[NoLinkToMe]

Only if you want to take notes with a pen and prefer digital over paper. For me that's terrible, but some kids swear by it. I think if I grew up on it, it'd be different.

Homework for things like algebra and later calculus definitely is interesting to do on an iPad, as the ratio of time spent thinking:writing is high while you're learning.

But pure notetaking where the thinking:writing ratio is very low? I'd much prefer to type than write on a screen.

[EasyMark]

As an engineering student I can’t imagine taking notes a by only typing. I was always drawing diagrams and 2d and 3d graphs etc . No way I can do that with keyboard and mouse fast enough for a college class

[alpaca128]

As an iPad owner I would probably use it for taking handwritten notes if the handwriting recognition was reliable enough for text search. But it's not, and the search feature in Apple Notes is the absolute minimum to be called "search". It can only search from the beginning of words, so typing "oo" will never find "foo". Better apps exist but they all come with a subscription of some kind.

I am clearly not the target audience for the iPad. Being restricted to apps and what they allow you to do while asking for money at every corner is not my cup of tea.

[bwv848]

That's a lot of money for a small amount of use cases, get a $70 Wacom.

[dmonitor]

You'll look like a mega nerd if you pull that out in a classroom, assuming you even have the desk space. Not to mention the qol improvement of having your pen touch the screen you're drawing on.

[satvikpendem]

A mega nerd for pulling out a 7 by 6 inch touchpad with a pen next to your laptop? They're not talking about a full fat Wacom tablet, and besides, it's really not that hard to write on a screen vs a tablet, in some cases even better because your hands don't cover parts of it up (I have both an iPad with a pencil and a Wacom).

Plus on macOS you can easily use note taking apps with the Wacom touchpad that then digitize the text to make it searchable.

[levl289]

Does the Wacom show the actual result of the writing, or do you need to look at the screen? This feels like a bad solution to needing an electronic notepad.

[satvikpendem]

It's a touchpad, of course the result shows up on the laptop screen, and the user doesn't even look at the touchpad anymore, just as digital artists don't now. Honestly not sure why commenters here are acting like it's some huge deal to use a touchpad for note taking and that one has to get an iPad when there really is no need.

[mjlee]

Wacom have been selling "pen displays" for years, at least since ~2013. You can buy a brand new one for $300.

[happyopossum]

the difference between writing on a screen and writing on an external tablet is hard to overstate...

[bwv848]

A Huion Kamvas then, still way cheaper than an iPad.

[chocochunks]

A Huion Kamvas is pretty awkward to drag to class or a meeting. Even the smallest ones.

[NoLinkToMe]

Again it doesn't bother me for certain ratios of time thinking:writing.

Like a hard sudoku puzzle is fine, you typically write one symbol every few minutes.

But for notetaking where its a symbol every second, yes to me its terrible.

[satvikpendem]

Not really, it works just fine and you don't obscure the screen with your hand.

[johanvts]

Not really, sure it is easier to find your cursor but that is not very hard using an external tablet, and you get much better ergonomics plus you can see what is under your hand.

[andriy_koval]

also, they still sell paper notebooks )

If digital version is important, there are probably some scanning apps.