> frictionless, non-heirarchical notes that you can just dump into the system and then retrieve based on a few relatively simple axes, date, keywords, a little semantic analysis, etc.
You mean a piece of paper with a filing cabinet? I’ve been trying note taking apps for 15 years and nothing beats a plain old notebook for ease of use, flexibility, and helping me think.
I don’t do filing cabinets so retrieval has suffered. And for me personally that hasn’t been a problem because most of my notes are ephemeral. When I’m ready to save something long term I write a blogpost and let Google take care of the rest.
PS: the main issue with most note taking apps is that there’s just something fundamentally different about thinking on the keyboard vs. thinking with a pen in hand. Digital pens have so far not been able to replicate the feeling for some reason.
It's great that pen+paper works so well for you! I hope you can understand that other people have different workflows, and would prefer something like a personal wiki to organize their thoughts. The recent surge in note-taking apps is all centered around this idea.
For me, I like to save URLs and write a short note about everything I read. Typing is much quicker than hand-writing, and I can easily embed images / math / etc..
Agreed. A keyboard is fine for hammering out thought that's already relatively structured, rote notes on a subject, or for thoughts I've worked out to some extent already. For me, pen and paper are leagues superior for any kind of thinking that requires creativity or delving into the unknown.
You mean a piece of paper with a filing cabinet? I’ve been trying note taking apps for 15 years and nothing beats a plain old notebook for ease of use, flexibility, and helping me think.
I don’t do filing cabinets so retrieval has suffered. And for me personally that hasn’t been a problem because most of my notes are ephemeral. When I’m ready to save something long term I write a blogpost and let Google take care of the rest.
PS: the main issue with most note taking apps is that there’s just something fundamentally different about thinking on the keyboard vs. thinking with a pen in hand. Digital pens have so far not been able to replicate the feeling for some reason.