Ask Slashdot: What Is the Best Note-Taking Device For Conferences?

Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:35 · Score: 4, Informative

I think a livescribe pen may be the best choice.

Re:Livescribe by icebike · 2012-04-01 11:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

Just a pen and paper.
No other device can keep up, and you get bogged down with operating the device, missing key points.
Pocket recorder as backup.

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Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 11:42 · Score: 5, Informative

Which is why a smartpen like the Livescribe helps. It is just pen and paper to operate, but it lets you upload your notes afterwards, makes them searchable, and records sound to go with your notes in case you do miss anything. Knowing that means you don't have to write every little thing down, but can stick to key points and jump to the relevant part of the audio simply by pointing to the note with your pen on your paper notes, or clicking on the uploaded version on your computer later. It can even automate most of the conversion of written notes to text.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 11:45 · Score: 2

I should add: The downside of the Livescribe pen for science conferences is that if you have audio recording on all day, the battery is likely to run flat by the end of the day, unless you recharge at lunchtime. The battery is fine if you only want to record written notes, so I tend to switch on audio recording only for the important talks.
Re:Livescribe by petes_PoV · 2012-04-01 11:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

Any decent conference makes the proceedings available to attendees, so the notes that you need to take will not be the content of the various lectures.
What you will need to do is make contacts, do a bit of social networking and get to know the other people there (who are presumably in the same field that you are). For that, nothing beats a short written note - technology is far too clunky and it doesn't impress anyone, these days.

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Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

Many people don't understand the value of taking notes during lectures, especially since many of them these days are accompanied by downloadable or hardcopy slide decks which would seem to make the activity superfluous.
The reason physical notetaking works is that it forces the listener to engage the speaker actively rather than passively, and reorganize/rephrase the speaker's material in his/her own mind in real time, with room for possible challenges to the speaker's POV. At least 90 percent of the value of the notes is achieved by the end of the lecture, so if they turned out to be illegible, or the airline loses the bag on the flight home, you still have the overwhelming portion of the value. You've listened well.
Re:Livescribe by AngryDeuce · 2012-04-01 11:46 · Score: 2

Agreed. If a permanent copy is needed it can always be scanned/transcribed later.
I may be a geek that loves tech toys, but it's hard to beat the utility of a dumb ass pen and a big notepad. You want to get fancy? Get a few different color pens.
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:50 · Score: 0

"Just a pen and paper and clipboard."
FTFY
Re:Livescribe by am+2k · 2012-04-01 11:50 · Score: 2

Agreed, I used to doze off in lectures, until I started taking notes. Now that keeps me awake all day on conferences.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 11:53 · Score: 1

Depends on the field. In my field of science, for instance, most conferences - even the best of them - do not publish full proceedings, only abstracts. Even for those that do publish proceedings, I prefer to take my own notes rather than search through thousands of proceedings papers to find details of a few interesting talks. Often, in any case, speakers will mention things that weren't included in the short conference paper they submitted six months before.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 11:56 · Score: 5, Interesting

Two more advantages of a smartpen: 1) it's less distracting for others than a laptop or tablet. Most people just think it's a fountain pen. 2) It's less distracting for me. I can't check my email on it.
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

+1 for the pen and paper. Plus, when you transcribe the notes, you're likely to recall more information and add to the notes in addition to reinforcing the information you've already retained.
Re:Livescribe by knghtrider · 2012-04-01 12:21 · Score: 1

I concur..Pen and Paper, then transcribe your notes to your computer--this way you've went over them twice..and organized them. This helps the memory process.

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Re:Livescribe by cgenman · 2012-04-01 12:21 · Score: 1

Or just photograph it with a phone.

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Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:33 · Score: 0

Or pen and paper in Acecad DigiMemo series. I used to the B5 sized variant for taking notes during lectures in uni extensively for a number of years. It was an old model from '03 or '04 but it did good - only other advice - put number on the pages in advance and check periodically if the number on the page is the same as the number on the device display, saves some unscrambling when you forget to press the key to change the page and write over the digial copy merging both. Note - I never used the OCR software, I only used it to store the notes of letures and make copies for coeds (or I would just leave it with one of them if I wanted to skip class, they would take the notes on it and I would get it at the end of the day or the week, with all notes in it. Pretty cool)
Re:Livescribe by pz · 2012-04-01 12:45 · Score: 2

Any decent conference makes the proceedings available to attendees, so the notes that you need to take will not be the content of the various lectures.

Two false suppositions in the same statement, I'm afraid. Most conferences don't provide proper proceedings, even very good ones (I run a *very* good conference, and we don't provide a proper proceedings). You're luck if you get a set of abstracts. Abstracts are not full presentations. Proper proceedings, which have fleshed out papers, won't have all of the presentations; hardly ever, at least. Each paper is never a complete encapsulation of the presentation, either since scientists are more likely to say something in a presentation that's an early conclusion, or speculation, or hints of results, than to do the same in a paper as concrete solid results in published work is the rule. Moreover, since the proceedings will invariably be published many months after the conference, you'll have forgotten about the presentations and your questions and thoughts by the time the proceedings comes out.
That said, I agree wholeheartedly that making contacts and networking are very, very important at conferences. Those are the *real* reasons to go.
Finally, to answer the OP's question, pen and paper for note taking.

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Re:Livescribe by jhecht · 2012-04-01 12:51 · Score: 1

It depends on your typing speed and the legibility of your handwriting. I can type very fast and my handwriting is awful, so my notetaker of choice is a MacBook Pro running a simple word processor like Nisus Writer express, but any laptop with a physical keyboard (to orient my fingers) would work. Type fast, clean up the spelling mistakes later. Not only can I read my notes, but I have then in digital form for later reference. I'm a reporter and do the same for telephone interviews. One down side is that you can't do graphics and formulas are tough, but I rarely need them. If I did, I would go for a smartphone or compact digital camera with enough zoom and sensitivity to get the needed details -- if the conference allowed photography. Many don't.
Re:Livescribe by trolman · 2012-04-01 14:23 · Score: 1

Seconded. I am not a conference pro, maybe 1-2 per year, so I could be wrong. You will probably get the pen and paper for 'free.' Just a thought or two.
Everyone that needs to justify owning an iPad/organizer can try to use it for keeping notes but it is a major distraction.
Before recording you should ask permission?
Take pictures of the notes if you don't want to deal with the paper.
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 14:25 · Score: 0

Dude, do you even know what a LiveScribe is? It is a pen, and you write with it on paper. It also has a built-in recorder, and it also has a computer that remembers your drawing.
So, you switch it on and then take notes just like an ordinary pen. When done you switch it off. If the technology fails you still have your paper notes.
How will you get "bogged down with operating" this technology?
Re:Livescribe by Mr+Z · 2012-04-01 14:52 · Score: 3, Insightful

I honestly think it depends on the person. I find if I take copious notes, it doesn't help me, and instead I am more concentrated on being a secretary taking dictation than really *listening* (as opposed to just hearing) what has been said.
That said, jotting down a few choice notes at the right point in the presentation material can be invaluable. For me, it reminds me of the questions and confusion I had encountering the material the first time. These are likely the most interesting places to revisit anyway.
That said, I make the assumption that the presentations are in your domain of experience, so there is a fair bit of "real time" understanding of what you're learning. There was one class in college I took copious, detailed notes for: RLS331 Religions of the Eastern World. Fascinating, but information heavy and entirely out of my element. I earned a B+, and to this day I think the notes helped more than hurt. In any other class, I never considered notes an advantage beyond serving as a flag to say "look here again".

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Re:Livescribe by TheGratefulNet · 2012-04-01 15:14 · Score: 1

or even listen to it with a camera!

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Re:Livescribe by Spikeles · 2012-04-01 15:38 · Score: 1

Depending on the pen, you can however use it to play a piano

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Re:Livescribe by CAIMLAS · 2012-04-01 15:52 · Score: 1

I work at a location where we have regular mathematical lectures on a wide range of topics. Barring user expertise, this is indeed the best option.
We have lectures for a week (so, 2-5 hour long lectures a day) 2-3 times a month. The way 'we' do it is the note takers use their preferred method. This ranges from:
* pen and paper
* latex
* pen and paper, and then convert it to latex later
All lectures are also recorded (video). Audio quality is, of course, paramount, though video resolution is also important due to the desire to retain the fluidity of the lecture: things like gestures, verbal pacing, overhead (digital and/or analog) slides, and the Q/A associated with a lecture all play into the overall utility of a presentation, so it's useful to retain it all. We also make the notes and slides (usually in PDF format) available as well. Having a "scan PDF to email" scanner is very useful for things like this.

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Re:Livescribe by CAIMLAS · 2012-04-01 15:58 · Score: 1

Disagree.
The courses in college I did best in were the ones I paid other people to take notes for me (or, more accurately, the classes where I paid the attractive girls to take notes for me. It set up the proper dom/sub expectations for later...). Second to that were the courses where I didn't take notes. The exception to this was in courses where my notes could be used for exams.
For reference, notes are most excellent. If you actually want to have a good recollection of the lecture and to engage the lecture, your focus really needs to be on the contents of the lecture, not listening to the specific words spoken in order to transcribe them into notes. The comprehension loss from having to do that conversion is fairly severe.
Granted, brains work differently. My brain copes much better with listening and digesting than it does taking notes and later referencing.

