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Blimey! I'm Finally An Evernote Turncoat


lurcho

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I don't even know how it happened.

 

But over the last six months (or whatever), it stopped making sense to record anything permanent on paper.

 

During this period, I even bought a Staples Arc punch, and made up a few notebooks for myself, my wife, and my stepdaughter.

 

I was still stuck with the ineluctable conclusion that practically everything can be typed.

 

No Should be typed.

 

I hate it, but it's true (in this limited sense). If I want my writing to be re-readable, and readable, and retrievable, then electronic...

 

Pens and pencils are for quick notes, back-of-the-envelope-planning (David Allen thinks nearly all planning is like this)

 

I had meant to continue this post for much longer, however strong alcoholic drink has taken the better of me.

 

I'll be back.

 

But in the meantime, think on.

 

I feel terrible....

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maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I prefer to write down everything, permanent or not, on paper. I tend to write everything that i need to remember in a small notebook and all of the dates and whatnot i need to remember on an old-fashioned desk calendar. I have my own little system for doing things, and it works for me just fine.

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If I want my writing to be re-readable, and readable, and retrievable, then electronic...

 

I am with you on this Lurcho.

 

All my thinking and drafting is done in pen and ink. I can't think on a keyboard, but the durable final version is rendered digital and synched to multiple devices in plain text.

Edited by PhilProf
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I thought by "Evernote Turncoat" you'd moved to Microsoft OneNote. :)

 

I've been using OneNote for ages; it lets you work in a much less structured way than EverNote, and handles pen input better. I've had a tablet or Tablet PC for a while, and OneNote is unmatched at letting you write, sketch, scribble, and jot.

 

It's a great tool - WAY better than Evernote, although I use both - and I wouldn't be without it.

 

My fountain pens get used for longer form writing, and for letters.

--

Lou Erickson - Handwritten Blog Posts

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I don't regard myself as a Luddite, indeed I run my business on the internet. But I thought "Evernote" must be a pen brand - probably an American producer of mid-range pens between 1930 & 1960.

 

I prefer my version.

Edited by martinbir
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I switched from typed up notes for work to a hardcover book as an excuse to use my fountain pens which in turn can justify buying more. And yes there are more cerebral arguments for both camps, but it is the fun of it too.

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I use Evernote for short notes, and some articles I post on here, and Mendeley to keep, and keep track of, references. I like the way I can access both systems from phone, mac and windows, both here and at work.

 

I wish I had had both systems when I was a student.

fpn_1412827311__pg_d_104def64.gif




“Them as can do has to do for them as can’t.


And someone has to speak up for them as has no voices.”


Granny Aching

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I am with you on this Lurcho.

 

All my thinking and drafting is done in pen and ink. I can't think on a keyboard, but the durable final version is rendered digital and synched to multiple devices in plain text.

You will lose that "durable" final version.

Can a calculator understand a cash register?

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  • 5 months later...

I'm a new convert to Evernote, myself. I see this as another way to preserve my hardcopy notebooks, though. As an example, I had filled up a stone paper composition book with notes, and then later found out stone paper disintegrates with age. So I scanned the pages in one by one to save them (yes, a huge hassle) and then stored them in Evernote.

 

I love the idea of the Moleskine Evernote journals and notebooks. Those of us who still like to use pen, ink and paper can still merge this with technology in an incredibly useful way. I love that the Evernote search engine can search every word of my notes.

 

 

Our family homeschools, and my kids each have their own Evernote moleskine notebook. They can take a picture of their pages with their Kindle camera and save their sketches, notes, etc. They are usually more motivated to study from a device than they are from a book, sadly, so I don't mind making use of this technology.

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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I came into this semester with the intention to handwrite all my notes. Keeping up was fine, but it was a pain in the rear end when in came time to revise.

 

OneNote allowed me to search my keywords (even words within images, PDFs, and PowerPoints - often handed out by professors online the day before) and highlight and annotate with more precision and clarity.

 

Right now, I'm transitioning to a phase of scribbling down all my notes with a (fountain) pen on paper during the lecture, then retyping them up in OneNote when I get home.

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.”

Graham Greene

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You will lose that "durable" final version.

 

 

Yes Paddler. Of course I will. I am under no illusions, but plain text has its advantages in this context. There's no way I could carry all of my handwritten work with me in paper form.

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I came into this semester with the intention to handwrite all my notes. Keeping up was fine, but it was a pain in the rear end when in came time to revise.

 

OneNote allowed me to search my keywords (even words within images, PDFs, and PowerPoints - often handed out by professors online the day before) and highlight and annotate with more precision and clarity.

