Tablets: is it hard to take notes?

Well the answer is yes and no. From the very first time I used my tablet until now, I have noticed a huge advancement in the way I take notes and how effective it is in terms of useful.

Starting out, I thought it was a neat idea, but I had trouble finding the right programs. I initially started with Microsoft's very own note-taking program Onenote. I liked for a while because I could click anywhere on my digital sheet of paper and type. I could also move the boxes containing the text I had written. I could even write with my tablet pen. The draw backs to using a pen on Onenote was that it didn't look real and it didn't feel real. Erasing was also a pain simply because it just tedious to switch from the pen selection to the eraser. Editing was also difficult. I couldn't really move things around once they were written. In the end, I probably spent more time messing with my notes than actually studying them. Another HUGE drawback is that Onenote is solely a pc based program. I have a Mac and every time I wanted to use it, I had to boot my Windows XP through Parallels Desktop. Running both operating systems at the same time drained so much power that I almost always had to recharge my battery before the class ended. Fortunately for me, there was always a plug near by or beneath my feet.

As an aside, I want to mention that I like both operating systems and I really don't have dislikes about either... So please don't hate.

Anywho, I decided using Onenote was just too much work so I scanned the interwebs for something more for Mac users and came across Circus Ponies' Notebook--a note-taking program designed specifically for Apple users. I tried them out for a trial period and liked what they had to offer: an interface that looked like a notebook; a pen option so that you could write with the pen and tablet; a recording option so that you could record your lectures (I liked this feature the most because it allowed to umm... rest my eyes :D). However, it didn't really work for me because the notebook lines were too small and it made it really hard to keep my writing on the lines. I would often cramp trying to write small enough so that it would fit on the line. The program would have cost a mere 30 bucks if I had stuck with it, but I decided it was just not the program for me. I'll have to post some of my notes from this program and Onenote in a later blog and you decide.

Desperate, I frantically searched for a better program to use. All the other note taking programs had really bad interfaces and were really difficult to use. Then it hit me--PHOTOSHOP. I had used photoshop for the longest time, but it never occurred to me that I could use this program to take notes. More on this on my next blog...

I'm going to cut it off here because I need to sleep... I mean study.
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lo^_^ol