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Taking Notes
I wish I could have that kind of open affair with my Moleskine like every other proud owner has had with their notebook. I own quite a few, each varying in size and paper formats and my intention investing in them was so that they could serve as an invitation to pour out casual ideas while on the go but lately I’ve done more carrying than writing with it. I think I’ve become just enamored with the concept of owning a Moleskine with zero substance in saying that I used them.
It’s not that expectations weren’t met with them but I’ve concluded that it’s my commitment to the actual note taking with a pen and paper that I lack. I do well in a work setting but not in my personal life. Most of my organizing, scheduling and writing is accomplished electronically and I’m more quick to whip out my iPhone than to scrambled to find something to write on.
Just recently I was grumbling about my aversion towards Marker Felt, which as you know is the default font in the Notes application. Simply put, it’s just ugly to look at and if the purpose of taking notes is to ultimately refer back to these important tidbits of information, the font itself will keep me away from ever looking at them again and that’s just silly.
Light at the end
Fast forward to a couple days later and DF goes and writes a detailed piece on an app that truly lives up to its name: Simplenote. Gruber writes:
Simplenote’s developers clearly studied what is good about Notes and thought about how to make something that is good in the same ways, but improves upon its major shortcomings.
I love the minimal elegant interface, the instant search feature but above all the syncing that the application uses with a secure web app. There’s no need to transcribe anything back to your desktop because it’s readily available for you to copy & paste anywhere you want or to continue any thought you had started on your iPhone.
Copying an idea just doesn’t work. You have to improve on what’s already out there and Simplenote does an exceptional job in accomplishing that. Mostly importantly to me, it’s instilled back the beauty of on-the-go note taking even if there’s no pen involved. Ultimately it’s the content that matters.
