Sunday, October 9, 2011

Technology vs. the Pen and Paper


iPad vs. Journal?

Everyone remembers the Vegas post  from not too long ago right?  Here's the summary in case you dont feel like clicking the link...sad times in Nevada...no the Bunny Ranch wasn't closed...I realized that I had become an iPad user, by that I mean heavy user, by that- I mean... pens were being thrown in drawers and forgotten about.
Technology had overwhelmed me and I had left my true love behind.  However... I flipped the switch and built back my stable of pens and posts and here we are.

So.. you didn't think that I had thrown that iPad2 in the trash in Vegas did you?  No way dude.  It's really all about wants and needs. I want to use a pen and paper.  I need to use Keynote and play Angry Birds. (Gack, I said it.)

Frankly,  no one even questions when I waltz into a meeting carrying an iPad and a Journal. (iSad.)  I don't think too many people actually correlate between ONLY having an iPad or using paper. Both still seem ok. Interesting.
Sidebar:  Thank you for all the Journal suggestions in the prior posts..but the perfect journal fell into my lap and I couldn't be happier.  Is there anything better than a lined journal that's leather bound and can hold up to fountain pen ink?  Don't answer that without really thinking about it... I am saying no.  Crane and Co. got it right...Deliriously in love with this journal. I don't deserve it. But thank you.

Ok,  back to the post...now...it's the best of both worlds.  On one hand- I have an INSANE journal, on the other hand I have a world of games, emails and .ppts and on the other hand- I can still use all my favorite pens.  (yes, I realize that is three hands-did you?)

So here's the real question...Where do these worlds collide in my day to day activities?  For me- it's simple...my Journal is a list of all my scrapbooking projects and the names of all my imaginary kittens.

 Kidding...I use it for Getting Things Done. Work stuff,  to do's and things I am waiting on...I can't go home at night until my inbox is Zeroed out and the iPad  and the journal help in between meetings to crunch that out. When I see inbox's with 727 unread messages I get twitchy.

So, it's all about balance.  Find your happy place.  Don't give in to one thing or another: embrace your inner geek,  but don't forget about the history of people putting pen to paper and making magic.  Oh, and file some of those emails... geez.

So a simple question and feel free to comment.  Has technology kept you from writing as much as you like and how do you respond to that?  When do you put down the keyboard and pick up the pen?
The next post is a great interview I had with a company doing some cool pen stuff.  Stay tuned.

Seth

4 comments:

Sandy said...

I have both too. I have many journals, art journals, watercolor journals, drawing and sketching journals and yes a journal that I document my day to day adventures in for future generations. I even carry a calendar in my purse to write things down in case my Ipad 2 goes dead and for some reason doesn't save my important future dates. It could happen. My Iphone used to be my calendar and I didn't back up one night and it crashed, had to go to Apple store and get a new replacement. Everything gone.

I too love the games, the apps, the easy way the Ipad makes life great but I still love my enormous pen collection and there is nothing quite as good as sitting down and writing in my journal with a nice fountain pen at night with hopes that my teenage son will find my life interesting one day. It could happen.

Love your blog.

Unknown said...

I have both as well. Once upon a time, I used my iPad as my primary note taking tool. After a while, I started to experience a sort of "burn out". It wasn't until earlier this year that I went back to the good old pen and paper as a means of recording my ideas. I haven't ditched my iPad entirely: I still use it for checking emails, reading crochet patterns and other documents, YouTube and some light Internet browsing.

Unknown said...

Further to my previous comment, I find that writing something down helps ideas to flow more freely, as it encourages one to think. These days I make a habit of taking a notebook everywhere with me.

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