Paper is the real 'killer app'

No worries, AR glasses coming soon.

The advantage of paper is that you can be more creative and use slow thinking[1]. Just take a look at Newton's[2] or DaVinci's[3] notebooks, how would they think so freely on a computer? Sure for a work task list, a computer is fine, but I find a computer too limiting on my creativity for myself. Added bonus: no ads, bugs, or distractions.

People that create apps create them to make money, not because they make you more productive or help you be more creative.

[1]https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp...

[2]https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton

[3]http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=arundel_ms_263_...

I'd prefer books given a choice but I'm too poor to own a house where l live so a non-kindle e-reader is my saviour.

There is a great advantage to an e-Reader (like Kindle) in that you can turn any book into a large print book. As you get older and you eyesight gets worse this is no small advantage, since you can continue reading the stuff you like.

There are some magazines (looking at you New Republic) that we stopped subscribing too because the font is too small to read - I can still see it, but trying to read it causes eye strain.

I think one thing this article hits on may be spot-on - at least in my recent experience - they mention this study:

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581

When I enrolled into the Udacity Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree, I made the conscious decision to try taking "dead tree" notes.

Before, when I had done other machine learning MOOCs, I had taken notes using other methods, but I found that I didn't retain as much of the information after the courses were completed. So this time, having read that paper in the past, I decided to try longhand note taking instead.

So far, I have found it wonderful - for the most part. Sometimes it is tedious. Overall, it has worked out well for me.

For my notes, I use 100 sheet single-subject grid notebooks with micro-perf tear-out sheets. I use pencil for my notes, and when needed, fine-tipped sharpie pens in four colors (red, green, blue, black) for when I need the contrast (useful for graphs or emphasis). I write on one side of each page only.

When I complete the course, I intend to write up an index, and move the notebooks into three-ring binders. I might even scan the pages and turn them into PDFs or something.

I have also found that a form of the Cornell method of note-taking has been very useful as well; although it isn't as conducive to some uses - but I've made it work well enough.

Are there downsides? Yes. The main downside, from the standpoint of a MOOC, is the amount of time it takes to take the notes. This makes each "lesson" in the course take much longer to complete due to the transcription of the notes (I am not quite fast enough, or have the skill, to transcribe from video as I watch it - I'm still trying to figure out a solution to that - because trying to condense the information about machine learning as it is talked about and such isn't an easy task, even with the ability to pause).

A secondary downside (though maybe one that is my issue partly) is when I have written my note titles with one particular title (and more importantly, the lesson number), and then the MOOC admins (or whomever) decide to add a new lesson "in the middle" or alter things to re-number the lessons slightly. Now, your notes don't match up to the syllabus and courses, which can be a real pain to review things. So far, in my current course, this has happened twice. Ugh.

But as far as retention of the material? I think this time around I have much better retention and understanding than I gained from my previous ventures in the same space. For that, it's been worth the issues I have experienced.