This Just In: The Emperor Has No Clothes
First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who responded so kindly to my emotional outburst. That was so lovely and so appreciated — I wish I had the time to respond to each and every one of you who commented, emailed, and called. Wow. My readers rule.
Today, I would like to talk about home business technology and productivity. I know shit about productivity, so this is exclusively my opinion and what works for me, or more to the point, what doesn’t work for me.
I was reading Anywired today and came across Origami Productivity: Why I Don’t Want a Paperless Life. It is a defense of paper, and long overdue.
Why, oh why, do we feel the need to technologize everything? Why does everything have to be digital? What the hell is so wrong with a pen and a piece of paper? Why is the hipster PDA the amusing exception, rather than the rule? Why in God’s name do we want to read entire books on a device specifically made for that purpose, and available at amazon.com for $399? I know a device specifically designed for reading books, it’s called a fucking book.
I read the productivity blogs. I have been evangelized to about the glory that is this software or that software or this PDA or whatever. I know about BaseCamp and remember the milk and that (admittedly addictive) thing where you’re not supposed to break the chain. It’s not that I don’t know about them, it’s that I don’t like them. To quote Skellie, “But it’s portable, they say. Well, so is paper. It even works outside wi-fi hotspots.”
A few weeks ago, I bought a laptop. When choosing the laptop, I really struggled with which one to buy. It was down to three. One, the Sony Vaio. To be honest, the Vaio made the short list almost exclusively because it came in pink, although it’s also very light, which came in handy. Two, a HP model. Almost as light as the Vaio, cheaper, but not nearly as pink. And another one, the make and model of which I don’t remember. What I do remember was that the monitor turned into a writing tablet.
The lovely Best Buy salesman, who, I have it on good authority, recently celebrated his ninth birthday, explained to me the features of this particular model. Flick a switch, flip the monitor, and write away with your handy dandy stylus. If my handwriting was “good”, which, by the way, it is, I could have it reading my writing and converting it to text in under three months.
Under three months! Isn’t that amazing? All I’d need to do was write by hand on my laptop for several hours a day, coaching it and teaching it every step of the way, and at the end of three months, it would take my handwriting and turn it into a Word document. Brilliant.
I hemmed. I hawed. I went out for a smoke. I ate some of the baby’s chicken nuggets. I hemmed again. I went to look at HD camcorders. While hanging out with the HandyCams, I was struck by a flash of insight.
I type at a rate of about 90 words per minute.
In the time it would take me to teach this fabulous piece of technology to recognize my handwriting I could handwrite whatever I was writing twice, type it up twice, and likely be onto the next piece before the tablet would figure out I spell my name with an N.
I bought the HP and a brand new spiral notebook instead.
While we’re talking about spiral notebooks and I’m losing subscribers by the minute, I’ll admit here, publicly to over 1000 people, that I don’t get the big fuss about Moleskine notebooks. There. I said it. I feel naked now.
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Hear, hear! I draw storyboards for cartoons. And it was paper and pencils for most of my career. Until it became ‘the new thing’ to draw our boards into Flash with a tablet. Well, I did that because that’s what they wanted.
Well, when I was crying on floor in the fetal position after my file was ‘corrupted’ and lost 220 panels of my storyboard (a week’s worth of work)…I could safely say that could never happen if I drew on paper! Short of my apartment bursting into flames.
Technology has its place, and I’m thankful for a lot of it…but when it’s used ‘just because’…irritating.
I’m happy to report the studio realized it saved NO time and am back to working with pencil and paper. Whew.
I think perhaps this generation (I use “generation” loosely to mean, those who seem to “get it” and are reading this post) has learned much more quickly what is wheat and what is chaff, than our parents did. We are learning or have learned what is important - and that is what works for us - not what someone tells us we need.
I don’t need the Palm. I don’t need the BMW. Some paper and pens, and my shoes work just fine.
And I always thought I was being a bit archaic for having a giant collection of pens, pencils and paper lying about to be scribbled on. I post-it anything that I can guarantee will still be there in an hour when I know I’ll need to refer to it (my cat doesn’t appreciate this method).