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Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 16:10 · Score: 0

Most conferences don't provide proper proceedings, even very good ones (I run a *very* good conference, and we don't provide a proper proceedings)
Then perhaps you don't run a very good conference.
Re:Livescribe by downhole · 2012-04-01 16:36 · Score: 2

Exactly what I experienced in almost every college class I took (mostly Engineering). Most of the other students seemed to want to write down what the professor is saying almost word-for-word. Normally, I focus mostly on listening and trying to understand, taking very few notes. That left me coming out of the class with a pretty solid understanding of what the lecture was about, and I could usually jump right into solving problems with it. The few times I tried taking really detailed notes, I found that I spent so much time and attention on it that I didn't really understand what the professor said, and the notes were still bad enough to not be much help. So I have no understanding and lousy notes instead of a good understanding and no notes.

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Re:Livescribe by ozmanjusri · 2012-04-01 16:40 · Score: 2

Just a pen and paper. No other device can keep up
Until a month ago, I'd have agreed, but since then I've had the opportunity to use my Asus Transformer along with SuperNote. It's easily the best note-taking device I've used, and beats pen and paper because you can seamlessly use electronic recording, keyboard and touch.
http://campuslife.asus.com/index/4839/the-future-of-note-taking-how-supernote-works/

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Re:Livescribe by Mr+Z · 2012-04-01 17:23 · Score: 1

Maybe it's an engineering thing. My degree is in electrical engineering.
That said, it may not work for a class that doesn't lend itself to the nice conceptual processes of engineering. LIke I said above, the only class I felt compelled to take copious notes in was that religions class. There was no way I was going to keep straight the Jains and Sikhs and ascetic ("skinny Buddha") Buddhists and. the later ("fat Buddha") Buddhists, the relationship or lack thereof of all those to Hinduism. Nor would I remember all the various religious/foundational texts of Hinduism (such as the epics Mahabharata (esp. the Bhagavad Gita) and the Ramayana), all the Chinese and Japanese religions such as Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, and so on.
Obviously, some of it stuck, given that I was able to rattle that off off the top of my head almost 20 years later. (I apologize for any oversimplifications, omissions or errors.) And who knows whether any of that would have stuck if I hadn't taken (and studied!!) those copious notes. It wasn't something you could derive from first principles, unlike, say, derivatives and integrals, or hell, deriving Ohm's Law from Maxwell's Equations! It certainly wasn't something you could apply, except by adopting it as a way of life. I can apply Ohm's Law to a circuit. How do I apply the eight-fold path, and to what? Only thing I can think of is to apply it to myself through contemplation, self-reflection, and adoption of the Buddha's teachings in my own life. While that may be a worthwhile thing to do, it rises above the level of most class studies. ;-)

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Re:Livescribe by AliasMarlowe · 2012-04-01 17:55 · Score: 3, Interesting

I run a *very* good conference, and we don't provide a proper proceedings.
You contradict yourself.
Seriously, every conference I've been to, and every conference I've presented a paper at, has published proceedings with the full articles of the conference. If an article is not delivered to the organizers by the cut-off date for inclusion in the proceedings, it is removed entirely from the conference (some conferences also have a lightweight peer approval to keep out junk). This covers many dozens of conferences over the last 20 years. It used to be that the proceedings were in a book or several, then it was CD+books, nowadays it's often just the CD. The author may choose to put some or all of the presentation as well as the article on the CD. Even those articles relegated to poster sessions are also published in full in the proceedings, not just the articles from the oral sessions.
Of course, there are events which only publish abstracts, but those events do not contain any articles which present a conclusion or a result. Such an event is not referred to as a conference, but as a seminar or colloquium in which people merely indicate what is being worked on, rather than presenting actual results or conclusions. Seminars and colloquia often occur between conferences, and I have attended a few which did publish proceedings, as well as those which merely published abstracts. However, their primary objective is networking among participants, and note taking at such events is minimal.
An event whose purpose is presenting results must publish proceedings. Otherwise everything at the event is nebulous - no better than hot air - and citing any article presented there is worthless. Where can the cited article be found? What - it's only an abstract? Then it's a fraud, from any scientific or engineering viewpoint.

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Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 18:12 · Score: 0

You're obviously going to a different class of conferences than I, although one major one I attend annually now videos ALL presentations, and makes them available online.Further, our presentations and "extended abstracts" (actually article-length papers) are accepted virtually up to the time of presentation. This, of course, means the proceedings are late, but they're reasonably intact, complete, and they are searchable.
OP: I tried a tablet and a laptop this year. FAIL. Next meeting, I resume pen and paper.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 18:12 · Score: 1

Yes, or to make animal noises or set up and solve sudoku grids or write "beer" and have it translated into six languages. I have that pen. I love the pen, but the novelty of those applications wears off after the first day.
Re:Livescribe by ryzvonusef · 2012-04-01 18:14 · Score: 1

Awesome!
Btw, it works on the Livescribe too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eoiOOfGxLY
Dang, now even a pen is distracting :p

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Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-01 18:20 · Score: 3, Insightful

Again, this depends on your field. In my field, conferences are where you present your latest results before you submit them as a journal paper, or while they are being considered for publication by a journal, or are in press, or occasionally, have just recently been published in a journal.
In my field, conference papers are worth nothing on your CV unless you are a student and they are the only publications you have. It is considered poor practice to cite conference papers (even from peer-reviewed proceedings) if there is a journal paper that you could cite instead. In general, published conference papers are read only by those who attended the conference, so they are for the most part a waste of everyone's time.
Re:Livescribe by GPSguy · 2012-04-01 18:25 · Score: 1

Several years ago, I had a netbook (before netbooks were cool) made by compaq. As this was in the days before every kid had a computer, and before, well, wifi, and before Facebook, I didn't succumb to today's general distractions. I took abbreviated notes in class often using vi. I'd find a quiet spot later, although the keyboard was too loud to do it in the library, reorganize the notes and rewrite them using complete sentences, add equations (via an equation editor), and generally make 'em useful. These served me well. I've gotta say, though, that the "improvements" to Notepad, Office, OpenOffice, etc., and the advent of tablets overall, has made it HARDER to use a computational platform to do what I did, rather than easier. I'm going back to pencil and paper.

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Re:Livescribe by thsths · 2012-04-01 20:48 · Score: 1

I agree - but sometimes a browser is actually useful if you want to look up a technical issue or follow a lead. So my recommendation would be a tablet and a piece of paper. Any decent conference facility should provide the later :-)
Re:Livescribe by TheRaven64 · 2012-04-01 21:36 · Score: 1

The reason physical notetaking works is that it forces the listener to engage the speaker actively rather than passively
Or it forces you to pay attention to writing and miss what the speaker has been saying. When I was lecturing, I found that there was an inverse correlation between the amount of note taking a student did and their understanding at the end of the term.

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Re:Livescribe by TheRaven64 · 2012-04-01 21:38 · Score: 1

There was no way I was going to keep straight the Jains and Sikhs and ascetic ("skinny Buddha") Buddhists and. the later ("fat Buddha") Buddhists, the relationship or lack thereof of all those to Hinduism
You're not meant to from the lecture. If memorising the differences is important, then that's what books and hand outs are for. Either is likely to be far more detailed, complete, and accurate than anything you can jot down in a lecture.

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Re:Livescribe by Kittown · 2012-04-01 21:40 · Score: 1

Depends on the volume of your "notes". If it is on the high side, then use pen, paper and a notebook with a good keyboard. Notebook is for words (waaay faster than writing them on paper), the rest is for sketches.
Re:Livescribe by Rhywden · 2012-04-01 22:17 · Score: 0

Actually, the best way to take notes is after the lecture. That way you
a) have to pay attention during the lecture and
b) have to engage your brain again after the lecture to take notes of what you found noteworthy.
Taking notes during lecture does not make you more attentive, it's actually the opposite. Because your brain effectively cannot do more than one thing at a time.
I see this effect every day in school - I'm a teacher. As soon as I tell my pupils to take notes, it becomes very difficult to get their attention again. That's why I'm planning every lesson in such a way that there are dedicated note-taking periods, but also periods during which I say: "Pencils away!"
When I'm letting them do experiments, one pupil of the group is the dedicated note-taker - it's his sole job to take notes and nothing else (just like the other pupils have other jobs than taking notes!). The roles are rotating - but this is more effective than having every pupil of the group do his own not-taking.
Re:Livescribe by Mr+Z · 2012-04-01 22:51 · Score: 1

This particular class (found the syllabus here) did have some textbooks, but I don't really remember them playing a large role. Granted, my memory is hazy, 17 years later. The stuff the professor was most interested in us learning was delivered in lecture. If you didn't take good notes, you didn't stand a chance on the exams or writing your essays. Attendance was mandatory, and for very good reason.
Being a 300-level class (ie. 3rd year, aka. Junior Year), the class really didn't focus on rote memorization. Rather, the professor wanted to us to think about the material at a higher level than that, understanding the social contexts, and drawing deeper conclusions about the relationships between the different religions. For me, it was quite the wild ride. Yeah, we needed to remember the facts, but he also wanted us to move beyond basic comprehension and toward analysis and synthesis.
It helped that Dr. Fuller was (and I imagine still is) an entertaining, knowledgeable and energetic professor that genuinely wanted to be there teaching. (If you watch the vid at that page, understand that he gets even more animated when he's giving lecture, and crams those 55 minutes absolutely full.) I'm not religious or really into religions at all, but I enjoyed the class and actually learned something. Maybe I don't remember the books because they were dull and uninteresting, comparatively. :-)
I only pulled a B+ in that course. It was the only course I ever took at the same time as my (then future) wife. She got an A with far less apparent effort than I put into it. (Of course, I suspect her larger background and personal interest in mythologies from around the world was an asset here.) Ah well... I have my engineering and she has her geology. It's all good.

