Filed under: Software, Features, Productivity
Ask TUAW: What's your favorite note-taking app?
This week's Ask TUAW is coming at you from TUAW reader Michael, who writes: "I use my PowerBook to take notes in school with the notebook feature in Word 2004. I am getting very frustrated with the buggyness of Word and I am looking to drop MS Office entirely. NeoOffice is good enough to replace Word for term papers, but I have been unable to find anything that auto-creates bullited lists a-la word notebook. What do other people use for note-taking?"
I've personally been using OmniOutliner to take notes in class since all I need are bulleted outlines and a streamlined interface in which to create them. (However, OmniOutliner is certainly capable of so much more.) But what about you, TUAW? Who has some note-taking app advise for Michael?
Also, don't forget: Ask TUAW is a weekly post series which is fueled by TUAW readers just like you. (Yes, including you, in the pajamas.) Just submit a pressing question, problem or topic to our Tips form with the subject "Ask TUAW" and we'll post one question each week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
ktwdallas said 9:00PM on 11-13-2005
I was pretty impressed with Aquamind's Notetaker which I used on my iBook for the last 2 years of college. I like the fact that it's all organized within one virtual notebook, so I had all my classes on tabs and everything was in one file. (Which is not really true, since you can do Show Package Contents on your notebook and actually see separate files for each page, but still ... for appearance sake it's one notebook.)
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computerdude33 said 10:35AM on 10-02-2005
I use VoodooPad Lite. Very fast, great for jotting down notes.
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Christopher Hewlett said 10:51AM on 10-02-2005
Being an Apple nerd, I'll either use Pages or since I'm a fairly fast typist, I'll use Keynote and just throw all of my notes into a presentation. It's really helpful for reviewing later on! -chris
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zasjoh said 11:07AM on 10-02-2005
I've been using StickyBrain and have no complaints, plus its nice for keeping things organized
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Danski said 10:52AM on 10-02-2005
I use Hog Bay notebook. I tried DevonThink but it was way too bulky for my needs.
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Billfred said 10:56AM on 10-02-2005
Perhaps it's because I'm a cheapskate, or perhaps it's because I wrote everything that didn't need to look pretty in Notepad back in my Windows days, but I use TextEdit and the tab key. It does the job, and it's cheap as free.
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Mike said 11:03AM on 10-02-2005
TextEdit. Small, quick, light, versatile, and it's amazing how well you can set out notes with effective use of bolding, bullet points, and spacing. You don't need anything special to take effective notes, all you need is already bundled with your OS.
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Duncan said 11:02AM on 10-02-2005
I use OmniOutliner exclusively, but I'm not sure if its the best option - going to try some of these other suggestions. Omni's very easy to use, but I wish it didn't have those annoying arrow-folder things instead of just bullets.
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Phil Aaronson said 11:18AM on 10-02-2005
I second the vote for Hog Bay Notebook. Great app.
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Bogo_lode said 2:37PM on 10-02-2005
Notational velocity.
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Christian Bogen said 11:09AM on 10-02-2005
Check out ATPO over at ATPM! (It's an ongoing column about outliners and their many uses …)
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Clay Preheim said 11:13AM on 10-02-2005
With the assumption that you can be online pretty much anywhere/anytime, Basecamp from 37signals is a great tool for this. http://basecamphq.com. Organize all your "messages" (notes) into categories, and use some basic formatting commands that are simple and easy to use (bullet lists, headings, etc.). It keeps all of your notes organized in one simple, searchable place.
Additionally, you can manage "to-do" lists for assignments, "milestones" for any class deadlines, etc. If I were starting college again today, I would absolutely use Basecamp to manage all of my classes.
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dougward said 11:16AM on 10-02-2005
Personally, I like TiddlyWiki. It's cross-platform, free, you can put it on a flash-drive. There's a lot to like.
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Martin said 11:22AM on 10-02-2005
I've been using MacJournal since the days it was Freeware. With the rich feature set of the current version it's worth the 20 dollars.
It would be nice to see a note taking application which syncs with the palm. Apple left out this part with their current iSync-compatible suite of applications.
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Richard Hale said 11:52AM on 10-02-2005
I started using "backpackit" a few months ago and have found it to be excellent. It is an online "backpack" with "todo" lists, note spaces etc. I can share a page with others I invite, as well as photos and docs. Its cross platform and super quick and easy. Very nice clean interface too. So good I even upgraded to the $5 a month service.
