5 ms·
Used to fill a large size moleskin a month by hand, and for this sample size of one, the aid to recall from deciding what to write and processing it back out is
by Terretta 6y ago
Used to fill a large size moleskin a month by hand, and for this sample size of one, the aid to recall from deciding what to write and processing it back out is remarkable.
So, of course, I’ve tried the Remarkable pad, as well as apps like Goodnotes on iPad that try to support handwriting while also supporting search. Goodnotes suited my needs better, as the Remarkable pad latency was too high, though I did prefer the feel of writing. Apple materials research needs to get their glass and pencil closer to this.
However, for recall, I find there’s something about the physicality of a paper notebook that gives the facts a place to live.
With real x, y, and z dimensions in space, perhaps paper notebooks offer a fine grained version of the “memory palace” method of storing facts for in-memory browsing and recall.
Digital notebooks as well as digital books on Kindle lack the physical depth of the relevant page. It seems likely a visual “depth” indicator would assist recall of information in e-books. Unclear how that would work in digital notepads unless they had a fixed quantity of “pages”.
Aside from this loss of physical memory mapping, iOS 14’s handwriting to text is compelling. One gets to write notes out by hand, exercising that pathway, but what ends up on the page is real text. Haven’t played with this long enough to have any opinion on whether this transformation defeats recall.
- criddell 6y agoI have an iPad + Pencil and a Remarkable 2 is on the way. The iPad writing experience can be greatly improved with a matte screen protector that has a paper-like finish.
- emit_time 6y agoCan’t you get a screen protector that makes it feel more like paper?
- larrywright 6y agoYes, Moshi makes one that I have and like. It has the added benefit of adding some anti-glare to the iPad. The one I’ve heard the most praise for is called Paperlike: https://paperlike.com/ https://paperlike.com/
- Jaxan 6y agoI have tried both the iPad Pro and MS surface pro 4. The latencies are the same, but the MS pens (by Wacom) are nicer, I find. They have a soft tip, which gives more friction. The screen is still glass-like though.
- healsjnr1 6y agoI can never find the source, but I'm certain I've seen a study that linked the tactile nature of books to stronger recall. Smell, texture, weight, cover art, all these things aid with placing the book in the context of your life which, supposedly, would help with recall. If true, I can imagine with physical note books that roughly the same thing applies.
- FalconSensei 6y ago> However, for recall, I find there’s something about the physicality of a paper notebook that gives the facts a place to live. I think that's correct. On 'Moonwalking with Einstein', the author mentions that placing a memory somewhere will help. Like, listening to podcasts while you walk around, and stuff like that. Maybe because you use different physical notebooks, your brain remembers better Like, I used to listen to podcasts while driving to my GFs town, or driving home. I remember way more what I listened while driving, than while in my bed. In fact, for a few things, I remember where I was when X thing was being discussed.