 

Right now, I'm transitioning to a phase of scribbling down all my notes with a (fountain) pen on paper during the lecture, then retyping them up in OneNote when I get home.

 

Yes, that's what makes this so useful... the ability to search so easily. Evernote has handwriting-recognition software, so every word becomes searchable. Great tools!

Edited by fiberdrunk

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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Yes Paddler. Of course I will. I am under no illusions, but plain text has its advantages in this context.

There's no way I could carry all of my handwritten work with me in paper form.

I have a hard time believing that last sentence. Generations did it successfully. (Myself included)

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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Permanent is relative...

 

 

You will lose that "durable" final version.

 

 

 

... There's no way I could carry all of my handwritten work with me in paper form.

 

 

hahaha. more ways to lose notes.

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I have a hard time believing that last sentence. Generations did it successfully. (Myself included)

I stand by my claim that there's no way I could carry all my handwritten work with me in paper form. If you have a hard time believing it, maybe we are understanding 'handwritten work' differently?

 

If I had to guess, you mean something like 'the day's work' or more concretely, something like 'those client notes I need to take home to review for tomorrow's 8:00 a.m. meeting.' That's not what I had in mind at all, or rather, that would only be a small fraction of what I intend by the phrase. I, like you (and those of other generations?) carry that work with me on occasion.

 

By 'all my handwritten work' I mean (mainly) my research. That includes heavily hand-annotated books, articles, and reviews. I understand that in your career material like that might not be relevant, but in mine it is. There's no way I could carry the handwritten versions of all my marginalia around with me. Even if we exclude marginalia, and thus the added bulk of others' printed/bound texts, I'd estimate that I have at least two banker's boxes full of my notebooks and freestanding handwritten research notes. If nothing else I'd call the contents of those boxes my handwritten work.

 

Granted, I could carry those boxes with me, but to what end?

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Very interesting. I have tried to use both Evernote and OneNote and 'think' I like Evernote better. I say 'think' because I have not yet managed to convert to digital only for my daily calendar or notes. Anyone have a recommendation of good tutorials for the use of either system?

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Like Lou Erikson & savingbirds I too use OneNote; I'm certainly not affiliated with Microsoft, and don't really like them that much, but OneNote is a good product. I have it on my office (Windows) computer, my carry-around ipad, and my iphone. All sync without issues. I can make a note in a file when I'm out and about in court on my phone or tablet and it syncs btw those devices and my desktop. OneNote makes it easier for me to work from home when I need to and I can avoid the frequently awkward remote desktop software.

 

I've tried Evernote, but in my experience, OneNote is easier to use and allows much more user flexibility in creating the notes and notebooks you want your way.

 

I used to use a Filofax for all sorts of random notes. OneNote has replaced that. It makes creating colored tab dividers in an individual notebook and separate notebooks simple.

 

Best of all it's available free for the ipad & iphone. This is one product (the only one!) that Microsoft has gotten right.

 

I still use my fountain pens daily to jot long & short notes and to draft longer work product which then gets dictated for typing and I'm never going to stop doing that.

The prizes of life are never to be had without trouble - Horace
Kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much - Pascal

You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream - C.S. Lewis

 Favorite shop:https://www.fountainpenhospital.com

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I find that writing by hand reinforces things in my memory better. Just because it's stored somewhere electronically doesn't mean it's better or easier to find and use. It still has to be organized. It can still be jumbled on your hard drive just as easily as it was in those crumpled pieces of paper.

 

Silicon can't analyze subjectively...Carbon can. B)

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I had to look up Evernote to see what it was, but then, I'm behind the times.

 

I've got this little Asus tablet PC with Windows 8.1. It has One Note on it, and keeps nudging me to save stuff on it; I keep closing it whenever it pops open. I suppose I should read the instructions some time just to see what it's supposed to be. I don't know if I'd be able to access it from my iMac at home. I gather that cloud storage is involved, which can be useful, but do they charge you for it? Well, I could read the instructions.

 

The thing is, though, that I find flipping through old notebooks an intuitive and easy way to search. I can't do instant keyword searches across multiple documents, but for what I do, it's surprisingly easy to find what I need. And I frequently find old things that I'd forgotten, which I wouldn't do with a directed search on digital documents.

 

I suppose we all have different needs for note-taking. Whatever works for you. I already do use Google Calendar and Google contacts, but for just about everything else, I'd rather write it down. With a pen, not a stylus on a tablet.

"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do."

 

- Benjamin Franklin

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