I very rarely use my computer to keep important information on after a “total hard drive failure” killed 3 months worth of projects and back-ups and i’m too dubious of leaving stuff online since logging on to a forum I went on (name escapes me) to find a lovely hacker had deleted the whole thing and replaced it with a single word “owned”…
What gets me is that people are so busy trying to prove that new technology is necessary and useful. The technology that I appreciate most is the stuff you forget exists:
- Without my car I wouldn’t have been able to visit my girlfriend, who was at uni about 100 miles away, without murdering at least 1 member of the general public a week.
- Without my computer I’d probably be working in McDonalds because it appears to be the only viable skill I have.
- Without my mobile I’d still be sitting on the M1 several hundred miles from home because of 2 flat tires.
All these things I use without thinking about and until they find something as quick, simple and effective as my bic/post-it combo I’m happy being archaic
I do know shit about technology … but my productivity best friend is a pocket notebook. Of course it all gets transferred into the computer eventually, but it’s easy access, always on, and has no learning curve :-)
Hey, Alexander the Great and Rockefeller didn’t have a PDA … and they did all right!
Tech is good … as long as it gets you a net profit on your time.
I bought an HP laptop late last year and it was great - I would recommend that laptop to anyone…
Anyway, I still use paper for a lot of things, but I heard that electronic is the way to go now-a-days…. hmmm
Lol. But technological innovations save us all time and money, right? Right?? They make life easier….more productive….we all must ride the razor’s edge of the wave of the future.
Yeah. Right.
Say, what’s a moleskine notebook? Never even heard of one.
Moleskines are great, sturdy, classy looking notebooks with an elastic strap to keep it closed or mark a page.
http://www.moleskine.com/eng/default.htm
‘Tis my notebook of choice.
Hear, hear! I totally agree. I use pen and paper for my to-do lists, and always carry a pocket Moleskine and fine point Sharpie for taking notes, writing down ideas, etc.
I’m not quite sure why some people feel the need to digitize everything. I love technology as much as the next person, but as a web designer, I think I’m a bit too dependent on computers as it is without giving them a whole ‘nother chunk of my life.
You’re right Naomi - Moleskine is just an ordinary notebook with a high price tag.
I don’t know what I would do without my stacks of scribbled lists and notebooks. Sure, I love technology just as much as the next person (my Mac is practically my best friend) but there is something to be said for the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I get to cross something off my “To Do” list.
@Nicola / Naomi -
I wouldn’t say there’s anything “magical” or “fussworthy” over Moleskines, but I do find them a lot nicer to use than regular notebooks because:
* they are hella sturdy, even when carried in jeans pockets (perfect size)
* they look nicer than typical notebooks, which is nice when using them in meetings
* the pages are slightly narrower than the covers, which makes it great for adding tabs that won’t get smushed when you jam it in a pocket
* the elastic band and bookmark ribbon are very nice to have.
So they’re really not an ‘ordinary notebook’ … more like a notebook designed to be constantly carried around in any pocket, treated roughly, and still hold up like a champ. Great for the constant traveler like me. For someone who is carrying it around in a briefcase/portfolio, or just in an office/home office, there’s not much of an advantage.
That said, I wish they were a little less expensive, but the features are worth it. It’s not what you pay, it’s what you get.
On the other hand, I also love those 77 cent Walmart mini composition notebooks - the mini versions of the big marble notebooks we had in grade school. Great for discardable note-taking, and relatively sturdy. Another reason why high-tech devices aren’t always the solution you need.
The end. :-p
Excellent!
First, the moleskines. I like them, but yes the price is bad. That being said, I found them at a Border’s Books Outlet for like $2.99 each. I snapped up a bunch because at that price they are a bargain.
And as for the tech solutions. I am a computer guy. That is what I do for a living. And I agree that tech is not the solution. If you aren’t organized, a computer program won’t make you organized. It will just help you be unorganized in a high-tech way. If you don’t have a good system for something, a computer will not make you succeed. It may just help you fail faster.
The real key is not what tool you are using, but what methodology you are using to operate that tool. If the methodology is flawed then you are just wasting time, money, and effort no matter what.
You tell ‘em Naomi!
Oh, sorry, hate to post a second comment. But Naomi! Why no Mac?! Yes, I am an Apple “fanboy”, but they seriously rock.
I’m with you 100%. What is the big deal about Moleskine? I don’t even like the name; it gives me the creeps. I’ll take a good old spiral notebook, which I can flip, flop, and lay flat any day!
