51–60 of 61 posts
For projects, future ideas, thoughts of things I might do some day, I use a notebook and designate a few pages per item. I also click in pages, printouts, etc for that idea to remind me of things.
http://imgur.com/vmoQhYG,6RKCKV7,EqJgFLr,6fJgCn3#1
Meetings! I always make sure I have a pen/pencil and notebook/piece of paper when I show up for an in-person meeting. Maybe it's just me, but if I'm trying to explain an idea to someone and they're busy tapping away at their keyboard it really bugs me. Are they making notes on what I'm saying? Or are they checking in on HN? Ditto for the rare occasion when I'm in a dull meeting with a laptop - it's really difficult f…
But really, I agree that handwritten notes can be less distracting. Interestingly, typing notes on a touch-screen tablet can be less distracting, and the single-app limitation helps avoid external distractions as well.
Pulling out a laptop is too slow, cumbersome, and not practical in all situations. My notebooks are slim and discreet.
My notebooks do not need to be recharged.
My notebooks are designed to hold ink and can last for hundreds of years in the right conditions. Physics won't change much in that time. Computers and file formats will.
My notebooks can be easily recycled when I do not wish to keep them anymore. My laptop is expensive to recycle and there is a non-trivial amount of materials within it that are not recoverable and must simply be stored somewhere...
A pen and paper is the most intuitive interface we have for recording thought. It's entirely free-form and adapts to how I wish to use it without any programming or maintaining complicated digital formats. It exists as a single artifact.
I won't be interrupted mid-stream by a hardware failure, power-outage and I won't lose my work to corruption.
My notebook doesn't phone home to the NSA (yet) or the cloud.
With a good method of organization I can find my notes without much difficulty. Sure I can tag, search, and sort through the streams of bytes I write out on a disk but I rarely find use for such functionality. I'm sure I can keep a database of my books if this becomes an issue.
My thoughts exist in a physical artifact. This gives me a sense of permanence and will certainly leave evidence of my passing when I'm gone. Someone will have to pick up that stack of books and do something with it. Digital files can simply be deleted. Time-stamps and some bytes in an archive don't seem to have the same effect.
Meetings! I always make sure I have a pen/pencil and notebook/piece of paper when I show up for an in-person meeting. Maybe it's just me, but if I'm trying to explain an idea to someone and they're busy tapping away at their keyboard it really bugs me. Are they making notes on what I'm saying? Or are they checking in on HN? Ditto for the rare occasion when I'm in a dull meeting with a laptop - it's really difficult f…
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm trying to explain an idea to someone and they're busy scribbling away on their paper it really bugs me. Are they making notes on what I'm saying? Or are they doodling? But really, I agree that handwritten notes can be less distracting. Interestingly, typing notes on a touch-screen tablet can be less distracting, and the single-app limitation helps avoid external distractions as well.
I have an easier time remembering things I've written down. Actually, that's not entirely correct: I remember more of the tohughts I had when writing something down. Which might actually be more important. (Except when those thoughts are "this is boring, please kill me")
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm trying to explain an idea to someone and they're busy scribbling away on their paper it really bugs me. Are they making notes on what I'm saying? Or are they doodling? But really, I agree that handwritten notes can be less distracting. Interestingly, typing notes on a touch-screen tablet can be less distracting, and the single-app limitation helps avoid external distractions as well.
That's an interesting point about the tablets - I don't think that would bother me so much. Maybe my laptop paranoia is related to the screen being hidden... Not that I would (or probably could) look at someone else's screen as they type, but having a horizontal note taking surface seems less like you're hiding away from the conversation. Or maybe I'm just over thinking it now.
I had a manager always checking his emails when we we're in a meeting. It makes the meeting more painful for everyone involved, as the person you're talking too is focusing on something else.
Doodling or scribbling does not bother me, as if someone is doodling, either they don't need to be listening, or it helps them process the info.
As for someone typing the minutes of a meeting, you can easily tell if they are doing their job, or checking in on HN, so that doesn't bother me at all either.
Therefore I am working on an app for note taking:
A bit like if google docs had a baby with OneNote
- vector graphics/drawings created by freehand / writing http://write-live.com/d/dba21681-8d3f-4fbe-8b4b-e5c1983df934
http://write-live.com/d/8f9b7846-a7b9-4e5c-b704-dad9aa87d14e
- unlimited* levels of zoom http://docs.write-live.com/WriteliveServer/webview.html?d=34...
- draw on a tablet, view on tablet / web http://write-live.com/d/538254c5-7d31-41f2-83bb-bcd0a7cee7ab
also, i feel like whenever i write something, it's easier to remember.