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Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

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Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#151

Post by daveed »

ollysb wrote: post #75

It isn't about note taking, it's about supporting a brain that simply isn't capable of retaining the level of information that we have to deal with. The ultimate note taking device is actually an augmented human brain that has perfect recollection and organisation. In the mean time the note taking apps help with: Working memory - a page can hold far more information than I can retain in my working memory. Having a bu…

I totally agree. I feel like as information workers we especially feel the pain of memory. I know mine has been more strained since I've grown older, and I'm just looking for apps to help offload it. I'll add that I think that the working memory part gets hurt on a day-to-day thing, because multitasking, tabs, and the sheer amount of "stuff" hurts my ability. I think most apps do a pretty good job at long-term memory, but there's still some problems with retrieval, and I just "have to learn" the best way of finding that doc I wrote where I described process X. Probably with better NLP things will get better, but they're not there yet.

*Slight plug. I built a side project that tries to get at the early stage of the "working memory" part. I do a lot of short-term remembering during the day - taking calls, reading docs, or flipping between tabs. I made this chrome extension that adds notepad in your tab, so you can toggle, make scratch notes, toggle off, before you commit stuff to your notion/google doc/etc.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jotter/icdbglcdnjo...

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#152

Post by jlkuester7 »

codeptualize wrote: post #100
jlkuester7 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tooling wise; I like handwriting, as I can draw arrows and quick sketches. If you ever decided you want to go full digital, I highly recommend checking out the tablets from https://remarkable.com/ . My wife has the same approach to handwritten notes and loves it! I can confirm that when writing on the reMarkable 2 tablet, you can forget that it is not pen and paper. I particularly enjoy being able to take notes on…

I was debating between that one and the iPad mini! Sounds like an awesome device, must be great for reading as well. The main reason I went for the iPad mini was the size (and apps maybe). Before I had an iPad Air 10.5 inch, and it was just too big for my use, it made it inconvenient. I'm still debating getting one anyway. It has that "coolness factor", and I want it haha. If they ever produce a smaller version I am…

The RM size is an advantage IMHO! It is very thin and does not feel "chunky", but the screen is large enough to be very comfortable for reading and writing (pretty much the same size as a normal notebook page).

The main differentiator between the RM and other tablets (such as iPad), besides the excellent "write on e-ink" interface, is that the RM device is very committed to a minimalistic approach. There are lots of "features" that would be trivial for them to implement (notifications, email, messaging, socials, etc) that they have deliberately chosen not to support in the official software. Instead, the RM is focused on only providing the cleanest approach to reading and note taking. This approach is perfect for some people's desires and use cases, but not for everyone...

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#153

Post by nefitty »

bloopernova wrote: post #115

It's not "note taking", it's "information organization". At least, that's how I think of it. There's a lot of data out there that I have to be able to "know" with only limited brain to store it in, and a lot of people have issues with ADHD or Executive Function Disorder. That compounds issues with recall and incorrect focus, and notes/wikis/orgmode/roam/jupyter can all at least feel like they're helping, if only to h…

If I wasn't so busy yak shaving this Observable time-tracking notebook I'm building I would have written exactly what you wrote.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#154

Post by SantiagoElf »

I just use a moleskin classic notebook [1] with a Schneider Topliner 967[2] in black, blue and red.

Everyday I put on my tasks, and notes.

Easy simple, classy :)

[1] - https://www.moleskine.com/en-us/shop/notebooks/the-original-...

[2] - https://schneiderpen.com/en_ng/fineliners-and-fibrepens/topl...

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#155

Post by njsteblay »

Keeping a diary of activities is an age old practice that has evolved with our use of written language. As programmers I think we want our brains to work like the computers we work with. We're looking for ways to use written language to facilitate retrieval of critical information effectively. I can't see the obsession stopping anytime in the near future.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#156

Post by emsign »

I think it's because we want to adopt a note taking system that works (as advertised) but in practice many people aren't happy and try out the next one. It's like that project that sits in a corner and you sporadically try and make progress but it's never going anywhere. Add the fact that many people think they really need to get better organized.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#157

Post by hubraumhugo »

Taking notes fosters creativity. Creativity seems, among other things, to be “usefully” putting together things which were not perceived to be related before, and it may be the initial psychological distance between the things which counts most. Note-taking apps and methodologies can help reduce the distance between things that seem unrelated, which leads to new ideas and solutions.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#158

Post by oliverbennett »

For the software side of things, I was frustrated enough to develop what basically ended up as sticky notes in 2D+3D (shameless plug: https://www.temin.net/). I use it for note-taking quite a bit.

How I experience those notes in Temin is different to other software, but my methodology is basically unchanged:

- Even if it's just text (I doodle/sketch a lot) I actively consider using a pen before a keyboard.

- If it's something external I'm trying to remember/integrate I experience it (listen/read/watch/do etc), then take notes.

I think some of the allure of note-taking software comes down to the idea it can eat your vegetables for you when it comes to methodology. It can't. Software can add value to your notes via how experience/relate/link/query etc them, but if you put garbage in, you will get garbage out.

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#159

Post by gtsop »

rg111 wrote: post #121

Others have pointed out in this thread why note-taking is taken seriously by many. Those comments are directly related to note-taking. This one isn't. All of us were trained in many disciplines, and in one (or two) disciplines in depth. It is very easy to wrap your head around the idea that you need training to manipulate numbers, mathematical symbols, etc. We also take for granted the fact that we need prolonged tra…

> These are detailed in biographies of the likes of Einstein, Da Vinci, Feynman, etc

Is it likely you have some resources to these details?

Re: Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?

#160

Post by Der_Einzige »

Okay, this is a weird one for me to have a solution for - especially since I don't take a whole lot of notes (relative to university days).

The American Competitive Debate Community has quietly "solved" note taking using MS Word for Windows and Mac. This is done using a really neat plugin called Verbatim: https://paperlessdebate.com/verbatim/

Ignore the stuff about debate and think of it as a note taking app which exploits already built in hierarchical features in word (the navigation panel) and creates hotkeys for rapidly creating notes. See this video for more details: https://youtu.be/AkoYLBgChQw?t=393

I used this tool for note taking (and also extensively for debate) and everyone who saw me use it was flat out jealous. I had a few friends actually start using it in their own daily experience.

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