My post on Digital Vs. Analog Notes got some excellent comments as well as a followup post from JTR on his site. JTR mostly agrees with what I wrote but I did get some pushback in the comments on Irreal.
J Tevq has a long and thoughtful comment on why he sometimes prefers handwritten notes to digital. He’s a graduate student in Mathematics so this makes sense. I’ve always found that I can’t do any serious Mathematics on a computer. I need to scribble around on a pad to prove whatever it is before I turn to the computer to write it up.
He also, like many people, likes to read papers on paper. Some folks say that they simply can’t read material like that on a computer.
There are, he says, lots of places where handwritten notes are better. I was like that for a long time but managed to wean myself away from pencil and paper on my journey to a digital life.
MarkB likes to combine the two methods by (essentially) taking handwritten notes and digitizing them later. Actually, of course, this is all done on an iPad with an App that accepts handwritten notes and digitizes them on the fly.
My favorite App for that is Notability. Ali Abdaal has a great video on how he used it to take notes as a medical student. Abdaal also explains the (scientific) reasons for preferring handwritten notes for class and perhaps for other uses as well. Take a look at the video. It changed how I thought about note taking even though I am no longer in a classroom.
Since I do all my writing in Org mode, having notes, papers, and other materials in digital form means it’s easy to import or link to them as I’m writing. For formal journals you still have to make old styles references but, really, hypertext references are so much better. Of course, others feel differently. As always, the best method is the one that works for you.
Anyway, if you’re interested in the subject, do take a look at the comments and JTR’s post. They’re thoughtful and informative.