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Re:Livescribe by Mr+Z · 2012-04-01 22:59 · Score: 1

Speaking of which... that wasn't the only course I took that didn't rely much on a text book. My control theory classes had no text book -- rather, the professor gave a handout every period that gave the skeleton and some (but not all) of the meat for the "notes" for that days' lecture. You were encouraged to fill in the missing bits if you liked. I rarely did. Got an A in the first one (classical control), but only a B+ in the second one (state space control), mainly because I suck at matrices.
DSP and VLSI classes both had textbooks. I never even took the shrinkwrap off of my DSP text, and I never even bought the VLSI textbook.
Did I mention Bradley U. has some amazing professors?

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Re:Livescribe by KZigurs · 2012-04-01 23:39 · Score: 1

So, what's the field?
Re:Livescribe by arth1 · 2012-04-01 23:49 · Score: 2

Which is why a smartpen like the Livescribe helps. It is just pen and paper to operate, but it lets you upload your notes afterwards, makes them searchable
How exactly does this improve on taking notes on a paper and scanning them afterwards?
If anything, I'd think a Livescribe pen will have problems with you doing things like going back to make adjustments to a previous paper, or making margin notes in the presentation material.
Plus it's bigger and more cumbersome to hold (for those of us old enough to have grown up with and learned to use the greater agility of slim pens).
Oh, and you might run out of batteries.
And can't use it without access to a Windows/Mac system.
So again, how does this improve on using regular pens and a scanner?
To me, this seems like technology for technology's sake, and likely to be as big winner as the CueCat.
Re:Livescribe by Hyperhaplo · 2012-04-02 00:36 · Score: 1

LS beats everything hands down. Excellent combo of voice recording and note taking and instant uploading of notes to computer.
Perfect.
I can't fault it. I would seriously consider carrying 2 pens, but I've never hit the limit of a 2 GB pen in one session..

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Re:Livescribe by Hatta · 2012-04-02 01:16 · Score: 1

It doesn't actually work that way in practice. Simply paying attention and thinking about what is being said works far better for me than spending half my time writing. My brain appears to be single duplex. I can't listen while I'm writing.

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Re:Livescribe by nine-times · 2012-04-02 01:45 · Score: 1

I agree. I've found from experience that the best way to take notes is to scribble something down on paper, and then sometime shortly after that, to type it out and make any diagrams I need on a computer.
One of the important thing about pen and paper is that it's so simple, it's not going to distract you. When I've tried to take notes on a computer, there's always some function that stops working properly or distracts me, which isn't very likely with a pen. Carry a backup pen in case the first one doesn't work, and you're all set.
But there's a second, more important feature of this method: forced repetition. You scribble down some notes on the key points during the conference, and then later you type it up. By the nature of typing it up, you will be reviewing your notes, reorganizing them, and making them clearer. When you take notes, your key goal should be getting some reminder down on the page so that you'll remember a key point a few hours later, but you want to do it as quickly as possible so that you can get back to listening. When you type it up a few hours later, you will be putting all your ideas into a format that you should be able to review 5 years from now and understand what your notes were about.
So you have 2 steps, and each step has different goals. Even if you take computerized notes, I'd encourage you to review and rewrite them within a few hours. Otherwise, you're missing an incredibly important step.
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 02:41 · Score: 0

livescribe rules - wins hands down for this - never thought I would say it, but if you try it you will understand - a great product, and have sold several more for them when people see what it can do.
ipad + ithoughts comes a close second.
the reason I like livescribe so much is that I can go back, click on the area I didn't understand, and hear the expert explain it to me again - the use of notes as an index for the talk is very powerful.
It does take a bit of learning to make the most of it, and I find that I don't use its full memory capability - the 2G one is fine for me.
Re:Livescribe by pscottdv · 2012-04-02 03:18 · Score: 1

Did they publish the questions and answers? Because that's where one hears the stuff that's relevant to one's own research.

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Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 03:19 · Score: 0

+1
I brought my livescribe and computer so I could plug it in to the 'puter for recharge... but one of the speakers was dull enough that he didn't merit being recorded anyway.
Since I'm getting the audio, I can draw and do visual things with the pen.
The "upload and share" as a PDF is also relatively awe-inspiring, tho' not all my squiggles came through.
I like it best for my class where we're walked through processes on a computer; when I'm trying to do the task in lab later I can click and here "no, *don't* click on the hand!" which was, of course, what I was doing...
Re:Livescribe by iMadeGhostzilla · 2012-04-02 04:04 · Score: 1

Best post on the topic. The real question is what the goal is of his attending the conference. It's the few things that he can take away -- some key concepts and ideas to research further on his own, and the people to do it with.
Back at my old company, we recorded audio and even videos of "important" meetings and never looked at those. That was just too much info for something already experienced, and the world has moved on with new demands. Exception would be litigation etc. where you may need to prove that someone said this or that.
Re:Livescribe by Cederic · 2012-04-02 04:24 · Score: 1

Sure. I could use a fucking expensive pen that's uncomfortable to hold, needs batteries, doesn't have good ink and requires fixed size expensive hard to acquire paper.
Or I could use a comfortable pen with good ink on my choice of paper and just fucking photograph the output afterwards.
Due, do you even care how usable something is or are you just a technowhore? Because y'know, I've no issue with that, there's shit I do purely for the joy of the technology involved (e.g. mechanical watches), but don't go preaching to other people about the superiority of your flawed solution.
Re:Livescribe by aix+tom · 2012-04-02 05:35 · Score: 1

I had similar experiences as a student.
I absolutely flunked a few month in a class where I tried to keep up with a very fast teacher who did a lot of writing on the blackboard. Until I switched to "just take notes of the stuff he writes in red", which was about 10% of the stuff, and then it really worked well.
Re:Livescribe by AliasMarlowe · 2012-04-02 05:43 · Score: 1

Did they publish the questions and answers? Because that's where one hears the stuff that's relevant to one's own research.
Yes, for a few conferences, and it was often informative (sometimes just dull).
Actually, for one particular conference series it means that the third volume of the proceedings is always delayed several months. Partly this is so the editors could work up their courage and form a consensus over what the dialog actually was. Apparently some antagonists never agree on what they said, even with audio recordings of their barbed questions and snide answers. So who says science has to be dry and can't be fun?

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Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Re:Livescribe by wiedzmin · 2012-04-02 05:43 · Score: 1

Only drawback of the Livescribe pens is that the microphone sucks. You get more of your pen scraping on the paper than the speaker talking.

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Bow before me, for I am root.
Re:Livescribe by Eponymous+Hero · 2012-04-02 05:52 · Score: 1

agreed. a good friend of mine used this in college, i was impressed. http://www.livescribe.com./ disclaimer: i'm not affiliated with the product or company in any way.

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Re:Livescribe by iamhassi · 2012-04-02 07:11 · Score: 1

I should add: The downside of the Livescribe pen for science conferences is that if you have audio recording on all day, the battery is likely to run flat by the end of the day, unless you recharge at lunchtime. The battery is fine if you only want to record written notes, so I tend to switch on audio recording only for the important talks.
Livescribe is fine, but if you want a $100+ device you'll be able to use more than once, I recommend a Fujitsu p1620 or Dell Latitude XT

Both dual core, both tablets, similar resolutions at 1280x768/800, but p1620 has a smaller screen, 8.9", and weighs less, ~2 lbs, and is almost the exact same size as a iPad, just thicker. p1620 battery is in the front and is easily swappable, and Fujitsu sells a multicharger for it so you can charge two batteries simultaneously while using a third. Resistive screen, uses a digitizer or your fingernail, and I can confirm clicking links and opening programs works rather well with a fingernail.

Latitude XT is larger and heavier, ~4 lbs, but the 12" screen is multitouch so you can use your fingers, great for Windows 8 when it's released. But the best part about this tablet is the available external extended "slice" battery which is basically a 2nd battery that docks to the entire bottom of tablet. You should get an additional 6-8+ hours of real world usage with the slice battery, and the slice battery can be charged separately, so you could leave one charging while using another one, and being an external battery the laptop does not need to be shutdown to swap allowing you to leave the laptop on continuously forever as long as you kept swapping the external battery.

I have both tablets and they both serve their purposes, XT for all day use with external battery, p1620 for maximum portability since it's much smaller and lighter. The Dell Latitude XT can be had for about $300 from Dell and the Fujitsu p1620 is around $200 on ebay.

