The New Evernote/moleskine Smart Notebook

[Susan3141]

So, I saw this blog notice today about something called the Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine Moleskine Link

 

I ordered one immediately, because I thought, "WOW! How cool is this! I can use my fountain pens in my notebook and then digitize them in Evernote!" But then, after some thought, I realized, "I hate Evernote." And "I don't much like Moleskine." And, "Technically, I could do this to my Rhodia Webbie if I wanted just by taking pics with my iPhone." So I canceled my order.

 

What do you think? This isn't meant to be a Moleskine pro/con discussion. I'm mainly interested in what you think about this idea of creating a paper notebook that interacts with digital elements.

 

Susan

Edited August 25, 2012 by suzyq2463

[Sonnet]

I thought it was pretty cool but: I just bought a new Moleskine (...or two) *and* I upgraded my Evernote account to the premium one last month. And Evernote just released an iOS update that included the Page Capture feature. So I can just snap pictures of my existing notebooks with my existing Evernote for iPhone's Page Capture and upload them to my existing Evernote account

 

Those "smart stickers" are snazzy though.

[inkypete]

Available for Aussies too at notemaker.com.au

 

http://notemaker.com.au/collections/moleskine-evernote?utm_source=News+from+NoteMaker&utm_campaign=4eb5fef0b8-NM_Moleskine_Evernote_Launch8_24_2012&utm_medium=email

[mhguda]

I think the idea has some merit, but it's a long way from being really practical, IMO. The whole idea behind Evernote is to very quickly capture things to an electronic notebook. But in order to get handwritten things from the paper page into Evernote I have to get my phone or tablet, start an app, and snap a picture, as a minimum set of actions. I don't see it. It might work if whatever flows from my pen onto paper somehow makes its recognized way into my Evernote notebook without too many extra steps... but I don't see that flowing from this one, frankly.

And theoretically something like this could be done with a drawing tablet that plugs in like a mouse - but then you would give up pen and paper altogether - self-defeating...

[ajzeller]

I can see the benefit from it if you were drawing and wanted a quick digital entry method to your system if a scanner were not available, but for the most part, if you need something that you have written put into a computer, you'd probably start with it in there to begin with. For the other times, I agree with suzyq2463 that you could just use any paper and take a photo and insert it. Sure, it has the dots to help alignment, but I don't think that justifies that the $25-$30 price tag... The cover is pretty cool though, and if you're a fan of evernote, it's pretty nice to have a dedicated physical notebook for use with it...

 

I may grab one just for review's sake to see how it compared with other notebooks when used in conjunction with evernote...

 

 

 

[Danni2989]

I think it's pretty cool, I mean as a whole package, but I like the cover design. Moleskine are good at that - making really awesome editions. Shame the paper is so mischievous.

 

~ Danni

[jakelogan]

Not practical at its current state of technology

 

Has definite potential, like a more universal version of the current generation of smart-pens

 

(Smart pens are ballpoints - ugh - that capture what you write and store the text so you revisit it on a computer)

[ajzeller]

Not practical at its current state of technology

 

Has definite potential, like a more universal version of the current generation of smart-pens

 

(Smart pens are ballpoints - ugh - that capture what you write and store the text so you revisit it on a computer)

 

Wacom (who makes the intuos tablets) actually made something like that a year or so ago called the inkling. From what I can tell it works pretty well, and I was tempted to purchase one for a while. You can find some more info on it here if you're interested.

[Newjelan]

1345852923[/url]' post='2444007']

So, I saw this blog notice today about something called the Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine Moleskine Link

 

I ordered one immediately, because I thought, "WOW! How cool is this! I can use my fountain pens in my notebook and then digitize them in Evernote!" But then, after some thought, I realized, "I hate Evernote." And "I don't much like Moleskine." And, "Technically, I could do this to my Rhodia Webbie if I wanted just by taking pics with my iPhone." So I canceled my order.

 

What do you think? This isn't meant to be a Moleskine pro/con discussion. I'm mainly interested in what you think about this idea of creating a paper notebook that interacts with digital elements.

