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iPad viable option as note taking device?
- Thread starter BowTheMan89
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The only thing the iPad is good for in a classroom setting is reading ebooks and browsing Facebook.
It's a data consumption device first. A data creation device second.
It's a data consumption device first. A data creation device second.
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The iPad has great potential for both content creation and content consumption. Your mileage will vary, though, depending on your use case.
1. Here is a link to some information about handwriting apps for writing notes.
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/handwriting.html
2. Here is a link to some information about typing notes.
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/writingipad.html
I also bike as my main form of transportation, and there is nothing like exchanging the backpack for a tiny man bag (Waterfield Vertigo small is highly recommended).
1. Here is a link to some information about handwriting apps for writing notes.
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/handwriting.html
2. Here is a link to some information about typing notes.
http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/writingipad.html
I also bike as my main form of transportation, and there is nothing like exchanging the backpack for a tiny man bag (Waterfield Vertigo small is highly recommended).
You'll need a computer in any higher education program I suspect. The question is whether you need to bind it to your back and take it to campus every day.
As a graduate student, I definitely do not. I fire up the mbp at home every once in a while, but 90%+ of my time is spent reading and writing on the iPad. I am not in law school, but people who are seem to get a lot of use out of the iPad. Heck, even the supreme court justices use the ipad
Yes! Is this the de facto or should I research a bit more?
I do like to press down when I'm writing, and I do like the friction paper provides, wonder what kinda deal this one is. Then agian for $5 bucks might as well try it.
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I would stay away from those cheap ones for long term use. I've had a few of them and the rubber tip is simply too bulbuous and "floppy" (for lack of a better term). As soon as you press against, it collapses and you risk scratching your screen or screen protector.
I would recommend anything by Targus and Kensington. I believe they are the same stylii just rebranded. The tips are of higher quality rubber and design that responds well to the pressure of handwritten notes.
EDIT: I would also add that for long term use such as handwritten notes, I would recommend something with a form factor (length, diameter, heft, etc.) close to a good quality pen.
All the people saying there are no good note taking apps really surprises me. I would have thought that would be job #1 for software developers as the iPad seems like a students dream all-in-one.
Is there really nothing that lets you type, hand write (or annotate your type), and draw simple diagrams within the same app and page?
Is there really nothing that lets you type, hand write (or annotate your type), and draw simple diagrams within the same app and page?
Almost all of the note-taking apps that allow handwriting (by my count there are about 20 in the App Store) also allow text and pictures on the same page. Some also allow audio. They each have differing degrees of success and of course ease of use. Ultimately, note-taking is such a personal task that it takes a bit of experimenting to find one that works best for you.
See the links I already posted. There are many handwriting apps (as already mentioned), and some are quite impressive.
As for comparisons between paper and the iPad, paper is simply an incredible technology, and nothing quite matches pen and paper. That said, like so many other things in life, it is just a lot more convenient to use the iPad. I do a lot of note taking, and I am also an amateur calligrapher, but even I prefer the iPad for most of my stuff. The ideal workflow? Write your note, "open in" Evernote, and have it stored and indexed forever. That is so convenient, and makes it so much easier to go paperless
What I meant was in terms of work flow and as an example is:
Type something out then on the fly maybe go back with your finger or stylus and annotate it, underline something important or add a star or a quick 'hand'written footnote to something you just typed, all the while being able to leave a blank space to add a quick little freehand drawing (done in the same app) like a chart or graph line, etc.
Put another way think 2 visible layers a text editor on the bottom and free form drawing ability on top as if somehow you actually had an editable printed page in front of you with a pen in your hand.
i am not exactly sure what you have in mind, but most of these apps offer quite a bit of flexibility in moving things about. you can write something by hand, move that chunk of text down to the bottom of the screen and put something above it, or do the same thing with typed text. at least one app allows you to actually insert new handwritten text into a sentence (pretty amazing if you ask me) instead of having to manually shift all of the text around.
anyhow, i have found the notetaking apps to be more than sufficient for the kind of work i am doing. i would bet that a detailed explanation of a specific use case sent to any of these developers would go a long way towards getting the feature included in future iterations. in general, my interactions with developers has been very positive, and they are quick to make some pretty incredible improvements.
It would help to know what kind of classes you are taking.
If your notes are all text, a keyboard will be vastly superior. If they involve text and diagrams the iPad might have an advantage.
I don't like handwriting on the iPad, it is akin to writing on a small marker board when you use a stylus, so you have to zoom in and write rather large to have something legible. But if you have an app that combines text and images you could probably do decently.
I hated trying to draw diagrams on my laptop as a trackpad sucks for illustrative purposes. Also for math related stuff I would rather have an iPad, manly because typing formulas that use integration/derivation on a keyboard just sucks and looks terrible afterwords. Maybe I just needed to look for better software, but I ended up using paper notes for that class (iPad didn't exist yet).
If your notes are all text, a keyboard will be vastly superior. If they involve text and diagrams the iPad might have an advantage.
I don't like handwriting on the iPad, it is akin to writing on a small marker board when you use a stylus, so you have to zoom in and write rather large to have something legible. But if you have an app that combines text and images you could probably do decently.
I hated trying to draw diagrams on my laptop as a trackpad sucks for illustrative purposes. Also for math related stuff I would rather have an iPad, manly because typing formulas that use integration/derivation on a keyboard just sucks and looks terrible afterwords. Maybe I just needed to look for better software, but I ended up using paper notes for that class (iPad didn't exist yet).
Check out Notability or Notes Plus. These are pretty good programs but I don't use them as I prefer to take all of my notes in straight handwriting since I connect better with them in my brain.
Notability:
Notes Plus:
Wall St Journal tech writer just reviewed 6 tablet styluses:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577265451077949064.html
and a few note taking apps:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204520204577249162047544408.html
Haven't used anything yet, so I'm doing the research myself as well.
I love taking notes on my iPad in class. The multitouch gestures make it easy to switch between my eBook and notes. I just wish that the stock notes app had more formatting options, like bolding or underlining. I can type notes much faster on the iPad than I can hand-write them.
i prefer to do it with the stylus, but with the new 5mp camera, there might be a better case to be made for snapping pictures. Jotnot and Scanner Pro are great apps for this. Send everything to Evernote afterwards and you will even get handwriting recognition.
Personally, if I ever take notes on paper (pre-stylus and post ipad2 sale days) I scan them in using ScanSnap. THIS is an amazing device that could change your life. It helped me go paperless
Awesome, thanks for the examples Seajay. That looks to be pretty much what I'm talking about
Awesome, thanks for the examples Seajay. That looks to be pretty much what I'm talking about
I've heard Readdle Remarks does a lot of the same stuff, but I haven't tried it myself.
http://readdle.com/products/remarks/
Awesome, thanks for the examples Seajay. That looks to be pretty much what I'm talking about
I just now bought Notability for $1. Wow. Very, very nice.
20 years from now we'll be able to say (in a wheezy voice) "back in my day we used to get quality apps for just a buck".
If you want to take note using digital pen, then the only viable option is samsung galaxy note ( preferably 10.1) which gives you feel like almost pen & paper. Moreover, they have great office suite (polaris and kingston) for free which you can only dream of with iPad. However if you like restricted iOS ecosystem and pay a bunch more for app and accessories go for iPad!!!
I have been using my iPad for notes the past 2 and a half semesters and it has been GREAT. I've tried countless note taking apps and Note Taker HD takes the cake. It has the smoothest "zoom box" writing and you can import PDFs to take notes on those as well. I don't have any trouble keeping up and my notes are much more accessible now.