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Tom said 11:33AM on 10-02-2005
Tinderbox is my note taking app. You have to get in to it but its worth it. http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
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James Brickley said 11:40AM on 10-02-2005
Depends on the class. For example a math class would be difficult to enter advanced equations on the fly quickly into a computer. Unless you are using something like MathCAD which is overkill unless you are going for an advanced engineering degree or you are a math major. For math, I took notes on a piece of notepad and/or graph paper with a pencil. I then transcribed my notes using various LaTeX tools so they printed up super nice. These re-worked notes became my study guides. I would convert from LaTeX source to PDF and either keep them in PDF or print them out occasionally. The original source files were simply bzip2'd and backed up (burned to CD-R and uploaded to web space off site). I use OmniGraffle to doodle diagrams or even electrical circuit diagrams the new version 4 is amazing. However, it was easier to just sketch such things on to paper while in class. For other classes, I probably could outline in OmniOutliner but again, it's faster to just sketch out a rough outline and take paper notes then re-work the notes into electronic format later. I type rather fast 125wpm but it's still easier to write quick notes while in a lecture. It's also easier to pay attention to the lecture rather then futz with a laptop. I also don't have to carry a heavy laptop bag around from class to class or a long hike across campus. It's enough to carry the heavy ass hardcover books!
I do however, carry an iPod with a mic to record the lecture while I am taking paper notes. I then go home or back to my dorm room and re-work all the notes and listen to the recordings as soon as possible after the class. I convert the WAV's on the iPod to AAC compressed and keep them in iTunes until I feel I don't need them anymore. A computer is a powerful tool but it can't fully replace a pen and paper. Perhaps a tablet might come close but it's still easier to use a pad and paper, you won't have to worry about recharging your notebook just make sure you have enough ink in your pen.
The only classes I found where I needed a laptop in class were programming courses. I suppose one might use GarageBand or Logic if they were in a music class. Once converting my notes to electronic form, I of course would carry it all around on my laptop. I also would print out much of it and bind it to thin report binders so I could quickly whip out a thin binder and study. Do not fear LaTeX it's far easier then you think. Just takes a little setup before hand and some experience. I started by writing my english papers in Word then copying to plain text and using LaTeX to format it. i.e. I could fall back on Word if I couldn't get LaTeX to work the first time. After a few papers, I had a template perfected and then started customizing a template for math notes. Word was only used when I had to upload a Word document to a professor who required it.
Favorite text editor? TextMate http://macromates.com/ - yeah it's meant for programmers but it beats TextEdit and I do program, so it's handy. It also can color syntax LaTeX as well as insert code snippets, templates and run macros. It's amazing how you can automate a lot with plain text and LaTeX. i.e. replace characters such as quotation marks to the LaTeX way and insert other codes by running easy scripts. You can also just include plain text files into a main LaTeX template. More advanced scripting outside of TextMate is handled by the most excellent Ruby programming language which is extremely easy to learn and it excels at manipulating text (can do just about everything Perl can but it won't give you a headache reading the source code).
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bruce balmer said 12:06PM on 10-02-2005
I am surprised no one suggested SubEthaEdit. What an amazing program. Usually used for programming (like textmate, which I think is fantastic). But there is one unique feature of SubEthaEdit - you can have multiple people working on one document at one time. The best way to reduce study load is to share that load. With this program you can have four of you taking notes into the same document at the same time, so with a little imagination you can find a way whereby no one has to rush their note taking. Also, as an example of its application, you can have two people taking the notes and one editor who is focussed on polishing notes and making sure nothing got missed. The program is lightweight (as in non bloaty), fast, easy to learn and easy to hookup with other people. Of course, if I had no friends my choice would be textedit.
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Joe Eversole said 12:30PM on 10-02-2005
The ONLY thing I miss about not having a Windows PC is Microsoft Onenote. It was designed for the tablet PCs, but, it was by far the best note taking program I have ever used. Nothing I have used compares, unfortunately. :(
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divinenanny said 12:36PM on 10-02-2005
I use Voodoopad Lite to work out my notes after class (not used to taking the iBook into class yet). It does everything I want it to, including pasting pictures, linking documents and linking internal documents.
I do have to admit I haven't tested many other note taking applications, and I have only used Voodoopad for about 4 weeks now. I also only take textual notes (no math or anything else)
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