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my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 07:47 · Score: 0

expensive pen
It sure is: $100 to $200 depending on model. That's why I haven't bought one.
that's uncomfortable to hold,
[citation needed]
needs batteries,
You mean, has a built-in rechargeable battery. Which, in fairness, someone in this discussion thread has said won't last for a full day of conference unless you recharge it at lunch.
doesn't have good ink
[citation needed]
The CNet review says it runs out of ink faster than most pens, due to the short length of the pen refills. It doesn't say the ink isn't "good"; you are the first time I have heard that.
and requires fixed size expensive hard to acquire paper.
There are several sizes of paper, but it's true you can't just use any paper you want.
If I spend $200 on a LiveScribe, I can afford the special paper. Depending on what size of page you get and where you get it, you might pay 4 to 8 cents per page... on Amazon you can get a set of 4 notebooks with standard US Letter paper for $20, which is exactly 5 cents per page. Just not that big a deal to me; the $200 pen is where I balk.
You do have the option of printing your own paper, but I believe it requires a color printer. I'd rather just buy a nice notebook.
[Dude], do you even care how usable something is or are you just a technowhore?
Oh, I'm such a technowhore that I don't even own a LiveScribe.
I just thought it was sort of funny and weird: some guy suggests using a LiveScribe, and some other guy says "just use pen and paper, plus make an audio recording". That's the whole idea of the LiveScribe, except for an extra layer of complexity that digitizes your notes, plus gives you the ability to use your notes to seek to particular points in the recording.
Now, since I have never actually used a LiveScribe, I might be willing to take your word for it if you have actually used one. If you say it's hard to hold, I'm not going to argue since I haven't ever held one. But the weaselly way you worded it means I have no idea if you have actually held one or if you are just guessing like I have to.
I also find it odd that you seem pissed off about this. I was replying to some guy named icebike; why do you care so much?
By the way, on YouTube you can watch ads for the LiveScribe and they make it look very easy to use. They are ads, so they are hardly impartial, but having watched them I still don't know how you could get "bogged down with operating" a LiveScribe.
And the CNet review had this to say:

Overall, as someone with a lifetime of note-taking experience, there's very little you need to do to accommodate the Echo. Just turn it on, tap the record icon, and the rest of the experience is just like writing with any other pen.
So as far as I know, the LiveScribe is pretty usable.
If you want to say the LiveScribe is not usable, I hope you at least have tried one.
don't go preaching to other people about the superiority of your flawed solution.
[citation needed]
Where exactly did I preach about the superiority of a LiveScribe? Here you go, clickable link back to what I wrote. Where did I say it was superior, and what did I say it was superior to?
Re:Livescribe by howe.chris · 2012-04-02 08:03 · Score: 1

Completely disagree with the CueCat reference. I am going back to school and use it in all of my classes. During the day at work I use it for note-taking at meetings. The real power is syncing the recorded audio with your notes. You can click on a hand written word and can hear what the person said or what he is talking about. It gives really good context when reviewing weeks later. You never have to go back and wonder what a presenter was talking about. You can listen to just a small snippet.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-02 10:54 · Score: 1

It's not the microphone that sucks, but the speaker built into the pen. When I play back recorded sound on the pen itself, the pen scraping sound often dominates, but if I plug in some earphones or play it back on my computer, the sound quality is good.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-02 11:01 · Score: 1

Which is why a smartpen like the Livescribe helps. It is just pen and paper to operate, but it lets you upload your notes afterwards, makes them searchable
How exactly does this improve on taking notes on a paper and scanning them afterwards?
For one thing, the OCR is much, much better (especially if you have poor handwriting, like I do), since it has the order and timing of the pen strokes to help it along.
For another, it's much quicker and easier than scanning, running the scans through OCR, saving and organising the files. It's even quicker and easier that photographing each page directly into Evernote, which is what I was doing before I had the Livescribe.
For another, the matched sound recording is very useful: it makes your notes much more complete while letting you concentrate on listening rather than trying to write down every little point.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-02 11:03 · Score: 1

Marine science.
Re:Livescribe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 15:34 · Score: 0

Really? I definitely cannot handwrite as fast as I can type. And I REALLY can't handwrite as fast as a voice recorder can record.
And that's before we start talking about whether I can read what I wrote.
Re:Livescribe by wiedzmin · 2012-04-03 08:56 · Score: 1

Maybe my pen is defective then, or I press down on paper harder than normal, because the pen scraping sound is always prevalent in my recordings. I should also note that it's an Echo model, I don't have any experience with the Pulse pens. I can't wait for a newer, and hopefully, better model to come out. I love this thing and its integration with Evernote.

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Bow before me, for I am root.
Re:Livescribe by reason · 2012-04-03 11:22 · Score: 1

Perhaps it would be worth you getting the earpiece microphones? That would move the point of recording away from the pen and also gives you stereo sound. It would be an odd look, to have earphones in during a meeting, so I haven't invested in them myself, but it might be good in some contexts - lectures, perhaps.

Being April 1... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:35 · Score: 0

It's hard to beat a pencil and paper.

Re:Being April 1... by danomac · 2012-04-01 11:50 · Score: 1

It's hard to beat your brain.
Better to do it while sleeping - pretty good retention in the subconscious. Besides, all that snoring will definitely annoy everyone else there.
Best part is when you wake up, you'll remember everything, and everyone else there will remember the guy who was snoring and nothing else!
Re:Being April 1... by cmdr_tofu · 2012-04-01 13:08 · Score: 1

I find my brain forgets things. Keeping notes (typed of written) allows me to organize my thoughts and retain bits of stuff when I review later.

yup, notepad + pen. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:36 · Score: 0

Especially if you want to jot down graphs or equations, notepad + pen is still king.

Livescribe by dbc · 2012-04-01 11:36 · Score: 1

I like to be able to make sketches of interesting material. The diagrams do more for me than the words. The Livescribe pen captures the audio, and can play it back in association with what I was sketching at the time. The portability is great, too.

macbook air by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:36 · Score: 0

~50% of the people at PyCon 2012 in Santa Clara seemed to have MacBook Airs...

Re:macbook air by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:29 · Score: 0, Funny

That's because they are wannabe hipster douches. It's like RubyCon...the only good it does is gather a bunch of them together hoping a terrorist takes them out...
They never do :(

marker by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:36 · Score: 0

write it on your arm with a sharpie

Go Low Tech... by Frosty+Piss · 2012-04-01 11:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

Does technology *always* provide a better solution? I own an iPad, but really, a yellow pad and a pen and pencil are what I use at meetings and conferences...

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If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.

Re:Go Low Tech... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:57 · Score: 0

I use the Notability app on my iPad with a Griffin pen. Outstanding notes, freehand, or type. Ability to record audio and keyed to the notes, with ability to email pdfs of the notes, etc. Beats the pants off of yellow pads for my purposes.
Re:Go Low Tech... by Oligonicella · 2012-04-01 12:01 · Score: 1

All of which can be done later because you *ARE GOING* to rewrite and edit your notes unless ego prevents.
Re:Go Low Tech... by i.r.id10t · 2012-04-01 12:11 · Score: 1, Redundant

This. No charger to worry about, no connectivity issues, no lighting issues, etc.
Although if a PA system is being used, you may want to take a page from the Grateful Dead and ask if you can plug a recorder into the sound board...

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Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Re:Go Low Tech... by HeadlessNotAHorseman · 2012-04-01 13:24 · Score: 1

Technically, a notepad and pen is technology...

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I like my coffee the way I like my women - roasted and ground up into little tiny pieces.
Re:Go Low Tech... by EETech1 · 2012-04-01 14:12 · Score: 1

The paper is also uninteresting enough to keep you focused on the lecture. The new gadget, probably not so much! Being a new gadget, it will naturally draw your focus.
You also want to use something you've had a while so you don't have to think about how to operate it. You'll miss even more important information while changing apps and entry modes etc looking for what you need.
Buy a nice binder to keep everything in forever. Fill it with lined paper and graph paper, and restock your pocket protector with a new ball-point black, blue and red pen (good ol' bics, not fancy smeary gel pens) a clicky pencil and extra lead with a big eraser, and a couple hi-lighters. If making lots of diagrams, a circle template or appropriate symbol template with a ruled edge will help a lot.
Transpose it into your gadget of choice in your hotel room that night. Seeing it twice will help you remember it better and might bring up questions you can ask about the next morning while you're still there with the instructors. The gadget will also help keep you from going out on the town at night and that will keep you from seeing double and your mind from going to shit.
Cheers!
Re:Go Low Tech... by dudpixel · 2012-04-01 15:48 · Score: 1

Depends on how you define technology I guess.
Certainly not ALL technology provides a better solution, and also a solution is not better purely because it uses technology.
Once upon a time the pencil and paper were both new technology.
I think the livescribe pens (as many have pointed out) are the closest thing to an improvement, but even then it probably wouldn't work for everyone.

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This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
Re:Go Low Tech... by smi.james.th · 2012-04-01 16:18 · Score: 1

Problem with that is that the capacitive touchscreens of most tablets don't let you write anywhere near accurately enough. I haven't seen Notability but if it's like the other note-taking apps I've seen it gives you a huge area of screen at the bottom which is greatly magnified so you can write big, then it just shrinks the stuff and puts it in its appropriate place. Then you need to move around the little box to specify which area on the page you're writing to.
I personally agree with the old-school pen and paper approach. If I seriously want to digitise the notes afterwards I scan them into Evernote, which is on my PC and my tablet, so I can get access to them easily, and Evernote indexes them, which is quite cool.

