[bayindirh]

> If you mean a digital notepad with no Internet access, then yes, that can be a solution too.

Nothing beats the feeling of a real pen and paper for me. The texture of the paper and the feedback of the pen changes the experience a lot for me. Even if I've grown with computers and wanted my profession since forever, nothing beats paper (incl. e-paper/e-ink) when it comes to writing.

Working with an analog medium completely changes the mode my brain works too. I can concentrate much deeper and can think much more broadly. I love reading from e-readers but, for writing there's no substitute.

[M4v3R]

Did you look into Remarkable e-paper tablet? [0] Many people swear by it because it supposedly has the feeling of paper when writing (the screen has a matte/rough texture). I've ordered one myself, haven't received yet so I can't vouch for whether those opinions are true or not, though.

[0] http://remarkable.com

[bayindirh]

Yep. I know the device. While it's promising, e-ink has some inherent problems. Namely, color and speed.

I always design my software on paper first and, color is needed for diagrams. I also read academic papers a lot and use color-coded highlighters (remember / further research / etc.). Remarkable doesn't support these workflows.

e-ink is not a fast medium. I have an eBook reader (Kobo Glo HD / 300dpi) and I love it for reading but, highlighting process is slow and ugly (lower color depth -> overdrive for fast response -> repaint with correct gray levels -> done). Writing will be similar, with some lag and that's flow breaking and unacceptable for me.

At the end of the day, it's a good skeumorphic device which mimics paper albeit a rigid and slower one. On the other hand, paper's tactile response is unmatchable, especially when combined with fountain pens (which I use a lot).

Also, there are some ritualistic stuff with pen and paper. Every project has its own notebook, which triggers context response in my brain. When I get the notebook, I reload the stuff at the background. Every other task is automatically pushed back by the subconscious. It's a kind of leveraging the "library" system of the brain.

iPad pro has a faster screen and color but, backlit screens kill my eyes after a certain time period (All my panels are either OLED or high quality IPS with reduced blue light). I don't want to lose my eyesight for that.

I want to add that paper is hard to digitize, takes a lot of physical space and has maintenance but, these downsides are balanced out by the advantages it brings, at least for me.

I love working with digital systems. I use Pagico & Trello extensively. A digital diagram a lot. Keep structured knowledge bases in Evernote and Zim but, when it comes to thinking and documenting the thinking process, I always return to the pen & paper and, get that 10x boost instantly. I just can't replace it and I don't want to replace it anymore.

Trivia: Words like "On the other hand", "in that case", etc. comes from early memorization techniques where you imagine that you're actually putting that subject/idea in to your hand or a physical case which helps with structuring big subjects a lot. Using paper, different notebooks, etc. triggers the same circuitry to improve focus, retention and efficiency.

[bee_rider]

Haven't tried Remarkable. Did get the SO a wacom tablet last holiday season, seems to like it, I couldn't stand the thing. It feels kinda like using a pencil -- an unpleasantly thick one. I wonder if there could be an issue whereby the sort of folks who are OK with something feeling vaguely like writing on paper are already well served, but the really picky/peculiar people (I tend to stick to a particular brand of pencil and .3mm soft lead) are just living in this fat tail where the digital replacement will never be quite right.

I'd rather just write on the paper. I wish there was an easy way to digitize it, though.