Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Paper is the real 'killer app'

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 346 posts

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#81

Post by josefresco »

tambourine_man wrote: post #77

I hate paper. No searching and highly losable. I'm also way faster on a keyboard than with a pen/pencil. In fact, I had to fax a hand written letter (yeah, don't ask) the other day and realized I'm now almost illiterate with this thing. I could draw very well as a kid, but my handwriting was always pitiful. But after years of neglect, the thing was illegible. I pity the poor person that would have to decifer the hier…

"I'm also way faster on a keyboard"

This is sort of the point of pen/paper - slows you down, makes you more contemplative. Plus, with a little practice I'm sure your handwriting would improve.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#82

Post by shoover »

criddell wrote: post #39

So, what's your favorite notebook and pen combination? I ordered a bunch of pens from Jet Pens a year ago and my favorite also ended up being one of the cheapest - the Pilot Hi-Tec-C. My favorite notebook used to be an engineering notebook. It had a grid on one side of the page and college-ruled lines on the other and had a spiral bound spine. Not sure if I have a favorite any more. I do use a lot of index cards.

Moleskine Cahier w/ Pilot Precise V5 Retractable.

The notebook strikes a balance of quality (but not heirloom quality so you don't want to touch it), cost, and portability.

I discovered the original Pilot Precise pen in high school for writing left handed without smearing ink. It has been my go-to pen for years, and the retractable version is a welcome convenience.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#83

Post by slfnflctd »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #62
TeMPOraL wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this whole "go digital to save the trees" thing is utter bullshit, for the following reason: - the digital revolution made people actually use more paper - you get a shit ton of paper from a single tree; how much resources do you need to use to manufacture a computer, and keep it running? - paper is recyclable - as long as you keep recycling paper, it actually makes sense to plant trees and then cut it down -…

I remember a HP salesman telling me filing cabinet sales went through the roof as laser printers became more popular, he said the paperless office was as likely as the paperless toilet. However I think that has turned around in recent years, worldwide paper production volumes are decreasing.

> worldwide paper production volumes are decreasing

That may be true of regular paper and/or the overall production of paper products, but with all the increased retail shipping I would be very surprised if it's true of cardboard.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#84

Post by peatmoss »

eddieroger wrote: post #67
otalp wrote: post #37

I never liked all the multitude of list making apps - Evernote, Todoist, Omnifocus, etc. I prefer org-mode[1] on emacs. It's simple, flexible, distraction free and for some reason reminds me of writing on paper. You get the simplicity, while also making it as powerful as you want. 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

org-mode has been my 2017 resolution, and in the 23 days I've been using it, I'm sold. I love prose and writing, and this scratches that itch pretty effectively while also giving me really powerful things that I need to be organized, like structure to my notes and tag searches. It's also as in or out of the way as I want it to be, which is great - I get to define the structure of how it works, and have largely throug…

I capture on paper. If I'm at a meeting or something, I simply write to paper, then transcribe my daily notes to org-mode at the end of the day. I don't particularly worry about structure when spooling to paper.

Sometimes I'll capture to paper even if I'm sitting in front of my computer. If I've got something complex to reason through, I like the free-form nature of paper. I pretend it's an auxiliary scratch buffer whose contents I will reason about later.

My paper notebook, therefore becomes pretty nonsensical, because it isn't the system of record. I carry it as a notebook because I can always go back a day or two if I got lazy and didn't transcribe the previous day. Also a paper notebook puts on a better show for society as compared to just having a few sheets of printer paper along for the ride at meetings (though that works too). Periodically, I rip previous pages out (if spiral bound--they tear cleanly) and shred them just to restore that fresh notebook feeling.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#85

Post by SonicSoul »

seems a lot of people in comments are missing the point. of course there is no search/filter/undo (actually undo exists). It doesn't win in every cateogry. What it does offer is force your brain to work more and therefore create a better mental map. It forces your brain to choose the actual things you can do instead of jotting down 1000 things you'll never look at again.

For example, I've used evernote and a notebook to write down ideas each morning. after few weeks i was a lot more intimately familiar with ideas in my notebook because each page had unique character thanks to how my brain worked that day and the kinds of drawings that were added. It is also super easy to flip through pages to skim over other ideas, and thanks to unique shape of writing often i wouldn't need to read the text to know what that page is about.

it's not a silver bullet and if you need to keep track of a ton of things of course it will get tedious, but I believe most people keep track of more things than they actually are capable of executing. And paper sort of forces you to simplify and focus on fewer things which IMO is a good thing

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#86

Post by peatmoss »

peatmoss wrote: post #84
eddieroger wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

org-mode has been my 2017 resolution, and in the 23 days I've been using it, I'm sold. I love prose and writing, and this scratches that itch pretty effectively while also giving me really powerful things that I need to be organized, like structure to my notes and tag searches. It's also as in or out of the way as I want it to be, which is great - I get to define the structure of how it works, and have largely throug…

I capture on paper. If I'm at a meeting or something, I simply write to paper, then transcribe my daily notes to org-mode at the end of the day. I don't particularly worry about structure when spooling to paper. Sometimes I'll capture to paper even if I'm sitting in front of my computer. If I've got something complex to reason through, I like the free-form nature of paper. I pretend it's an auxiliary scratch buffer w…

I'll add that I've used Mobile-org and even tried Evernote on mobile. I cannot for the life of me figure out how people use mobile note-taking apps. Even with a bluetooth keyboard the UX is so slow / inflexible compared to paper.

I've seen people apparently use them to reasonable effect though, so I'm going to assume that people capable of note-taking on mobile are just a more evolved kind of human than I am :-)

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#87

Post by matwood »

Freak_NL wrote: post #72
mikehollinger wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use sleep cycle as an alarm clock. A few years of sleep data says that (for me) going to bed after working late leads to bad sleep, and going to bed after reading leads to better sleep. Based on this single data point, perhaps try picking up a book when you call it a night?

Nothing beats curling up in a warm (well, now that it's winter in the Northern hemisphere anyway) bed with a book when you're calling it a day. It's relaxing. This habit also helps you actually get around to reading for leisure.

Even when I go to bed late, reading a few pages from my current book helps me slow down and get to sleep.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#88

Post by mark_l_watson »

Great article. One of the brightest tech colleagues I ever worked with used a moleskin notebook, always kept it with him.

I bought a moleskin notebook for myself, but then my granddaughter started drawing in it, and I wanted to leave it as she left it. After reading this article I am going to buy another.

I have always used yellow pads to brainstorm for new projects, but I later toss my notes and drawings. Using permanent notebooks seems like a better idea.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#89

Post by falcolas »

jpswade wrote: post #46

"I was shocked to realize how dependent I’ve grown on three simple features that just aren’t available in the analog world: search, sort and filter" https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/04/ui-patterns-for-mob...

They are - you simply have to do the extra bit of indexing work yourself.

Create a high level topic for each note, and put that in the front of the notebook, with a page number. Once you're beyond one book, keep a separate index book and update it periodically with a book/page number from the indexes in the individual books.

If you find yourself referring to a particular topic frequently, take some time and re-write the entry. That way you can correlate several writings on the topic, and add both a better framing and lessons learned.

It's a bit of extra work, but it's worth it.

Re: Paper is the real 'killer app'

#90

Post by satai »

My 2 eurocents

Paper:

+ comfortable (for majority of people, not for everybody)

+ easy to add math or graphics to text

+ cool

+ supereasy to understand

- hard to edit (frixion helps a bit)

- no search

- not readily available when compared with a smartphone

- hard to backup or share

Post reply on HN