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One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
Re:Go Low Tech... by charlieo88 · 2012-04-01 16:23 · Score: 1

Rewrite your notes? If you aren't in college or high school, why would you? Sure, you might use them as source material for other documents, but why would you rewrite them?
Re:Go Low Tech... by c0lo · 2012-04-01 18:25 · Score: 2

Rewrite your notes? If you aren't in college or high school, why would you? Sure, you might use them as source material for other documents, but why would you rewrite them?
Synthesis? Fix the things that are important? Recall later things that happen "in a flash of my mind", like some questions/ideas that you had during presentation but you didn't have enough time to scribble them during conference?
Why is a conference that you attend different from the courses during college? Only because you don't have to stay an exam at the end of it? (or... in other words, was your college important only because you can show your graduation diploma now? and to reach this point, you needed to scribble down until the knowledge got engraved into your brain)

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Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Re:Go Low Tech... by Hognoxious · 2012-04-01 19:40 · Score: 1

A yellow pad! Does it have square corners?
Ever wondered why they shun you?

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Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Re:Go Low Tech... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 03:10 · Score: 0

Is it ironic that someone with the name Frosty Piss would use a yellow pad?
Re:Go Low Tech... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 04:49 · Score: 0

Does technology *always* provide a better solution?
Within the context of recording and organization information? Yeah, I think so.
I think the question is "Does technology provide a better solution yet?" He's asking that and it sounds like you're saying No, things are still kind of shitty in 2012. But taking notes is one of things things where I think most people agree (?) that long-term, time is on tech's side; the problem is conquerable.
Strangely, you mention owning an iPad and not using it for this particular data entry job. Your answer would probably be a lot more interesting if you said you owned a laptop but didn't use it. Saying you don't use a keyboardless device for data entry is like saying you don't use your dumptruck for racing or use your sportscar for hauling gravel (choose whichever analogy offends you the least).

The old fashioned way by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

Pencil and Paper (if you want to digitize it later, use a sheet fed scanner or just a regular scanner).

Re:The old fashioned way by fotoguzzi · 2012-04-01 12:00 · Score: 1

That's barely digitizing. More like analoguizing.

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Their they're doing there hair.
Re:The old fashioned way by rtb61 · 2012-04-01 13:44 · Score: 1

Pen, paper and 'highlighter', in conjunction with the print our material provided (good conferences always provide handouts).
This way you don't double up on content provided, you highlight important bits and you add extra information or thoughts to the handouts provided. Slip extra loose pages into the handouts for additional notes and of course absent minded doodling.

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Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Re:The old fashioned way by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 20:42 · Score: 0

Pen and paper with CamScanner immidiately afterwards works best for me

TRS-80 model 100/102 by Freedom+Bug · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 5, Funny

keyboard quality: full travel keys
endurance: 8 hours on 4 AA batteries. Replacement batteries are cheap and ubiqutous
discretion: no flip up screen
portability: 3 pounds
future ease-of-reference: plain text files are the easiest to search & archive

Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:52 · Score: 0

It also has a 4 line character display and 24KB of RAM
Not that you need a workhorse, but I'm guessing the OP wants something more modern.
Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by steveha · 2012-04-01 13:11 · Score: 1

I used to have a TRS-80 Model 100. I've moved on.
I think you are lowballing the endurance; instead of 8 hours, I think it was something like 25. Crazy good battery life! But I can easily fill 24KB of RAM, and then what? You quoted 3 pounds, but I never went anywhere without the cassette recorder, the special cable, and more batteries for the cassette recorder... more like 4 or 5 pounds.
Hardware hack: people used to get a bag of those little rubber bands used on braces, and pry off the keycaps on the keyboard; put one around the stalk of the key and put the keycap back on. The rubber bands would render the keyboard nearly silent, and better for note-taking.
If you want something with a keyboard, why not an Android device plus a Bluetooth keyboard? I've been carrying a 7" tablet and I love the size and weight (400 grams, under a pound).
My tablet is a Nook Tablet so I have a limited selection of apps and Bluetooth is not enabled; but it works great for many purposes, and I want any replacement to be about the same size and weight. As soon as the cheap Tegra 3 devices with Android 4.x and a 7" screen come out, I'm buying one... and a Bluetooth keyboard.
If you really want to go old-school, I'd suggest an AlphaSmart Dana. Lighter than the old TRS-80 slabs, and you can save your data on an SD card rather than a cassette recorder.
http://www.amazon.com/AlphaSmart-Dana-Handheld-Palm-4-1/dp/B00007FV2Z
steveha

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Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 13:47 · Score: 0

The TRS-80 models 100 and 102 have 20+ hour battery life. The on board RAM is limited (32K), but modern add ons like the NADSBox or the REX option RAM add on can provide much more memory for writing notes. See http://www.club100.org/ for more information.
Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by Krishnoid · 2012-04-01 15:28 · Score: 1

Oddly enough, I've been using an Alphasmart Dana -- 2-week battery life on 3 AA batteries, and about $40 used on ebay. Just make sure you IR-beam or sync the data to a computer before the battery runs out or you can lose everything. Working well for me so far for just taking notes. That, plus an audio recorder on the podium works well.
Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 01:14 · Score: 0

Psion 5MX (as suggested in the original post) has a very nice keyboard, lasts 30 hours on 2 AAs and weighs a lot less. It even has basic drawing abilities, but I wouldn't recommend it for drawing diagrams.
Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by rjames13 · 2012-04-02 02:21 · Score: 1

Actually the display is 8 lines x 40 columns
Re:TRS-80 model 100/102 by Maskull · 2012-04-02 04:28 · Score: 1

I still have one, somewhere... I think it's in my garage someplace. A while back I thought that a good project might be to take it apart and replace the guts with something like a BeagleBoard.

All of these answers by Shados · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 1

Get a transformer prime. It can be pretty much whatever you want, and the keyboard is solid, as well as having a USB port if you need something else (could even plug a small wacom tablet if you were that hardcore). Tablet or lap-top, it will do the job.

Bring pen and paper just in case.

Re:All of these answers by Nerdfest · 2012-04-01 11:56 · Score: 1

I find the speed at which you can enter text using Swype on Android is also incredible ... up there with typing for me, although I'm not the greatest typist.
Re:All of these answers by PrimalChrome · 2012-04-01 12:54 · Score: 1

Utilizing the Evernote app....the Transformer Prime is the only thing I can think of that would be as good as, if not better, than [smart]pen and paper.
Re:All of these answers by Shadow99_1 · 2012-04-01 14:57 · Score: 1

If no one mentioned it, I was going to suggest this. I don't go anywhere at work anymore without taking my Transformer Prime and it's all I use for notes anymore. I do tend to have the keyboard on and type for the most part, but some things are just easier on the touch screen. That includes diagrams, which you can't really do with a keyboard as input.

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we are all invisible unless we choose otherwise
Re:All of these answers by dudpixel · 2012-04-01 15:50 · Score: 2

swype (or any similar swiping keyboard) on a tablet isn't so great.
I also haven't found touch-typing on a tablet to be very good, although I haven't used every keyboard I must admit.

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This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
Re:All of these answers by arth1 · 2012-04-02 00:01 · Score: 1

Get a transformer prime. It can be pretty much whatever you want
It's a Decepticon.
It can be a mediocre anything you want. If that's good enough, swell, but if you need it to do things like, oh, I don't know, access your company's Cisco VPN, look up the global address list and schedule a meeting, or access the proprietary format files the meeting organizer posted a link to, or make a quick RS-232 connection to a device to fix it, you might be out of luck.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great device. But it's not a panacea.
Re:All of these answers by Bill_the_Engineer · 2012-04-02 00:58 · Score: 1

Get a transformer prime.
I'm sure no one will notice the semi-tractor trailer rig in your lap. :P

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These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...

A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by JoeCommodore · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

I've found the Ticonderoga II and linedPad to be an excellent system for taking conference notes, the graphics, though usually monochrome have had retina capabilities for decades, works with whatever style or language you know and is the envy of everyone else when their batteries fails and you keep writing.

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"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield

Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 13:41 · Score: 0

I think the Pilot G5 is quite a strong competitor to the Tico. It's longer-lasting and much more user-serviceable, which is a great plus for the open-source community.
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 14:33 · Score: 0

Ticonderoga build quality dropped sharply after they moved production to MX and CN in 2005.
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by CAIMLAS · 2012-04-01 16:01 · Score: 1

Have any links to these things? Your description of utility entices me, but a quick google doesn't yield much for a purchasable product.

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~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 17:13 · Score: 0

http://www.quill.com/dixon-ticonderoga-presharpened-no-2-pencil/cbs/205032.html?cm_mmc=SEM_PLA_OS_205032
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 18:56 · Score: 0

Ticonderoga is a brand of pencils, http://www.amazon.com/Dixon-Pencils-144-Count-Wood-Cased-14412/dp/B001DHXL5K you know. A lined pad is something like this http://www.amazon.com/Rhodia-Wirebound-8-25x11-75-Orange-Lined/dp/B002A8LAFY
in short: pencil and paper.
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by AmiMoJo · 2012-04-01 19:29 · Score: 1

There are various Android (and I presume iOS) apps that will turn hand written notes into a searchable PDF for you too, just by photographing the page. Obviously how well it works depends on the quality of your camera and how legible your handwriting is.

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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:A Ticonderoga II and linedPad by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 02:24 · Score: 0

He's making a joke--those are descriptions of a pencil and paper

any tablet by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 0

I have an android tablet with swype keyboard, I then use a mindmap software (mindjet to be exact), it's very cool but you know what, nothing beats paper and pen sometimes.

Video Camera by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:38 · Score: 0

never miss a thing, just setup your phone/camera, hit record and watch the show, if you want to take notes speak into the cameras mic, anything you are not sure about can be rewound and replayed.

a handful of 32/16GB MicroSD cards and you should be set for hours of lectures.

