71–80 of 101 posts
AI memory systems have replaced that for me. AIs will actually read those things too. I never read my own notes.
Asking "what have note-taking apps accomplished?" is like asking "what have spreadsheets accomplished?" or "what have cameras accomplished?". A tool doesn't accomplish anything on its own. A tool is a means to an end. A few days ago, someone jokingly asked if Henry Ford had a personal knowledge base in Obsidian... Well, sort of! He had something he called "jot books", where he journaled, kept notes, grocery lists, et…
Let's be fair, this article is about this exactly.
> That is a question that, the more that I look at it, seems completely wrong. (...) How does anyone measure what the contribution of a piece of software is to the world? (...) The tool doesn't make the contribution. The tool enables people to make contributions to the world.
and then tries to challenge quoted articles again to prove/disprove those words.
I’d been a user of Obsidian, Notion, ClickUp and tried a myriad of other tools until I realized that Apple Notes and Reminders did the job just fine and worked perfectly across devices. Opening obsidian in my phone never felt natural, and most of the time I just want to write a quick note or add a quick task which didn’t feel as intuitive on my phone using third party apps. Also, the voice recording and transcription…
Your comment resonates, but one issue with Apple Notes is that functionality is very limited on Windows and Linux. Apple doesn't expose any APIs for Notes so it cannot be integrated with ChatGPT/Codex/Claud. At best there are community plugins which scan the local DB running on a Mac. This would not work on iPhone. I would love an open, cross-platform Apple Notes.
You're right on there not being an API, but...
Both Notes and Reminders have a full AppleScript / JXA interface that Apple has maintained for years. Any LLM with shell access can read notes, create folders, add reminders, mark them complete, etc... + iCloud syncs everything out to iPhone/iPad/Watch/Vison/whatever-comes-next automatically.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment resonates, but one issue with Apple Notes is that functionality is very limited on Windows and Linux. Apple doesn't expose any APIs for Notes so it cannot be integrated with ChatGPT/Codex/Claud. At best there are community plugins which scan the local DB running on a Mac. This would not work on iPhone. I would love an open, cross-platform Apple Notes.
Functionality is great across Apple devices. I think they are really adamant about their lack of interest in making their platforms open to other OSs. You're right on there not being an API, but... Both Notes and Reminders have a full AppleScript / JXA interface that Apple has maintained for years. Any LLM with shell access can read notes, create folders, add reminders, mark them complete, etc... + iCloud syncs every…
I found they are too complicated, bloated, not easy to organize notes, not easy to access across devices, not flexible, no manual sorting, etc.
I like simple, concise, flexible and practical note-taking or bookmark management app. So I have created my own note-taking app Metaessen [1] for 2+ years.
Now I am just using my own app and pure text for bookmarks and notes.
Life is short, no necessary to use too complicated softwares.
Asking "what have note-taking apps accomplished?" is like asking "what have spreadsheets accomplished?" or "what have cameras accomplished?". A tool doesn't accomplish anything on its own. A tool is a means to an end. A few days ago, someone jokingly asked if Henry Ford had a personal knowledge base in Obsidian... Well, sort of! He had something he called "jot books", where he journaled, kept notes, grocery lists, et…
I used Joplin, Sphinx doc for many years ago, but I don't use them recently. I found they are too complicated, bloated, not easy to organize notes, not easy to access across devices, not flexible, no manual sorting, etc. I like simple, concise, flexible and practical note-taking or bookmark management app. So I have created my own note-taking app Metaessen [1] for 2+ years. Now I am just using my own app and pure tex…
I also completely understand "bloat"/simplicity - my project may seem dead on Github, but for me it is "perfect software" - no more features needed, no bugs in what I use daily.
Some of my favorite projects got so complicated over the years that I stopped to use them. This is why Don and his TeX is the legend ;)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ...typing notes into a dumb markdown file with the textbooks name is good enough What sorts of things are you writing into your markdown file? After 3.5 years of uni I still don't know how or why to take proper notes to enhance my learning.
I never learned to take notes. Good grades but think my notes were always rubbish!
For students, that is. If you're writing papers or a book you should probably structure and manage your notes somehow. But for uni classes, well, it isn't even recommended that you read your notes. Or teachers' slide decks.
Lectures, slides and notes are merely a hike through the territory. You're supposed to range it by yourself later, seek out papers and books. Digest as much material as you can as early in the course as you can. Taper it off towards exams and do not study for a few days beforehand.
Basically the opposite of every student's instincts. It works though. Learning takes inquiry, breadth and depth and lots of sleep to sink in. Cramming for exams is self defeating.
I've realized that most of my tendencies to set up elaborate note-taking systems and frameworks have been an attempt to address my anxiety around learning and productivity. I'm constantly in the mode of "learning defensively" - questioning what I'm absorbing into my mental toolkit, how much I retain, and how much I'd be able to conjure if I needed to solve a problem in that domain. In this context, noting down whatev…
Otherwise you're just gonna be doing busy work to feel like you're doing what you're supposed to.
Do not suppose. Decide what you want to achieve and slice that into things you can do inside of a day.
On the other hand, if you have nothing to achieve, anything goes. Just read, think about it, go for walks.
Just don't get caught in between, busy and going nowhere.
I used Joplin, Sphinx doc for many years ago, but I don't use them recently. I found they are too complicated, bloated, not easy to organize notes, not easy to access across devices, not flexible, no manual sorting, etc. I like simple, concise, flexible and practical note-taking or bookmark management app. So I have created my own note-taking app Metaessen [1] for 2+ years. Now I am just using my own app and pure tex…
I did the same - I created MindForger for myself and it's the first app that I start every day and the last I close. I also completely understand "bloat"/simplicity - my project may seem dead on Github, but for me it is "perfect software" - no more features needed, no bugs in what I use daily. Some of my favorite projects got so complicated over the years that I stopped to use them. This is why Don and his TeX is the…
Just plain text or markdown format, name, description and keywords (tags, unique features: keywords have orders and bound time) for resources, structures like real objects, search and filter by text or keywords,
No inline images or videos (add images in the future), math, diagrams, AI / LLM, or other unnecessary things (my own values for unnecessary things).