Could the Pro + Pencil replace my Moleskine?

[js2704]

I've often thought that what I really want Apple to deliver is experiences that stop me needing to give someone else money - Dropbox (nearly but not until all my Apple devices give me folder access), Evernote (Notes is getting better but not there yet), Spotify (once Apple Music plays on my Sonos)...you get the idea.

So the latest question for me is this. I'm an IT director in a large bank. I spend perhaps five hours a day in meetings, and having tried the lot I've settled on the A4 moleskine or leuchterm notebooks, as much for the fact that the paper lies flat in A4 in a way that it doesn't in A5 as for the size of the surface. If you've used the Apple Pencil with the iPad Pro, I'd be interested to know whether you think it could replace my moleskine as my normal note taking platform - is the handwriting capture fast enough to feel sufficiently like a normal pen?

My assumption is that I'd use either Notes or Evernote to take meeting notes, one note per meeting. It wouldn't do anything super-clever like handwriting recognition but it would give me a dated log and if I used Evernote the posts would be taggable, which would be a big improvement on paper. If I multitasked I could also transcribe actions into Reminders (or OmniFocus once that works with split screen).

Thoughts? I'm going to have a play in the store at some point but I'd be very interested if you've managed to get hands on already.

 

[Bbqthis]

I've often thought that what I really want Apple to deliver is experiences that stop me needing to give someone else money - Dropbox (nearly but not until all my Apple devices give me folder access), Evernote (Notes is getting better but not there yet), Spotify (once Apple Music plays on my Sonos)...you get the idea.

So the latest question for me is this. I'm an IT director in a large bank. I spend perhaps five hours a day in meetings, and having tried the lot I've settled on the A4 moleskine or leuchterm notebooks, as much for the fact that the paper lies flat in A4 in a way that it doesn't in A5 as for the size of the surface. If you've used the Apple Pencil with the iPad Pro, I'd be interested to know whether you think it could replace my moleskine as my normal note taking platform - is the handwriting capture fast enough to feel sufficiently like a normal pen?

My assumption is that I'd use either Notes or Evernote to take meeting notes, one note per meeting. It wouldn't do anything super-clever like handwriting recognition but it would give me a dated log and if I used Evernote the posts would be taggable, which would be a big improvement on paper. If I multitasked I could also transcribe actions into Reminders (or OmniFocus once that works with split screen).

Thoughts? I'm going to have a play in the store at some point but I'd be very interested if you've managed to get hands on already.

I would say yes. It's not perfectly analogous to a pencil and paper, but it's about 95% of the way there. Whereas I would say an Adonit Jot Script is about 60%.

 

[for]

I would say yes. It's not perfectly analogous to a pencil and paper, but it's about 95% of the way there. Whereas I would say an Adonit Jot Script is about 60%.

Agree. After using today, and being a moleskin and evernote user, I had the exact same thought. Not so much from a money savings perspective, but having an electronic history of everything, and always having my notes handy anywhere I go. Further, using a laptop to take notes in a meeting is just unworkable in many situations versus having a notepad. I still find flipping paper pretty convenient though, when needing to look over my notes. However, I could see the trade off being worth it. Using the pen did not feel exactly like using paper, but it was darn close, an I think I would get used to the slight differences. I was very pleasantly surprised. And, you also then get the full pallet of colors and styles to make your notes more dynamic for follow up.

It is strikingly large, so pluses and minuses with that.

 

[bensisko]

I seriously don't see a need for paper anymore. I take handwritten Notes in One Note using either an iPad Mini with a Fineline stylus, or a Surface Pro 3. As soon as I get my hands on a Pencil, I'll use the iPad Pro for all my drawing, note taking, etc. I can't wait! I already use the iPad as a digital storage - Scan any paper I receive into digital form (pdf) and use Acrobat to sign and fill out forms.

 

[ascender]

I've tried this in the past with the Adonit products and its just not quite there yet for me. The Apple Pencil looks like it might be the solution, but I wouldn't fancy using it in combination with the Pro for meeting notes due to the size of the Pro - I could perhaps see an iPad Mini + Pencil being the ideal solution for this as presumably they'll introduce support for this on future versions.

I have recently switched to using my iPad Air2 with the For Meetings app and that works well using the onscreen keyboard. I'd even consider using a normal iPad with a Pencil for taking notes.

 

[CC117]

This is exactly what I want to use my iPad pro and Apple pencil for. But I have yet to find an app that looks just like a notebook.

I don't want lots of separate files, I just want pages of my notes. And you turn the page over for a new page. Anyone know if anything like this?

 

[4004786]

This is one of the things I'm most excited to test about my Pro!

I saw some video reviews of this app, GoodNotes, and immediately snatched it up. I don't have a Pencil yet, but it seems promising!

App link: http://www.goodnotesapp.com/
Video review:

Once I get my Pencil in a week or so, I'm going to put my Moleskine away for a week and see how it goes. I'll follow up here once I have a chance to try it out.

Edit:

The Pro is a good size for taking notes. I have a medium sized Moleskine, and they're just about the same size! Attached a photo.