Analog Notebooks in Today’s Digital World

Apr 8, 2013 | blog, featured

The original pocketable, highly mobile personal assistant: the notebook.

I’ve owned many notebooks through the years, and not until the venerable Moleskine came along did I give them any thought. Most of the notebooks I’ve used through the years were simple, generic, disposable note-taking devices from the big brands. Filled with little more than random scraps of daily to-do’s, phone numbers and forgettable minutia, I never thought much about them.

Computers though, that was where my mind and thoughts could go wild and find unobstructed paths to creativity. That was, until I saw the Moleskine notebook.

While the Moleskine isn’t super unique today, after all there are many, many copies of this rugged simple little notebook.  It’s still the best at what it’s for.  I bought my first one back in 2008 and immediately had visions of keeping a journal, or writing scraps of my Great American Novel in it, with visions of Hemingway-esque quotes in my head.

Of course, I prized it too much to write that much in it. Not to mention thinking so much of it that I kept it either in my desk at home, or a quiet pocket of whatever bag I would carry, not daring to bring it out and deface another page with my silly thoughts of the day.

Of course, when I got this one, money was tight and I didn’t want to ‘waste’ it. I’ve since moved on from such thoughts, but I still haven’t filled it up as I thought it would.  Perhaps in time I will (I have another waiting to be unwrapped and pressed into service). I have a couple of others that I use more often now, mostly for notes at work and things like that.

Unusually, I’ve been thinking more of pen & paper of late, mainly because I miss blogging like I used to (used to be a post a day). I’ve been thinking that I need to do more random thoughts in a notebook like the old Moleskine rather than in OneNote, Evernote, or JotterPad on my tablet.  Something more permanent, where I need to focus on what I’m writing and can’t backspace my way out of an unfinished thought.

That’s why I need a notebook today. Sure, I need someplace to jot down the quick note or reminder that can pop up on my smarphone, but it’s the Moleskine that I will keep going back to for putting those longer thoughts together.  It’s there that I need to tell stories for the first time, and keep them as inspiration for the future.

I’ve recently discovered another great little notebook called Field Notes, made right here in the U.S.A.!  I’ll be picking up a set (or three) of these for the day-to-day notes, phone numbers, to-dos, and more that fit right in any pocket.  Nifty little notes indeed, with very high praise (just search for them online – you’ll see).

Anyway, it shouldn’t surprise me, though it sometimes does, that a simple device like the classic pocket notebook is still, like a good watch, an indispensable item for the daily carry.