Over the past week, I've put down the pen and paper and picked up the stylus/OneNote combo at work. This was a big transition. While I previously use OneNote and a keyboard when I'm taking notes at my desk, I stuck with the traditional pen and pad for notes during meetings, etc. Not this week. I went all-in with the stylus and OneNote on the SP3. Here's my experience after one week for those who wonder whether it's useful, just a novelty, or what.
The first couple days were a bit of a struggle for one simple reason: My handwriting was awful. My handwriting is not great to begin with, but it was twelve times worse on the SP3. It was clear right up front that the reason is that the display is much slicker than paper, so you don't get the "drag" of the pen. It's not a bad thing, but it's different, and it changes the way the pen moves. After a couple days, I got used to it, and my handwriting was back to its normal level of mediocrity.
Once my penmanship adjusted, the only issue I had at all is that I have to press a tiny bit harder than is natural because very light pressure sometimes doesn't register. Many others have noted the issue, so I won't belabor it. After a week of use, I will say that I have adjusted, and it's not enough of an issue to affect my willingness to use it, but it's a minor annoyance.
WITH THOSE NITS OUT OF THE WAY . . . I officially declare this method of note-taking to be "awesome." I've seen some of the Apple fanboys write off the stylus as a novelty, and I can definitively say that their conclusion is nothing more than wishful thinking by people who don't have a stylus. I don't have anything new to say, but here's the list of things that I have really become significant after a week of use:
1) Organization. At any given time, I have a few dozen legal pads in my office full of notes. And occasionally I find some in my trunk, in my home office, in my wife's car, etc. I periodically have to go through them, dismantle them, sort them by client, and put the pages in their relevant files. It takes hours. And if I want to find notes from a meeting three weeks ago, it's a huge hassle because they're probably in the middle of some legal pad in my office (or my trunk) because I haven't organized them yet. With OneNote, it's pretty simple: When I'm done with the meeting, I drag-and-drop the page to the relevant tab of the relevant notebook in OneNote on my OneDrive. I then click the "share" button to send the notes to my secretary in an e-mail, and now I have my notes organized in the cloud and in my paper file. Very slick.
2). Having notes for later. Sometimes I'm taking some notes at work, and then when I'm at home, I need to add to them. If I was typing my notes, I can access them remotely. But if I was writing by hand, my legal pad is probably still at work. OneNote fixes that.
3). The form factor is perfect. There's a reason 8-1/2 x 11 paper is the norm. It feels right. The SP3 feels right when you grab it to write on with the stylus. The SP2 didn't have the right size/shape/weight to work well as a pad-of-paper replacement. The SP3 gets it just right.
4). Being able to click into OneNote. Clicking the back of the stylus to get into OneNote is genius. It seems like a clever trick, but once you get used to it, you can't imagine taking notes any other way.
5). Sharing notes. In a lot of situations, it's helpful to be able to share my handwritten notes after a meeting. For example, if I've given out assignments and set due dates, or come up with a list of tasks, or maybe diagrammed something, it's nice to circulate a copy of those things after the meeting so everyone is on the same page. Historically, I would accomplish that by asking someone in the meeting to type up the task list and circulate it in an e-mail or something like that. Sometimes things get mixed up in the process, or the person just doesn't get around to sending the e-mail. With the SP3, when the meeting is ending, I can circulate a copy of my notes by e-mail before I leave the meeting. Very handy.
I could go on and on, but writing these things up doesn't do them justice. If you are a note-taker, you really needed to try locking your pens/tablets in a drawer for a week and commit to spend the week using the SP3 and stylus. It's awesome.
I have a pretty nice collection of spendy pens at the office, but they're not going to get much use. For me, this revolutionizes note-taking.
The first couple days were a bit of a struggle for one simple reason: My handwriting was awful. My handwriting is not great to begin with, but it was twelve times worse on the SP3. It was clear right up front that the reason is that the display is much slicker than paper, so you don't get the "drag" of the pen. It's not a bad thing, but it's different, and it changes the way the pen moves. After a couple days, I got used to it, and my handwriting was back to its normal level of mediocrity.
Once my penmanship adjusted, the only issue I had at all is that I have to press a tiny bit harder than is natural because very light pressure sometimes doesn't register. Many others have noted the issue, so I won't belabor it. After a week of use, I will say that I have adjusted, and it's not enough of an issue to affect my willingness to use it, but it's a minor annoyance.
WITH THOSE NITS OUT OF THE WAY . . . I officially declare this method of note-taking to be "awesome." I've seen some of the Apple fanboys write off the stylus as a novelty, and I can definitively say that their conclusion is nothing more than wishful thinking by people who don't have a stylus. I don't have anything new to say, but here's the list of things that I have really become significant after a week of use:
1) Organization. At any given time, I have a few dozen legal pads in my office full of notes. And occasionally I find some in my trunk, in my home office, in my wife's car, etc. I periodically have to go through them, dismantle them, sort them by client, and put the pages in their relevant files. It takes hours. And if I want to find notes from a meeting three weeks ago, it's a huge hassle because they're probably in the middle of some legal pad in my office (or my trunk) because I haven't organized them yet. With OneNote, it's pretty simple: When I'm done with the meeting, I drag-and-drop the page to the relevant tab of the relevant notebook in OneNote on my OneDrive. I then click the "share" button to send the notes to my secretary in an e-mail, and now I have my notes organized in the cloud and in my paper file. Very slick.
2). Having notes for later. Sometimes I'm taking some notes at work, and then when I'm at home, I need to add to them. If I was typing my notes, I can access them remotely. But if I was writing by hand, my legal pad is probably still at work. OneNote fixes that.
3). The form factor is perfect. There's a reason 8-1/2 x 11 paper is the norm. It feels right. The SP3 feels right when you grab it to write on with the stylus. The SP2 didn't have the right size/shape/weight to work well as a pad-of-paper replacement. The SP3 gets it just right.
4). Being able to click into OneNote. Clicking the back of the stylus to get into OneNote is genius. It seems like a clever trick, but once you get used to it, you can't imagine taking notes any other way.
5). Sharing notes. In a lot of situations, it's helpful to be able to share my handwritten notes after a meeting. For example, if I've given out assignments and set due dates, or come up with a list of tasks, or maybe diagrammed something, it's nice to circulate a copy of those things after the meeting so everyone is on the same page. Historically, I would accomplish that by asking someone in the meeting to type up the task list and circulate it in an e-mail or something like that. Sometimes things get mixed up in the process, or the person just doesn't get around to sending the e-mail. With the SP3, when the meeting is ending, I can circulate a copy of my notes by e-mail before I leave the meeting. Very handy.
I could go on and on, but writing these things up doesn't do them justice. If you are a note-taker, you really needed to try locking your pens/tablets in a drawer for a week and commit to spend the week using the SP3 and stylus. It's awesome.
I have a pretty nice collection of spendy pens at the office, but they're not going to get much use. For me, this revolutionizes note-taking.
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