Re:Video Camera by Iskender · 2012-04-01 13:15 · Score: 1

If you do that you'll realize what journalists have a long time ago: recording the whole damn thing can double the time needed for getting the information.
Someone above mentioned some product which automatically anchors parts of the audio to the notes. This is *much* better - no searching for the right part and there's still a sort of backup if the notes miss anything.
But just making raw recordings is pretty much guaranteed to waste time.

Another vote for pencil and paper by EmagGeek · 2012-04-01 11:39 · Score: 1

I've tried a number of different tablets and none comes close to a legal pad and my trusty Clickster mechanical pencil.

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2012-04-01 11:40 · Score: 5, Informative

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Not a popular response but .... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:40 · Score: 2, Informative

I have to go with an iPad for the range of options. You can record the audio, film the conference or take handwritten notes. If it's a three day science conference there are likely presentations what would be best filmed, and yes I know they weigh 20lbs+ in some people's eyes butt hey are lighter than your average digital camera and I'm sure a stand could be rigged up to support it.

For other presentations audio recording may be more desirable but other times you may just want to take notes and you'd have that option. Also you may want to check the web for additional information and the iPad is one of my favorite devices for that.

I'm sure there will be mostly Android smart phones being recommended for their size and weight and most of all they aren't Apple but he asked what is the best all around and the iPad fits the question best.

Re:Not a popular response but .... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:57 · Score: 0

The problem with this approach is both audio/ video quality and storage capacity for an hour or more at a time. Audio is not easy to get straight in a noisy conference room at all and for the high(er) resolution video, a dedicated video camera with optical zoom and a notebook providing lots of storage might work better (augmented by pen and paper).
Re:Not a popular response but .... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 15:27 · Score: 1

I just started using my iPad2 and Audiolio, a note taking app that easily starts, stops, and resumes recording audio; and flexibly allows really easy note taking during recording or later, and easy editing/moving of the notes.
Unfortunately, I haven't actually used Audiolio for that purpose! I'm just using it to record and annotate band rehearsals. But I can vouch for my experience with that and tell you that if your conferences are located in a basement and contain a lot of harmonica playing (actually, far too much harmonica playing, if you ask me!) and consist of totally chaotic attempts among 5 cranky musicians with different musical tastes to come up with a new tune in a big hurry, Audiolio is the app for you!

skip the conference by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:40 · Score: 4, Funny

and hang out at the bar - you'll have a better time

Notepad and pen. by Rob+Bos · 2012-04-01 11:42 · Score: 2

No contest. Theft-resistant, cheap, flexible, light, and did I mention cheap. Having been to many a conference, I've never needed to copy anything out of my paper notepad that would have been significantly easier with a tablet.

YMMV I suppose. If you haven't developed a writing callous, doing anything more than brief point form notes every few minutes will hurt.

Re:Notepad and pen. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:56 · Score: 0

I generally agree with this. I also prefer a notepad, and if I need an e-copy of it, I just scan it to either a jpeg or pdf file.

Freemind by linuxwrangler · 2012-04-01 11:42 · Score: 1

It really depends on your style. It's hard to beat a pen and paper. A friend had a professor who swore that mental stimulation required special rubbing of a couple wrist bones that could only be achieved by sitting down and writing.

For keeping the essence of certain types of meetings, as well as for individual brainstoriming, I've found mindmaps useful. Freemind is open-source and quite intuitive so I can keep track of the thread of the meeting and go back and edit it later.

--

~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis

A Recorder by rbrightwell · 2012-04-01 11:48 · Score: 1

Use a recorder and then you can re-listen at the gym or car to get the points you missed.

Re:A Recorder by unixisc · 2012-04-01 14:53 · Score: 1

I completely agree w/ this. I've attended some umpty conferences, and problem w/ pen & paper is that one is too busy writing to follow what is being said. Part of it depends on the effectiveness of the presenters - ideally, they should either provide handouts, or online links to the presentation material that can be viewed later (complete w/ any clarifying notes not in the original slides).
If one is familiar w/ the topic being presented and just wants to jot down such points, a pen & paper is fine. However, using it to take notes of what is being said is a surefire way to ensure that one does neither right - not understand what was presented properly, and not take down notes properly either.

Old school by spaceyhackerlady · 2012-04-01 11:49 · Score: 1

Pen and paper. Nothing else even comes close.

What problem are you attempting to solve?

...laura

Re:Old school by fotoguzzi · 2012-04-01 12:07 · Score: 1

The problem is that it would be nice to be able to grep your notes.

--
Their they're doing there hair.
Re:Old school by RussR42 · 2012-04-01 14:03 · Score: 1

Reminds me of the complicator's gloves.

Re:OneNote by EvanED · 2012-04-01 11:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

I wasn't happy with OneNote on a standard laptop, but I used it for a while with my convertible tablet and it's almost a dream. Seriously, I complain endelessly about virtually every piece of software I use, I use different OSes at work and home in part so that they piss me off in different ways instead of all the same way... and I had virtually no complaints about how OneNote worked. A couple "this would be awesome" feature wishes, but that's different.

So my standard answer to this question is a convertible tablet + OneNote.

Benefits over paper&pencil is shareability, backup-ability, and (surprisingly good!) searchability. Drawbacks are high cost, heavy weight, and you have to deal with battery life.

it's all between the ears by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:50 · Score: 0

The best hardware/software combo device is between your ears. If you actually listen to and understand what is being said, you will remember it. If you must, jot down 1-2 keywords when the subject changes (using pen and paper), to remember the previous segment by. Then make a summary afterwards, on your favorite device in your hotel room or whatever.

Re:it's all between the ears by JoeMerchant · 2012-04-01 11:53 · Score: 3, Interesting

The best hardware/software combo device is between your ears. If you actually listen to and understand what is being said, you will remember it....
This was my method in college, also it didn't hurt to pair up with a dedicated scribe, the kind that wrote everything down, we'd get together after class and I'd explain her notes to her.

Use Your Biggest Sex Organ by walkerp1 · 2012-04-01 11:51 · Score: 1

I don't take notes during meetings. If I can't remember your content immediately afterwards, it doesn't even rate a yellow sticky.

Re:Use Your Biggest Sex Organ by rubycodez · 2012-04-01 13:36 · Score: 1

your biggest sex organ is your skin =~ 9 lbs. male human brain =~ 3 lbs.

Audio or Video recorder by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:52 · Score: 0

Make transcripts later.

An eidetic memory by multiben · 2012-04-01 11:55 · Score: 1

What do you mean you don't have one?

Re:OneNote by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 11:55 · Score: 0

OneNote is simply the best piece of software Microsoft has ever released. I'd like to know who they bought it from. If you use a convertible notebook with a stylus, it can't be beat.

A lined spiral bound pad. by Oligonicella · 2012-04-01 11:58 · Score: 1

Never runs out of juice.

Re:A lined spiral bound pad. by camperdave · 2012-04-01 12:33 · Score: 2

A lined spiral bound pad. Never runs out of juice.
I've never been able to find the battery compartment on mine, and the manual was woefully lacking.

--
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Re:A lined spiral bound pad. by RyuuzakiTetsuya · 2012-04-01 16:33 · Score: 1

Yeah but searching and indexing that data later can be a problem. As is possible corruption once youre thoroughly lost trying to keep up.
I think that going old school keeps your mind focused on the task at hand. If you need to go that old school though, I suspect that you're likely not that focused on the material to begin with.

--
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Re:A lined spiral bound pad. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-02 04:41 · Score: 0

They do run out of pages, though.

iPad plus Notability by 4phun · 2012-04-01 11:58 · Score: 2, Interesting

Apple has been equipping their own employees with Notability.

That simple fact caught my attention so I bought a copy for myself.

This app is on a roll with impressive updates.

It features just about everything you can think of for a note taking app. It includes a recorder with time stamps linked to your notes so tap on part of your note and hear what was being said when you created that part. It has support for drawing, neat handwriting, and typed input.

You can add photos on the fly along with web pages, PDFs and other resources.

Export/Import is to BOX or Dropbox among various cloud storage options.

I use it for one to three day conferences and it works like a champ lasting all day long if you turn down the brightness somewhat.

Often the iPad is all I bother to carry while everyone else is totting regular notebooks or paper solutions.

Notability has new support for retina graphics on the 2012 iPad. The ink used for handwriting is very attractive on the new iPad.

I can also let Notability record while I use four fingers to swipe to other apps to look up private data which I can insert after a screen shot or in most cases via a simple copy and paste.

--

I have tried many other iOS apps to see it they were better but I just keep coming back to Notability.

It just works.

Re:iPad plus Notability by Overzeetop · 2012-04-01 12:07 · Score: 3, Informative

I'm still disappointed with the quality of the writing available. Unless you prefer to write like a 5 year old with crayons, the iPad interface is just too low resolution (input) to produce useful text with a meaningful/efficient density. I've tried Notability in several meetings, and I find myself grabbing a steno pad or a piece of scrap paper to write down critical information.
Of all the things I wished for this time around on the iPad, it was that it would get a Wacom-type interface with pressure sensitivity and a high resolution digitizer. I might look at the tablet sized Note that's supposed to be released this summer, but with the investment in mobile apps on iOS, I'm not sure it's worth the switch.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Re:iPad plus Notability by xtal · 2012-04-01 15:29 · Score: 1

I've tried for 10 years to find a replacement for engineering paper and a pencil.
Hasn't happened yet. I will pay serious money for an alternative. The ipad is great but input is very low resolution.
8.5x11" e-ink with retina resolution input is needed. It'll be awhile.
In the mean time.. I still buy a box of engineering paper from the university bookstore every year.

