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It's kinda fascinating how something as simple as notetaking is still one of the big unsolved challanges in IT. We are constantly reimplementing the same decade

It's kinda fascinating how something as simple as notetaking is still one of the big unsolved challanges in IT. We are constantly reimplementing the same decade-old concepts again and again, in slight variations and combinations, but yet hardly moving into a higher level of conquering this domain. One reason is for sure is the wide number of requirements that everyone has. But another one seems to be the lack of big money flowing into that area and the low effort in researching it as a result. It's basically all just personal preference and randomness spreading.

eloisant 5y ago
I wouldn't say it's unsolved, many people have a workflow that have worked for them for many years. Including people who used paper 20 years ago and still do today with the same techniques. It's a little like project management: there is no right or no wrong way to do it, just things that work for some people (or teams) and others that work better for different people (or teams). Additionally, the frontier between "note taking" and "personal project management", or "todo list" is blurry as they're usually done with same tools. The main difference is that notetaking being personal, there is no reason to converge and all use the same techniques. By contrast in project management, you have to work more or less the same way with the rest of your team or organization.
- slightwinder 5y ago
  > I wouldn't say it's unsolved, many people have a workflow that have worked for them for many years. I mean it's unsolved in the sense that there is not dominating solution that works as a foundantion for a broader set of features and exchangable workflows. Everyone is constantly reinventing the same solutions, building the same low effort apps. It's all many many little isolated silos. > It's a little like project management: there is no right or no wrong way to do it There is many standardization in project-managment, from low to high levels. Though, it's true that on lowest levels there is also similar widespread of silos, because people avoid the complex solutions or simly don't know them.
marttt 5y ago
> It's kinda fascinating how something as simple as notetaking is still one of the big unsolved challanges in IT. IIRC, author of the (now closed) Taking Note blog [1] once said that you're actually lucky if you haven't yet decided for a "final" note taking technique by your 40s or even 50s. Unfortunately I can't find the exact quote. 1: https://web.archive.org/web/20201021201608/https://takingnotenow.blogspot.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201021201608/https://takingnot...

eloisant 5y ago

I wouldn't say it's unsolved, many people have a workflow that have worked for them for many years. Including people who used paper 20 years ago and still do today with the same techniques. It's a little like project management: there is no right or no wrong way to do it, just things that work for some people (or teams) and others that work better for different people (or teams). Additionally, the frontier between "note taking" and "personal project management", or "todo list" is blurry as they're usually done with same tools. The main difference is that notetaking being personal, there is no reason to converge and all use the same techniques. By contrast in project management, you have to work more or less the same way with the rest of your team or organization.

slightwinder 5y ago
> I wouldn't say it's unsolved, many people have a workflow that have worked for them for many years. I mean it's unsolved in the sense that there is not dominating solution that works as a foundantion for a broader set of features and exchangable workflows. Everyone is constantly reinventing the same solutions, building the same low effort apps. It's all many many little isolated silos. > It's a little like project management: there is no right or no wrong way to do it There is many standardization in project-managment, from low to high levels. Though, it's true that on lowest levels there is also similar widespread of silos, because people avoid the complex solutions or simly don't know them.

marttt 5y ago

> It's kinda fascinating how something as simple as notetaking is still one of the big unsolved challanges in IT. IIRC, author of the (now closed) Taking Note blog [1] once said that you're actually lucky if you haven't yet decided for a "final" note taking technique by your 40s or even 50s. Unfortunately I can't find the exact quote. 1: https://web.archive.org/web/20201021201608/https://takingnotenow.blogspot.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201021201608/https://takingnot...