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Can an iPad replace a paper notebook?

S

Sodium Chloride

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 11, 2017
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with the exception of physical papers that your teacher or your boss want you to turn in, do you think an iPad can replace a paper notebook entirely?

I am interested in your opinions especially from those of you who use their iPad extensively in colleges or in company meetings.
 
I use GoodNotes for all written paper type stuff these days. I’m sure not every software works for everyone but GoodNotes is nice for my purposes.
 
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I've used my iPad extensively the last six years for note taking for studio research as well as academic research and teaching and administrative work in a university setting. I've used the original 12.9 iPadPro the last 2.75 years.

The key is finding the software that fits with your workflow. I love Notability myself but I also use things like nvALT (paired with Byword on iOS) for running project logs.

Remember that you can always scan the occasional paper note and add it it your digital notebooks.

After years and years of paper notebooks and journals I'm firmly committed to digital ones. Their advantages for me are that I can index them, I can easily include images as well as drawings, and I can keep them for years without worrying about physical storage space.

I do still use a paper notebook as my Bullet Journal though. Project notes from that paper notebook are scanned and added to the relevant digital notebooks.
 
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from a functional perspective - yes. i‘ve been practicing this since my first ipad in 2010. it has even become much easier with apps getting more powerful and the smart keyboard and the apple pencil.

however it‘s just not the same, when you have one hard, backlit surface that is always just one page at the moment. i‘ve gone back to paper notebooks, because they offer more dimensions - haptic and space in the z-axis, and can easier be divided into multiple objects, respectively you can use one notebook per project. i feel the ipad adds at least one extra layer of abstraction and makes things more compicated, which both distracts from the matter at hand. on the other hand, i don‘t feel that lots of the advantages of the ipad (e.g., searchability of documents, flexibility with organizing and rearranging notes) make a real difference in the efficiency of my day to day work, unless it‘s a huge project with a pre-defined workflow and hierarchy. for every advantage, there‘s usually a trade-off (one needs to jump through different apps and still experience the cumbersomeness of managing files on the ipad, things get smaller, when you show them side by side, you can‘t overlay something unless you compose that image in another app, ... )

on the other hand, i really value the ability to not lose documents anymore and have them available everywhere, because i can access them from the cloud. i also often scan documents for preserving them in case i lose them, or make an aditional project for multimedia footage.

so, in my experiences, the „paperless office“ has still not been solved, and there‘s no such app that even half-replicates the versatility of paper and pens/pencils/watercolor.
 
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Functionally, yes.

In other ways, such as look, feel and experience, no.

Similar to books. Functionally, e-books are proper replacement for physical books, but there is still something that physical book has, that makes people still buy them. Although, less and less.
 
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I have had no legal pads or spiral notebooks in my office for the last 2 years because I've used my iPad Pro for all note taking. I use OneNote for work notes and to access shared notebooks from my manager and Notability for personal notes. If I ever need to sign a document or fill out a form by hand, I do that on my iPad as well. Much better and faster than printing it out, filling it out with a pen, scanning it, and sending it back. Even if I do need to give someone a physical copy of the form, I still fill it out on my iPad first and then print it.

In my mind, it's always made sense that the iPad would be used this way at some point. It's shaped like a notebook, so it should be able to act like one too.
 
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I guess it depends on how much writing you need to do. But for jotting things down and not taking extensive notes it definitely can. I wish tablets with or without a stylus were around when I did my first degree. It would have made life so much easier.

Even now I like things to be in digital as much as possible. Paper takes up space and can easily be lost.
 
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yes
im a cartoonist and every idea concept an sketch gets recorded and organized much better.
those markers they sell today are bad, and i love not having a pencil with me.
the iPad replaced 4 sketch book, 23 markets and art supplies that are crappy nowadays.
i don't use that apple pencil, just me finger!
i draw a rough sketch on cheap paper, scan that image via "scanner', export to photos, import that in a sketch app, draw, color, caption, export and save to macbook mini and air.
lemma know if you need more arm twisting
 
Shanghaichica said:
I guess it depends on how much writing you need to do. But for jotting things down and not taking expensive notes it definitely can. I wish tablets with or without a stylus were around when I did my first degree. It would have made life so much easier.

