For the last 5 years or so I’ve been in search of the best way to take notes, record ideas, keep track of my tasks (yes, this is why Tasks was originally created), etc. I won’t keep you in suspense, I still don’t have a perfect solution.
Here are some of the things I’ve used over the years:
- Pen and Paper – the tried and true, the thing is, it isn’t searchable.
- Newton 130 and 2000 – not bad at all for the time, but handwriting is slower than typing.
- Palm III – grafitti is worse than the Newton handwriting recognition.
- Palm V with Stowaway Keyboard – this worked pretty well. I used this for about a year, putting all my meeting notes into Mini DB. The fatal flaw was needing a flat surface for the keyboard.
- Palm i705 with add-on keyboard – thumb keyboards just aren’t fast enough.
- Sony Picturebook with an early, early version of what would become Tasks – this worked great in meetings, etc. but not so well for the “on the go” ideas you want to record.
- Treo 300 – see Palm i705
- Aiwa Voice Recorder – nice for during the commute, but not handy enough that I used it enough.
- 15″ PowerBook G4 with Tasks – fantastic for meetings, searchable data that is accessible from any computer. Best solution so far.
- Treo 600 – see Palm i705
- Current solution: laptop (PowerBook or Dell 700m) with Tasks Pro™, with occasional access from the Treo 600. I’ve even found a way to do UI diagrams in this solution. 🙂
Unfortunately, my current solution is still sub-optimal in a number of situations so I’m looking to augment it. For example, I’d like to have something on the nightstand for those late night brainstorms; perhaps pen and paper is the solution there. I’ve also wanted to have a better “in the car” solution – currently I jot a note in the Treo or use SoundRec. Generally, I need a solution for when it isn’t realistic to pull out a laptop.
One of the fellows I work with on my contract gig uses the Logitech Digital Pen which is actually a lot cooler than I expected. I wonder how well the second generation version works. Of course, this is a PC only solution which is less than ideal, and the handwriting recognition is suspect. The problem with trying to do handwriting recognition after the fact is you don’t know when you have something to correct (a word that isn’t recognized).
Perhaps a tablet PC would have been a better choice than the Dell 700m, that would have given me the option to record digital ink with the ability to correct as I go, but it isn’t as portable (or as “instant on”) as the digital pen and paper solution.
I imagine a bunch of you have followed a similar path and may have some interesting solutions; I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
I’ve long had a digital voice recorder, and I tend to keep it with me to record stuff. What I desperately want is a product that can do speech-recognition so that I can dock some voice recorder and have it turn my voice stuff into text.
I mean, I can’t tell you how much ass this would kick for me—pull the data, do SR, rip it to MP3 [so that I can have the audio for archival reasons as well as for checking the SR algorithms … and perhaps, after correcting the transcripts, the archived audio would work to help provide feedback for the SR algorithms …]. Seems like you could do this with an iPod mini-sized device [plenty of HD storage for daily use] that would be dockable. I can’t even fathom how much I’d pay for one, but I think it’d be on the order of $1000.
the tried and true, the thing is, it isn’t searchable.
Aha! but you can index them (think card catalog).
Geof might want to check out
CMU Sphinx and this links page. Sphinx is an ex-DoD project and quite good.
I have been following this path a long time. Pen and Paper for me doesn’t have reminders, and I never really use a PDA as much as I would like. I did try the first generation digital pen, which was nice- especially keep track of school notes- but the pen was enormous. I am currently looking into yet another PDA- one with WiFi, which I think would be more incentive for me to use it. (I currently have the Tungsten E, which is nice- but for e techie i just doesn’t cut it.)
I currently have the Tungsten E, which is nice- but for A techie IT just doesn’t cut it.
I’ve long had a digital camera, and I what I want is a product that can do speech-recognition thru my voice recorder on its mic I wonder when those will come out next
PDAAddict has some good articles written in her journal about how to better organize yourself with your PDA. I definitely like them. I think the site overall is very helpful, with great bunch of women, that’s for sure.
I try to keep as much scheduling and notes on my Tungsten E, because the laptop solution won’t cut it for me. I can’t possibly carry it everywhere. I have a Griffin iTalk for my iPod, and I think if I clear up some space for recording thoughts down, that might be pretty cool. Then I’ll just transpose them to text when I get home or something.
Bedside Notebook
A week ago, I went out and bought a little notebook to keep on my nightstand – a place to jot down ideas so I can let them go and get some sleep (part of my electronic brain plan). Last night I used it for the first time and it worked out pretty well. …
Well, going to be getting an Axim X50v here in the next few days and give that a run. I realize that from the input here that no one has really found anything “optimal” for it on the Palm platform, but are there any suggestions or solutions that have worked for yourself on the Pocket PC platform? I’ll be using this with my Macs via The Missing Sync.
Unfortunately I’m not a *big* fan of Tasks simply because it does not fit my flow very well for some reason, just hoping for some more brainstorming/sharing.
I am in the situation, I need a mobile solution that isn’t cumbersome and something more at home. I have probably tryed it all. Currently I am using a 1st generation Logitech IO for notes in Class (UQAM-MBA) while everyone else uses a laptop. I also use a Sony Clie UX50 which has a comfortable small keyboard. When in a coffee shop to jot down ideas I use it with a Palm Wireless Keyboard. During a month long trip in Europe I used pen and paper…a travel journal since electricity to charge a PDA is not readily available in Hostels and such.
The biggest problem is is having what I want to use on me when I need it.
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hi all,
i have a solution of my own,
nokia E90 , the main idea was using it as a smart phone but it turned into a block note and a wallet too .
its actually a small pc with a built in phone
most of my work is usually by phone so i never leave it at home and it has the pc with a nice os interface so why not use it.
bye