--
..don't panic
Re:iPad plus Notability by narcc · 2012-04-01 16:18 · Score: 1

The Samsung Galaxy Note's Wacom digitizer is nice. Though I'd be more than satisfied with with a resistive touch screen. (RIM, oddly enough, has a patent on a hybrid resistive-capacitive touchscreen, I just wish they'd use it!)
It's hard to beat a pen and paper, but a good old stylus comes pretty close. A zillion years ago I opted for an old Casio PV-S400Plus over whatever Palms latest offering was at the time just because it had a dedicated quick memo function "button" that launched instantly (well, and a nice spreadsheet app). I swear that 90% of my use was taking short hand-written notes (you could cycle through them very quickly).
I agree that a good thin tablet with a digitizer would be fantastic. I doubt we'll see anything like it from Apple, however, until the inevitable revival of pen computing forces their hand. :)

--
Required reading for internet skeptics
Re:iPad plus Notability by ndrw · 2012-04-01 17:19 · Score: 1

Do you think it's possible to layer the wacom style interface on top of the touch sensitivity of the iPad? I'd love to be able to write notes with a stylus, and have the device ignore my hand resting on the touch sensitive panel. Then all you would need is a little checkbox to turn on/off the skin touch recognition. Any brainy types out there know if this is possible?
Re:iPad plus Notability by bemymonkey · 2012-04-01 17:36 · Score: 1

Have you tried a REAL tablet PC? Like the ones HP, IBM/Lenovo and the like have been making for years? The pens on those things are highly accurate and the palm rejection actually works - you can write on them just like you would with pen and paper, without any learning curve and no accuracy issues.
The iPad is a joke... writing with a capacitive stylus, come on - you might as well use finger paints.
Re:iPad plus Notability by Raenex · 2012-04-01 19:29 · Score: 1

Color me interested. Could you recommend some models?
Re:iPad plus Notability by AmiMoJo · 2012-04-01 19:32 · Score: 1

Samsung produce the Galaxy Note that comes with a stylus. It is phone sized rather than tablet sized, but depending on your usage that might suit you.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:iPad plus Notability by bemymonkey · 2012-04-01 20:12 · Score: 1

A Thinkpad X-Series convertible tablet.
Anything starting from the X61T (Core 2 Duo Merom/Penryn generation and support for 8 gigs of RAM) should be fine, or X200T and up if you need awesome battery life (8 hours and up of note taking vs. about 6 on the X61T).
Re:iPad plus Notability by Raenex · 2012-04-02 09:57 · Score: 1

Thanks for the pointers.
Re:iPad plus Notability by Overzeetop · 2012-04-04 00:47 · Score: 1

Yes, I have tried a real tablet PC. They're heavy (4lb vs 1.5), thick (.4" vs 1.2"), and have poor battery life with the standard battery (1/3-2/3 time in real life usage). They're also double (or more) the price of an iPad.
The iPad is currently a consumption device, as are basically all capacitive tablets. However, I can remember back to the resistive smart phones of the earlier years, and I'm loathe to forego the ease of use of the capacitive screen. The dual interface exists, it's just not available yet.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Re:iPad plus Notability by bemymonkey · 2012-04-04 01:07 · Score: 1

You realize the person I replied to was complaining about a lack of resolution during handwriting with a stylus on the iPad, right? No mention of weight, thickness or battery life.
And while I will concede that tablet PCs are heavy and thick and bulky, devices like the Thinkpad X200T and newer hit 8-12 hours of battery life easily... isn't that pretty much the same as the iPad?
What you (and I, for that matter!) seem to be waiting waiting for are slate-tablets (not convertibles - same form factor as the iPad and Android tablets) with professional grade digitizers AND capacitive touchscreens AND ARM internals. With Windows 8 for ARM (which should bring a full MS Office suite) we should be looking at 10 hour battery life in an iPad form factor with a fully functioning version of OneNote and a very accurate stylus.
There *are* a few Android devices already available with both capacitive touchscreens and a proper digitizer pen, but a) I'm not quite sure on accuracy and b) the software available just doesn't cut it for real work - at least not if you're used to the incredibly well thought out programs available on x86.

iPad and iThoughts app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:02 · Score: 2, Informative

The iThoughts app[1], available for Apple mobile devices, can be used for creating a sort of tree-shaped outline, with optional notes, links, and graphics on each node. iThoughts can export iThoughts maps in a variety of formats - including PDF, PNG+HTML, and some popular Mindmap formats - and supports map imports for those mindmap formats, in the same. As well as its own internal app filesystem, iThoughts can integrate with a variety of cloud storage options, including Dropbox, for cross-platform notes synchronization.

iThoughts is good for making structured notes of (usually) short ideas. For the more verbose ideas, there are a variety of note taking options on the iPad platform, supporting, from the built-in iNotes app on up to word processing with such as the Quickoffice app.

[1] http://www.ithoughts.co.uk/

Re:iPad and iThoughts app by Ash-Fox · 2012-04-01 13:40 · Score: 1

The iThoughts app[1], available for Apple mobile devices, can be used for creating a sort of tree-shaped outline, with optional notes, links, and graphics on each node.
9.99USD is pretty expensive IMO.

--
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Re:iPad and iThoughts app by Fwipp · 2012-04-01 14:15 · Score: 1

Compared to the hundreds of dollars the conference + travel + lodging costs?
Re:iPad and iThoughts app by PNutts · 2012-04-01 16:16 · Score: 1

I was thinking more of the $499 or more iOS device.
Re:iPad and iThoughts app by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 19:27 · Score: 0

That's still pretty cheap compared to a lot of conferences.
Re:iPad and iThoughts app by Ash-Fox · 2012-04-01 23:26 · Score: 1

Compared to the hundreds of dollars the conference + travel + lodging costs?
Compared to other apps.

--
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.

How Quaint by VonSkippy · 2012-04-01 12:03 · Score: 0

A real live face to face conference, how 20th century.

Stay home, read the lecture notes and publications online.

Conferences are a huge time suck, rarely (make that pretty much never) a good use of your time, with little to no payback.

Anything worth learning will be in a peer review publication. Either the lecture will rehash the publication, or it will be pre-reviewed info, which means it's pretty much useless.

Re:How Quaint by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:34 · Score: 3, Informative

Then you are going to the conferences for the wrong reason. The papers and presentations are only a small portion of the conference. The best reason for going to a conference is to be able to talk with people in your field and outside of your field. The beginnings of many ideas and collaboration efforts stem from people talking at conferences (and the bar after the conference).
The actual presentations are typically used to see what type of work people are doing (or what progress they've made since the last time you talked) and can be used as "ice breakers" for talking to people you don't know yet.
Re:How Quaint by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:35 · Score: 0

In my day we actually talked to other people and exchanged idea. We didn't have fancy gadgets to disctact use with games and browsing. We actual thought about the subject of the lecture. If it got boring you had to doodle with your pencil or take a nap. Kids today have no idea...
Re:How Quaint by oneiros27 · 2012-04-01 13:02 · Score: 1

Maybe I'm biased, as I just helped to organize a session & other activities for a conference a week ago, and I'm helping with another one two weeks from now ...
But not all conferences are the same. Yes, there are the ones where it's just people up there talking, and you'd have gotten the same things from a paper ... but for smaller conferences, you can have more of a conversation with the people ... get some time in for Q&A, ask the presenter for clarification or more information. And then there's the collaboration aspects. I've been invited to give lectures because of talking to people at conferences. My only peer-reviewed publication was because of a discussion at a conference until 2am that I ended up writing up. I just gave a talk on something that was basically a summary of a 2hr conversation at a workshop last summer.
And as for everything of importance showing up in peer reviewed publications -- not a chance. There is tons of stuff in some fields that gets shown as slides or presentations and will most likely not be published. Hardly any of the science informatics stuff at the AGU gets formally published ... we're all too busy building systems. Almost all done in posters. And we then have coversations at the posters, over lunch / dinner / drinks, or afterwards over email.
I'm not going to say that all conferences are good ... I've been to some that were downright painful ... so I've learned to avoid those. Well, except for one, where it was their first year, and I took the approach of becoming one of the organizers to make it better.
And if you're relying on peer review, unless you're the reviewer, you're not going to be able to comment until *after* it's published. Which means it's just too late for the really idiotic ones.
That's not to say they're not a time suck ... if you're doing a poster or presentation that could take a week or two (more if you have co-authors). Then there's all of the trip planning ... if you have to do paperwork, and reimbursement once you get back. But the big problem is little sleep, jetlag, plus lots of people in cramped spaces and wanting to shake hands ... and you're just asking for illness. One year I came down with a sore throat, and tried going straight back to work after getting back ... turned out it was bronchitis, and took 2 months to recover.
I've lost 2 months due to brochitis from a trip, and there's the trip planning,

--
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.

What Is the Best Note-Taking Device For Conference by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-04-01 12:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

A: A scribe, held in thrall.

We don't NEED April fools. With the real stories posted today, it's clear that fiction cannot compete in absurdity, shock, disbelief and ultimate dismay.

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."

Re:OneNote by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:05 · Score: 0

I came here to say this...