I just bought a Filofax. Who needs a stinking PDA? I can just flip a page and write it down! Plus writing it means I’m less likely to forget it.
And it’s purty…
You know.. I’d been looking at the behance.com action books for a while. This post pushed me over the edge to bite the bullet and order a couple. We’ll see how I like them in 5-7 business days.
That is so funny…
Every year, I decide to “get organised” and buy a diary, a new PDA/phone, and research new technologies to make my life easier.
Only thing is, I am gifted with the inate ability to not have to write anything down… I just…remember…phone numbers, everything. Yes I am weird. And when I do make a to-do list (usually to seize control of workflow when I am stressing), it is written on a piece of paper, ticked off, and sorted.
I have the odd alarm set in my phone but thats really it. I LOLed reading this post because I can relate.
However, the one thing I do like the idea of is a Reader. I have severe carpal tunnel and no lamp, but I love to read in bed, so a backlit ebook-friendly screen that I can hold is an attractive option. My hands cramp up if I try to hold the spine… and I can NEVER get comfortable when reading a book. So Readers, in that respect, are really cool and I want one :) Not to mention the fact that I am running out of bookshelf space, and storing books as data, like CDs, appeals to me :) Anyone know of good Readers that are available in Australia? Dont think the Kindle is available here yet.
Naomi, flattered to hear my ruminations inspired such a funky post.
I’m not sure I can explain what it is about Moleskines. I could go on about how it’s a nice thing to hold, the paper is nice to write on… but I’m starting to suspect that it has a lot to do with being a bit pretentious ;-).
@Skellie -
Nice, schmishe … the damn thing fits in a front pocket without getting crumpled! I treat mine like crap & can still take it out in board meetings (yes, I’m probably one of the few readers who has a *day job* …)
:-p
lol Skellie…
I don’t think there is anything wrong with being pretentious… and I say that if it works for you, do it. I don’t have any one system and always wish I did :)
Sometimes, the aesthetic appeal of something cannot be underestimated. I most certainly appreciate things that are prettier than others… and like nice things! Nothing pretentious about it… or it could that I have a severe office product fetish ;)
@ Skellie & Dave - for me, it is a combination of both of those - nice looking notebook, durable and fits in the pocket. An added bonus is that the elastic strap will hold my Hipster PDA in place on the front cover of the Moleskine.
Yeah, it might be gimmicky or trendy (I guess) - but it works for me, and that’s all that matters.
If it works for you, whether it be a Moleskine or a 77 cent coil notebook, that’s the bottom line.
There’s definitely something to be said for the DeadTree 1.0 platform. Besides, there’s just something wrong with you in the head if you take your laptop into the bathroom with you.
@ Michael (or anyone else really)- Since Naomi has kinda handed the tech stuff to me, I wanted to comment on your Mac comment. I want one. Bad. But I have one big reservation- currently we are both using PC laptops (no desktop). I was really nervous about introducing a Mac into our home because I wasn’t sure how it would get along with our laptops. Now that we have the business I am even more afraid of the whole compatibility thing. I know Mac’s can run Windows, but I’ve heard a lot of headaches with that. Have you found there are problems sharing files etc with people in a PC-centric world? I would love to buy a Mac but I am to scared to try :) Would love to hear your thoughts.
@ Jamie - in my opinion you probably would be more likely to experience issues from the Windows side with a Mac, than the other way around. I have two old B&W G3 Powermacs running headless on my network (OS X 10.4 on them), an XP machine for media stuff (my old gaming box, actually), an old IBM dual P3-800 running Ubuntu, and four laptops (two from work, running XP, one personal laptop running XP, and one running Vista).
No problems at all for the XP & Linux machines to see the shared folders on the Macs, or vice versa. The Vista machine was problematic, and continues to be problematic - it “loses” the network shares when resuming from sleep, and often needs a restart. Maybe SP1 will fix that…
Yet the Macs can see the Vista shared folders!
And as far as running Windows on your Mac - Vmware Fusion or Parallels + XP would have you well covered there - easy to set up, and in seamless mode (each has a name for it, Unity or Coherence depending on what product you buy), very well integrated. Your virtualized Windows, er, windows just “integrate” into the Mac desktop. Personally, I think that is superior to dual-booting, unless for some reason you need the full power of the bare metal.