Even now I like things to be in digital as much as possible. Paper takes up space and can easily be lost.
Click to expand...
I keep all my notebooks, books, magazines, sheet music, drawings, etc. on my iPad Pro and iPhone. If I had that luxury back in high school and college, I think my back would have thanked me for it.
[doublepost=1534442751][/doublepost]
Expobill said:
yes
im a cartoonist and every idea concept an sketch gets recorded and organized much better.
those markers they sell today are bad, and i love not having a pencil with me.
the iPad replaced 4 sketch book, 23 markets and art supplies that are crappy nowadays.
i don't use that apple pencil, just me finger!
lemma know if you need more arm twisting
Click to expand...
I'm pretty impressed that you can do your cartooning without the Apple Pencil--I would think you would love that thing! I'm not a very good artist, but I love mine to death for both drawing/sketching and notetaking.
 
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Expobill said:
yes
im a cartoonist and every idea concept an sketch gets recorded and organized much better.
those markers they sell today are bad, and i love not having a pencil with me.
the iPad replaced 4 sketch book, 23 markets and art supplies that are crappy nowadays.
i don't use that apple pencil, just me finger!
i draw a rough sketch on cheap paper, scan that image via "scanner', export to photos, import that in a sketch app, draw, color, caption, export and save to macbook mini and air.
lemma know if you need more arm twisting
Click to expand...

You are a cartoonist and use the iPad for your work and use your finger rather than the pencil?
 
Yes. We're paperless in our household.

Professionally too. I'm a music teacher and I used my 12.9 Pro as a teaching tool. Everything from notating sheet music to virtual piano. As scratch pad and digital journalling and diary.

Works excellent.
 
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I think it depends on where one is in their life. I haven’t used a physical paper notebook since at least the last decade. But then I’m not in school, college or university. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
spiderman0616 said:
I keep all my notebooks, books, magazines, sheet music, drawings, etc. on my iPad Pro and iPhone. If I had that luxury back in high school and college, I think my back would have thanked me for it.
[doublepost=1534442751][/doublepost]
I'm pretty impressed that you can do your cartooning without the Apple Pencil--I would think you would love that thing! I'm not a very good artist, but I love mine to death for both drawing/sketching and notetaking.
Click to expand...
i could never get used the stylus apple provides,
the finger is just an extension on my artistic soul!
 
I have not used a paper notepad for probably 20, maybe more, years now. Prior to iP* devices, I had a Palm Pilot with external keyboard. Could quickly type in the the notes at a meeting vs trying to write. And then try to read my horrid scrawl. Bonus, can copy/paste from the notes and put into memos, emails, documentation vs having to key it all in.

Also, with some sort of eNotePad, you can now easily search for subject/topic at hand vs. flipping through the (correct) notebook (eg. "Oh yeah, that came up in the meeting with Joe, let me check my notes on that").

That said, still carry a folio that holds pens, a notepad, sleeves to place paperwork might get at a meeting.
 
At this point I think the iPad Pro is better than paper. When I take notes in the lab I can use the camera for pictures of samples and screen shots of other instruments that all go into one document.

If you need actual text some apps convert your scribbles to text. Try Nebo for an impressive example.

MathPad is amazingly good at converting my scribbles to beautiful equations. Even if you just need a line or two of equations you can produce them here and copy paste the result into a different app.

I’ve heard good things about Notability and Goodnotes and others. I personally use Concepts.

I agree that using the Pencil on glass is less satisfying than a pencil on paper. I have the original iPad Pro and noticed that the latest version has a little better feel. I’m sure Apple is aware of this and that it will gradually get better.

Kickstarter idea: replace the hard magnetic cap on the Pencil with one that functions as a capacitive stylus.
 
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djas said:
Yes. We're paperless in our household.

Professionally too. I'm a music teacher and I used my 12.9 Pro as a teaching tool. Everything from notating sheet music to virtual piano. As scratch pad and digital journalling and diary.

Works excellent.
Click to expand...
Do you ever use Notion? I've found its handwriting recognition is great with Pencil. I've always been faster writing than using Finale or Sibelius, and Notion kind of combines the best of both worlds.
 
spiderman0616 said:
Do you ever use Notion? I've found its handwriting recognition is great with Pencil. I've always been faster writing than using Finale or Sibelius, and Notion kind of combines the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

Nope. My sheet music are in PDF formats, purchased from ABRSM. For DAW, I have to go to my MBP as I have industrial, production-grade DAWs purchased with sound libraries over the years... :)
 
i have not used papers since the visit to the throne in the bathro-
i play rock, scissors, iPad
my dumb nephew tried using my iPad as an paper airplane.
 
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