Thinking with a stylus vs a ballpoint pen?

[Renate]

For decades I have kept a series of 80 sheet college-ruled notebooks by my side.
Whenever I have to plan or figure something out I just grab my pen.
The result is a dense mixture of diagrams, math, notes, calculations.

I see all the stylus devices that are popular now but I've never felt the attraction.

Do you keep an informal notebook, neither a pristine lab notebook nor a diary?
Do you find thinking with a stylus comfortable and productive?

[Quoth]

I switched to text on Jota on phone instead of small notepad. Recently I added Gboard instead of Anysoft Keyboard and I can now handwrite on phone in text only app.

Switched to eink instead of paper to proof over 10 years ago.

Got Elipsa and then 2 weeks later Sage for final end of paper, but replaced that with TCL Nxtpaper and various apps (Nebo, sketch, Gboard, etc). Now only text proof on Sage.

Saved 100s on paper, ink, toner, notebooks, pens etc. But backups are more important! More organised too.

I did have Wacom on tablet beside PC from 1990s and it wasn't very useful.
Also had a Lenovo X201 with Wacom on screen and not useful on Windows or Linux.

I did also have workshop hardbound books with squares or blank on side and lines facing for years. Also drawers full of PDF prints. Filing cabinets went to recycling just this week. A big SD card on the TCL nxtpaper 11 has every computer document, pdf, ebook word doc etc accumulated going back to 1992, with LO viewer, Xodo, Pocketbook, Nebo etc.

I might also get the NxtPaper 14. Two weeks ago I got an auxiliary 16″ matt QHD screen that works on laptop, PC, Pi etc, but no touch or pen input.

[JBaby]

I’m all digital. I hate pen and paper. I’m physically disabled so I never learned how to think with them. Taking written notes is a skill set I don’t have. I always had note takers throughout school. I can and do write but it’s not something I can do for long periods of time. I saved my energy for math classes where writing was a necessity. Today I write more because I have an Apple Pencil but it’s still not something I do everyday. So basically I’m a thinker in my head and I don’t need my hand involved in much of the process. I do make use of voice memos. A lot of the time they’re reminders to sketch something or to run the numbers on a project I’m working on.

[maddz]

I don't use electronic notebooks, but I have an Infinite Book (wipe-clean) beside my computers to jot notes in. If I'm working out data flows in a complex report, I use CoggleIT to represent it graphically.

[Renate]

I've had two Wacoms on the desktop.
I kind of liked them but they never caught on.

I sort of like white boards but don't like constantly having them in view.

Voice memos would drive me batty.

[Sirtel]

I'm a simple, uneducated person. I never think about anything more complex than creating a shopping list, which I type in a digital notebook on my laptop or phone (it syncs between the two). Diagrams, calculations? Light years above my intelligence level.

So no, I don't use either a stylus or a pen. I don't keep a diary or take notes. I don't do much thinking or planning at all.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I'm a simple, uneducated person.

From your posts you come across as a complex, educated, sensible person.

Most people have no need to make notes and fewer calculations and diagrams.

Years ago we had shopping lists, now there is a small wipe whiteboard on the fridge

* TEA BAGS! *

!!!! BOTTLE BANK!!!!

Cheese Grommit.

Mostly it's empty.

[Renate]

My notebooks are more formal than scrap paper but less formal than a lab notebook.
Anything of worth is usually codified into a program, a drawing, a PCB design or notes on my desktop.

[estral]

I've always stuck to using a good old ballpoint pen and notebook. There's something about the feel of pen on paper that helps me think and plan better. My notebooks are filled with a mix of diagrams, notes, and calculations definitely not neat, but they get the job done

[Deskisamess]

I take notes in church using mechanical pencils and paper. I've tried note taking with my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, but it's just not the same, and I'm much slower that way. I need the "drag" or "tooth" of the paper, writing quickly on the iPad ends up too sloppy.

I'd love to try a Scribe, but don't have the money for one at the moment.

I do have an app, Notability, and I do scribble notes when using the iPad at home. Stuff like books I want to read, simple math if figuring something for sewing, making notes while sewing, when playing Wordle, or other word games. Split screen is handy when playing word games.

I use paper for grocery lists. I don't want to juggle my iPhone while shopping. A drop on those tile floors can be the death of a screen. I do access my recipes in the Evernote app, if I need to check ingredients.