So I would say, try it if you like. You can find lots of help online (or feel free to email me if you have questions - can you tell I do this on the side?)
@ Jamie - PS, forgot to mention, with Vmware, you can also use a free product from them called Converter which can convert a real machine (e.g. one of your laptops) to a virtual machine, which can then be run under Fusion and integrated into your Mac. Very slick (can I say slick any time after 1989?)
I seem to remember Parallels also has a version of this called Transporter.
In any case, I don’t work for either of these companies, so as far as which I’d recommend, well - I have more experience with Vmware, but either would likely work for you.
Naomi….treat yourself well…
http://cartierpaintingaday.blogspot.com/2008/02/mardi-gras-moleskin-love.html
There’s nothing better than the right tool to make me drool… all my work begins with a pen or pencil…and yes…that “pretentious” moleskin holds up in the field when I am tramping through the mud on a barrier island too.
And here’s the deal, if you are working in or on your passion, why not go for silk? It feels great and makes a damn good parachute too….form and function babies, form and function…All best, Jan
I’m so on the fence about certain technology. While I’d love to be more organized through online tools, I actually seem to stay more focused with post-its all around my Mac.
That said, I do need to find a better pad to keep in my purse as the one I have seems to have fallen apart in less than a month. Maybe the pretentious Moleskin is the solution. I think I’ll give them a looksee while in Borders later today.
wow…i can’t believe your talking shit about moleskine. brave.
“Besides, there’s just something wrong with you in the head if you take your laptop into the bathroom with you.”
Nonsense. I do it all the time. Of course I know I’m weird, but not that part. Wrong in the head is taking your mandolin in the bathroom with you with the pickup live, like a good friend of mine.
Mary Anne in Kentucky (can type while peeing.)
@Michael Brito: I know - the Moleskine Mafia can be brutal. Deviation is not tolerated.
I’m a recovering PDA-phone-gadget junkie. I get weird looks and sneers from all of the Williamsburgianites on the train when I use the stunningly unhip paper-and-pen combo, but hey, I am so unhip that I’m cool. And yes, Moleskine users (like me) are pretentious counter-geeks to the iDollarsdownthedrain device users - we’re all wasting money. I could buy about 50 spiral flip notepads for the cost of one Moleskine but I do like looking like “an intellectual” with my snappy book.
But other than my laptop (a depressingly dull Toshiba base model with NO bells or whistles - and HEY it connects to the Internet just like The Holy Mac) I steer clear of the electrojunk out there these days. It’s a waste of money and for God’s sake how many hours do you need to be connected every day? - Steve
Um. Well, I guess I could cut it down to 18 hours a day….if you insist. Lol. I don’t use any of the gadgets, just have the laptop. And the desktop.
No, I am not addicted to the Internet. Nope, nuh-uh, not me. No way. I do not spend too much time with my computer. (clapping hands over ears) nonononononononononononono
I have one of those cheesy 2.5 x 4 spiral top-bound note pads that I stick in the back pocket of my jeans. It has everything from meeting notes to shopping lists, it’s super cheap, and I can parse out information at the end of the day as I need to. Most of the time, the writing it down - I mean the physical act of putting men to paper - is enough sense memory that it sticks in my brain.
I have RTM, and I use it and the GCal most of the time, but the flylady calendar on the kitchen wall and the cheapie notepad in my back pocket never fail me.
[...] other day’s post on my defense of paper sparked some interesting discussion, and, put down your wine glass because I know this will come as a shock, I have more to say. Many [...]
Wow, how’d I miss this party? And even more, why didn’t someone tell me about it?
After reading everyone’s comments, all I can say is that there are no Moleskines within a two-hour drive from my home and even once I’m there, I wouldn’t know where to look to find the things.
I can also say that with my rate of attention-splatter going on, I have pens and post its all over the place.
I really really wanted to get a mac portable after all the great things I’d heard about them.
But I ended up getting another PC - A Hewlett Packard 1045TX.
This cost $A1500. A Mac with similar specs would have cost over $A3,000
Yes, there are Macs for $1500, but you can’t even write to a DVD on them.
So I don’t have a Mac because they are too bloody expensive for what they are. Sorry, the hype and touchy feely stuff just isn’t worth paying double the price.
Cheers, Eric G.