Why I’m Giving Up On Digital Notes

Why I'm Giving Up On Digital Notes

So I’m going right back to the drawing board, literally. The most fundamental form of note-taking is via the pen and paper. We can still read ideas and notes written hundreds of years ago. Paper is a fundamental material of humanity and you can bet it will be around for a very long time.

Agreed. In general, we need to get away from the idea that paper is somehow more fragile and less permanent. The fact is, history shows the opposite to be true. Now, in fairness, digital has not been around long enough to prove that it is longer lasting. That said, I’ve personally lost dozens of documents only a few years old to things as simple as no longer supported file formats. Writing that I will likely never see again. Yet, the horrible poetry I wrote 30+ years ago is still in my basement reminding me how far I’ve come. Also, digital files require software and hardware to read them. Paper requires no other tools to read than the ones you are born with.

So, if you are looking for an always on, platform agnostic, no further tools needed place to work on your best ideas — ones you hope will last for centuries — paper is the only logical choice.