding out what messaging app we have in common, copying (or screenshotting) the note and pasting it in an app
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I can insert a note into a physical book, stick it to the inside of a toolbox lid, a wall next to an electrical junction, inside a breaker box, or any other surface, and always have location-aware reminders waiting for me when I need them.
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With minimal environmental control, my notes are effectively immortal. I have notebooks of measurements and diagrams of most rooms, wall cavities, pipe runs, electrical runs, cable pulls, and dimensions of various equipment that have outlasted hard drives, backup tapes, and a few cloud storage companies.
This. Plus as a subjective thing: I personally remember stuff more easily when I write them down compared to typing. Also my written notes mix bullet points, regular writing, arrows and connections, without having to “switch mode” or install plugins.
I still use note-taking apps, sometimes as primary, sometimes as secondary tool.
And your notes don’t suddenly increase the price of your storage.
No, it’s more of a subtle, inflationary pressure.
For me, it’s the act of writing, the memory it helps solidify, and… being an FP nerd.
Can I take notes on a phone? Sure, but I wouldn’t use a personal device for work notes, ever. Between my privacy, customer privacy laws, and separation of concerns. I’ve no compunctions at all, though, about sharing an A5 notebook between journal, work notes, personal notes, and reminders.
Digital text notes take up practically no storage space. You’ll spend more on new notebooks to write in over a year than digital storage space for the exact same content
This guy notebooks.
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Yep. My little Field Notes books don’t send me notifications about emails, and I can toss them around without breaking them. And use a lot of notation and drawing methods that are very slow when typing with my thumbs.
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My handwriting is the perfect encryption. Nobody else can understand it. Lol.
@nutbutter The algorithm is especially harder to decrypt if you don’t write that often. I can tell it from my personal experience, lol.
Yes, usually when in meetings. It’s 99% a society/conventional thing, but looking and typing on your phone while talking to someone will often be perceived as rude. Taking notes in your paper notebook though usually will come off as being attentive and interested.
100% agreed, especially true with clients.
IDK why exactly but typing notes during a consult is impersonal.
I do consults with my notepad flat on the desk so clients can see what I’m writing. I often draw diagrams for them.
