this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
266 points (97.2% liked)

Asklemmy

42502 readers
1334 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
266
Do you still write notes with pen and paper? (programming.dev)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
202 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

With so much note taking apps nowadays, I can't understand why does anyone still write notes with pen and paper. You need to bring the notepad, book or that paper to retrieve that information, and most of the time you don't have it in hand. While my phone almost always reachable and you carry when you go out. For those still like to do handwriting, there's many app does that and they can even convert it to text notes.

So, if you still write notes with pen and paper, why?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 101 points 10 months ago (6 children)

  1. a notebook and pencil in my shirt pocket are faster to open than a phone app

  2. handwriting is faster than thumb typing

  3. I can sketch an electrical diagram on paper way faster than anyone can with a stylus on some janky phone screen.

3.1) Even if there was a stylus/screen combination with the same haptics, fidelity, and input recognition speed as pencil on paper, it wouldn't be 0.78€

  1. I can toss the notebook and diagrams to anyone working on a project with me with zero worry that they'll drop it, forget it, or look around in the rest of it

  2. I can tear out a page and hand it to anyone instantly, instead of finding out what messaging app we have in common, copying (or screenshotting) the note and pasting it in an app

  3. I can insert a note into a physical book, stick it to the inside of a toolbox lid, a wall next to an electrical junction, inside a breaker box, or any other surface, and always have location-aware reminders waiting for me when I need them.

  4. With minimal environmental control, my notes are effectively immortal. I have notebooks of measurements and diagrams of most rooms, wall cavities, pipe runs, electrical runs, cable pulls, and dimensions of various equipment that have outlasted hard drives, backup tapes, and a few cloud storage companies.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago

This guy notebooks.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (3 children)

And your notes don't suddenly increase the price of your storage.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Digital text notes take up practically no storage space. You'll spend more on new notebooks to write in over a year than digital storage space for the exact same content

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I'd rather do that despite the costs. I like the real storage paper requires.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Uh, except for buying more notebooks and writing utensils, which, if your text files are large enough to suddenly increase the price of storage (or even need to pay for text storage), you're going to need a whole lot of.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

No, it's more of a subtle, inflationary pressure.

For me, it's the act of writing, the memory it helps solidify, and... being an FP nerd.

Can I take notes on a phone? Sure, but I wouldn't use a personal device for work notes, ever. Between my privacy, customer privacy laws, and separation of concerns. I've no compunctions at all, though, about sharing an A5 notebook between journal, work notes, personal notes, and reminders.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

This is the correct answer. I don't take many notes personally myself, but your comment made me think I really should carry around a small notebook in my pocket.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Also, notes taken with pen and paper never run out of battery, or need to be charged. They're powered by basically any light source.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

On the flip side, they don't come up in a mass search. I have so many notes. If it doesn't come up in a search it mine as well not exist, I'll never find it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

This. Plus as a subjective thing: I personally remember stuff more easily when I write them down compared to typing. Also my written notes mix bullet points, regular writing, arrows and connections, without having to β€œswitch mode” or install plugins.

I still use note-taking apps, sometimes as primary, sometimes as secondary tool.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

I feel like you have to be exceptionally fast at handwriting or exceptionally slow at thumb typing for handwriting to be faster.