 

Susan

 

I agree, I do this already with my Rhodia and iPad

[Chris S]

I like Evernote, but I am not a big fan of Moleskine (If I only used BPs or RBs - I would probably love them).

 

East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet - someone much smarter than me said that once.

[faustulus]

Maybe the smarter man can explain how east is east and west is west on a sphere, but that is neither here nor there.

As for the notebook, I think it does have potential. It allows your written pages to be searchable, allows instant access for multiple people and keeps a nice backup. It isn't a perfect system, but what is?

There is a huge potential, especially when they expand it. I have used a similar ap for years, basically just a camera scanner and linked it to dropbox. Quite useful, this may be more so if the search function works well.

[Movis]

I think it's a decent idea, I heard something about a similar notebook from Muji once upon I time if I remember correctly.

 

I personally wouldn't use it to make an active digital notebook, but it sounds promising for archival purposes. I don't use Evernote much though, I'm not a fan of proprietary data formats. The Moleskine angle isn't that troubling to me, I use fine points and my current Moleskine isn't bad.

 

I think I'd rather scan and OCR to some more open format, but the upside to Evernote is convenience and price. I don't think this kind of thing is far enough along yet in any form to be practical, and it may never get there. But I'm okay with that. It's a hole in my workflow, but not a huge one.

[dgturner]

I think a couple of you missed that the Evernote app for IOS (not being an android app is a deal breaker by itself for me) uses the dots not just for alignment, but also for OCR (handwriting recognition), so your photo is saved as a photo AND as text -- which is really cool. I will admit that if they did not spec the paper, it might be a deal breaker for me as well (I like the idea of Moleskines, but the paper is to inconsistent for my use).

[Merrib]

I like Evernote but I will pass on the Moleskine.

[ObserveClosely]

I think a couple of you missed that the Evernote app for IOS (not being an android app is a deal breaker by itself for me) uses the dots not just for alignment, but also for OCR (handwriting recognition), so your photo is saved as a photo AND as text -- which is really cool. I will admit that if they did not spec the paper, it might be a deal breaker for me as well (I like the idea of Moleskines, but the paper is to inconsistent for my use).

Wait a second. I understand that the handwritten text is OCRed and therefore searchable. But is it also converted into typewritten text? Now, that would be cool!

 

Also another question: will that Evernote OCR feature work with ANY handwritten text or ONLY text handwritten on the official "dots" paper? Anyone test this?

[Sonnet]

I tried it with some regular paper and it did pick up some of my handwritten text. For example, I scanned page from a non-"smart" Moleskine, into Evernote, did a search for "Lily" and it picked up probably 5 of the 6 times that name appeared in my writing. It didn't convert it into typed text though.

As I understand it, the dots supposedly help the Page Capture app better align the paper and help the app make it more scan-friendly.

[ObserveClosely]

I tried it with some regular paper and it did pick up some of my handwritten text. For example, I scanned page from a non-"smart" Moleskine, into Evernote, did a search for "Lily" and it picked up probably 5 of the 6 times that name appeared in my writing. It didn't convert it into typed text though.

As I understand it, the dots supposedly help the Page Capture app better align the paper and help the app make it more scan-friendly.

Thanks, Sonnet! I tried it myself and the OCR worked okay on "regular" paper. And it also did NOT convert it to typed text for me either. Does anyone know if Evernote does this? I think not.

[Moynihan]

/the-new-evernote-smart-notebook-by-moleskine/

 

Too complex. Will not takeoff.

Not when you have apps like Notability, and a stylus already. Do not know if Evernote accepts stylus input.

[AfterMyNap]

Boy, talk about a gimmick, it looks mostly like a way to raise the price of a Moleskine and your Evernote subscription, and get you to start buying their pricy little stickers.

 

Just using the existing iCloud enables me to do all of this with any document in any format. Like Moynihan said, it's complex and in my opinion, too cross-proprietary.

[Colors]

I saw that too and thought it was kind of cool so i checked it out on the moleskine website. Wouldn't really consider purchasing for 2 reasons: moleskine paper is poor for fountain pens and they are overpriced.