» iPhone–Notes or Resistance?
I got an iPhone 5 a few months ago. Since it is so easy to use I am more confident trying out apps and other features. But I have not bothered with the Calendar, Notes or Reminders icons. I use paper products for those tools and have not transitioned–even a bit–to digital. 
Part of this resistance is that I am a “paper person.” Everybody around me reads on a Kindle, Nook or iPad. I love my hardcover books, and my bookcases, and to me the experience of reading is richer and deeper through the senses. There is an intimacy with the page that is missing in a device.
That being said–I feel myself getting sucked into the vortex of digital notes.
It would certainly be convenient to jot my notes on my phone since I carry it around with me wherever I go. But I also carry a pocket planner and a small Rhodia pad. They are quick and easy to use–why bother with the phone?
Anyone else going through the tussle, or feel like a rebel?
Comments
I understand the desire to keep notes and reminders on paper (I carry a pocket notebook for just this purpose), but having access to a calendar that can be shared with others or synced to other devices is just too handy. I don’t know how I kept my family’s schedule straight before we used a shared Google calendar.
Due to the nature of my job I have been a long time user of PDAS and latterly smartphones and tablets. Yes there is tremendous capability through shared and collaborative applications, having a vast resource of instantly searchable notes but I have found that more and more I feel the urge to go back to paper and ink for two reasons. The first is to “slow down” as notes on paper require thought whilst note taking on a tablet/smartphone can be as thorough as embedding a recording. The second is that note taking on a device is very clinical and there isn’t the emotive connection between the paper, the pen, the eye and the thought which is created on paper; the device is cold, analytical and flawless whilst paper tears, bleeds ink and looks worn and used.
One other plus for going back to paper…….it never runs out of battery!
I use Evernote to do my online note taking, to store linkable URLs and lately, I’ve been backing up paper notes via a camera to digital. However, I prefer to use a small notebook and pen when I’m on the go for simple note taking. I still write on paper for notes at seminars and yes, my humble grocery shopping list is always on paper. The digital has failed me too many times in the past when I’m away from my desk and frankly, I find inputting into it more difficult than using paper.
I go back and forth. It is really easy though to tell Siri to take a note or a reminder.
Why not have the best of both worlds and get a whitelines link app and the whitelines paper!
I use both.
I have found that I always have my iPhone with me & therefore am more able to have long term lists with me.
Things like: movies that I want to rent.
Questions for Drs. & other notes from dr appts.
Client notes (I’m an Art Therapist).
Etc., etc., etc.
That being said, I’m also an artist & there’s nothing like paper to drawn on!
Keeping digital notes for future art ideas/projects is useful, but the drawing apps are not quite there yet for me…
It’s easy for me to be self-righteous about the virtues of paper & pen since I don’t own a smart phone. My note taking tool is my Levenger Shirt Pocket Briefcase filled with supply of notecards. My pen of choice is a Uniball Signo Micro (love those clicker gel pens!).
Back in the late 1990′s I bought a Palm V organizer and quickly learned that it was great for calendar items and playing Space Invaders, but was severely lacking as a note taking device.
When I’m sitting in front of my computer, I use Evernote and Gmail. When I’m away from my computer, its notecards. If I owned a smart phone, I don’t know which I’d choose.
Bob
Use Siri to dictate notes. Use a second Siri command to send them as email to yourself.
Siri is only weird the first twenty or thirty times you try using voice control on the iPhone. There are many sites to help you learn how to use this tool effectively.
I always have my notebook and fountain pens with me.
I have downloaded dozens of note apps but the only ones I actually use or keep on my phone and ipad are Evernote and Simple Note since both sync with apps I use on my Mac. So both apps allow me to add to existing texts I’ve already started. I seldom start new digital notes on my phone, that’s what paper is for!
I was an early adopter of PDAs like the Palm Pilot so the idea of storing addresses, phone numbers and my calendar digitally is pretty firmly engrained in me. I still prefer paper for notes, to-do lists and preliminary thinking. Every time I try to use an app for note taking, it feels to confining and formal for me. I do use Evernote for in-between times — transposing meeting notes, blog preparation and links as its been the most flexible option I’ve found so far. Please keep us posted on your digital transition or your choice to keep analog.
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