I recommend by NEDHead · 2012-04-01 12:08 · Score: 1

A court transcriber.

Re:I recommend by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:22 · Score: 0

I prefer a hot secretary with trailer-park morals and a bit of naivety when comparing wealth and credit.

3 Ring, Heavy/Bold lined/graph sheet, blank paper by Overzeetop · 2012-04-01 12:10 · Score: 2

This is the way I took notes for my MS work, and it's still my favorite for critical note-taking, short of my custom engineering pads. A thin 3 ring binder, a piece of white cardstock with heavy lines (straight or grid), and a stack of punched 3 hole plain paper. Just slip the lined sheet behind the plain paper as a guide and you get very neat notes which are uncluttered with grid for reproduction or re-copying. I've since made up custom pads with a very light cyan grid which doesn't photocopy which I use for general note taking now.

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?

Printed slides by Misagon · 2012-04-01 12:11 · Score: 1

If you get access to the slides before the presentation, get them printed and bring the hardcopy to the lecture.
Then write your notes in the margin beside each slide, using a pencil.
Then you don't have to duplicate what is on the slides and you get each of your notes in context.

--
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley

Emacs and Org mode by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:11 · Score: 1

Get yourself a netbook with Linux and have a look at 'org-mode' for Emacs.
http://orgmode.org/

- Text based
- Based on emacs 'outline' mode it is a heirachical note and documentation tool.
- 'Tab' key let you fold sections, so you can easily refer back to something if you need to or use text search.
- .. and so much more..

Also doubles as an agenda and calendering tool.

Re:Emacs and Org mode by YurB · 2012-04-01 20:31 · Score: 1

Yes, this is a wonderful tool. I use it all the time and find it very efficient thanks to the simple yet powerful keyboard shortcut system. Org-Mode is written by a scientist with PhD in physics, that's why it's aimed at people who have to deal with big amount of notes:) You don't have to run Linux by the way, Org-mode works on Windows and Mac too.
Re:Emacs and Org mode by asudell · 2012-04-03 04:55 · Score: 1

Was going say the same. At least when I have room/power for a laptop, org-mode is the best way to take notes I've found. Outlining things, reworking, summarizing, forces me to think about the topic instead of just listen. Org-mode is as easy as pen and paper, but with my writing, easier to read later. Also generates nice exports if I want to make my notes availiable say as an after trip report. (how I spent the two days you sent me to a conference).
Now if I don't have a table and power, than it works much less well. I'm still looking for a solution to that. (and no it's not mobileOrg, at least not on Android -- OK task list, not for note taking).

thinkpad tablet by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:12 · Score: 0

The thinkpad tablet with quill. You can switch easily to evernote and type in there, or write with a stylus. Best.

Pen and Paper by sk999 · 2012-04-01 12:14 · Score: 1

No viruses. No need to upgrade. No backups required. No power-brick or recharging necessary**. Large display with minimal weight. If you start running out of "memory", you can always shrink the font-size to extend its capacity. Works great even if you are stuck in a cramped hotel meeting room. Excellent archival properties.

**Assumes you start out with a fresh pen. Just about any pen will outlast a 3 day conference.

Re:3 Ring, Heavy/Bold lined/graph sheet, blank pap by gottabeme · 2012-04-01 12:19 · Score: 1

How do you print your custom pads with the cyan grid?

--
"Those who consume the bulk of goods are those who make them. We must never forget this secret of our prosperity."

Re:OneNote by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:20 · Score: 1

Going by Wikipedia, it looks like they developed OneNote in-house and didn't buy it from anyone.

Re:OneNote by ChronoReverse · 2012-04-01 12:23 · Score: 2

Yeah, OneNote with a TabletPC (wacom style stylus) is by far the best electronic note-taking tool available. It's really second only to paper (and superior in many ways).

Lamy Safari by sammcj · 2012-04-01 12:24 · Score: 2

http://www.lamy.com/eng/b2c/safari/018

Re:Lamy Safari by cyberchondriac · 2012-04-02 04:44 · Score: 1

I love fountain pens but never found them particularly suitable for note taking, where you have to write fast and clean. For final copy though, hell yeah. I had my dad's old Parker Duofold Junior from the 1930s reconditioned, and I'm using that for a lot of stuff.

--

Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.

Re:OneNote by blackraven14250 · 2012-04-01 12:26 · Score: 1

The biggest problem I had with it on an older laptop was that it was sluggish. You need to be running significant hardware to get the thing to start in less than 30 seconds.

Psion 5mx by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:26 · Score: 0

Best keyboard for a device as little as that. Batteries lasts for a month or so, Bought one off ebay for around 50 USD. Actuallly very good OS (epoc), and you can just use a compact flash for transferring files, I used some kind of txt editor so I could just continue on my notes when I got home. Very special build.

It is also very discrete, when you do not need to use backlight.

links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0iZHB_vYAM

http://therandymon.com/content/view/86/98/

Re:No April FOols? by PopeRatzo · 2012-04-01 12:28 · Score: 3, Interesting

Where's the April Fool's jokes for today??

My late Dad was a big April Fool fan. Every year he'd tie my shoestrings together and stuff paper in my shoes and that was just the beginning. All day, I'd be barraged with one goofy, unfunny joke after another. I thought it was so lame. He was a serious guy, fought in WWI with Merrill's Marauders, decorated, the whole bit. Worked his ass off. Never complained. But on this one day he'd turn into a total goof.

I don't know what made me think of him just now, but for some reason, April Fools Day is one of the days when I miss him most. He was a Dad in full.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.

In order: Pen & Paper, ... LiveScribe, HTC Fly by Qbertino · 2012-04-01 12:28 · Score: 1

My solutions, ordered by feasibility, best solution first:

1.) Pen & Paper still rules. You might want to go with technical pencil and a luxury eraser. I have three pens, a Lamy Swift Rollerball ( http://www.lamyusa.com/lamy_rollerball_L334GE_swift.php ) with black ink for writing, a clear acrylic Lamy Vista Rollerball with red ink for highlighting and anotations ( http://www.lamyusa.com/lamy_rollerball_L312_vista.php ) and a black Faber-Castell Grip Plus ( http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Faber-Castell-Grip-Plus-Pencil-07mm.html ) mechanical pencil for drawings or writing on surfaces where the Swift won't do. All three are nicely tucked away in a premium pen pouch that keeps them from bouncing around in my bag.
I write in a Moleskine or a Leuchtturm notebook ( http://journalingarts.com/manufacturer/leuchtturm ). I think I can say I prefer Leuchtturm over Moleskine, because Leuchtturm has numbered pages and the quality appears to be even a tad better than a Moleskine. YMMV

2.) Lightscribe solution in conjunction with Evernote or a simular solution. The reason I don't use a smartpen setup (i've looked into various solutions in the past) is, that the pens allways suck. At least in handling. Not worth the trouble.

3.) HTC Flyer Android Tablet with Evernote. The HTC Flyer comes with a pen which is pretty good. And it has a custom built-in evernote solution that enables you to store notes written with the Flyer stylus in evernote and to make annotations on existing notes. And it has a recording function integrated. And quite a bit more. I do recommend getting a protective foil for the screen before you start writing stuff on it, the HTC Flyers stylus has a hard tip and can scratch the display a little.

I'd like to emphasise that, in my experience, solutions 2 & 3 are notably inferior to solution #1, aside from Evernotes capability of backup and audio-recording. But you can use that on top of the pen & paper solution.

Bottom line: Don't fall into a gadget spending binge just because you have a 3-day conference brewing. And if you go with pen & paper, don't pinch. A good pen and a good notebook are what puts the fun in taking notes. And they are still way cheaper than any gadget.

My 2 cents.

--
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca

OMG Ponies!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:29 · Score: 0

Ponies are the best thing to have at meetings.

The best by DuranDuran · 2012-04-01 12:33 · Score: 5, Funny

The best note-taking device for conferences is a graduate student. They do good work and only require a modest amount of feeding.

--
"You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein

Efika MX smartbook by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:35 · Score: 0

I used a Genesi Efika MX smartbook at the freescale technology forum for taking notes. It's a nice compact little notebook with a really kick ass keyboard.

Soon? by PPH · 2012-04-01 12:35 · Score: 2

How soon is soon? Better use what you know now rather than try to learn some new gadget on the spot. You'll waste the entire 3 day conference fiddling with it if its new to you.

--
Have gnu, will travel.

Re:Soon? by spasm · 2012-04-01 14:23 · Score: 1

Seriously. I remember deciding to use a Palm III as my note-talking device at a conference in the early '00s. a) notes sucked. b) I don't have them any more. Meanwhile, the paper notebooks I used for conferences both before and after that ill-fated experiment are on the bookshelf in front of me, and once a year or so I actually read through them because they spur new ideas (and I get re-excited by my old brainfarts) every time I read them. I'm sure the tech solutions offered by others on this page are an improvement on the effectiveness of a Palm III at allowing the user to write quick, effective freehand notes, and making sure you still have those notes years later, but I bet they're still wildly more sucky at both than a notebook.

shorthand by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:38 · Score: 0

Any admin I know who knows both shorthand AND computers ends up reverting to shorthand.

Batteries die, tech fails. Pen/pencil and paper rarely break down. If they do, it's a quick fix unlike most tech.

My vote by Swampash · 2012-04-01 12:41 · Score: 2

Spiral-bound notebook and pen

Scan scribbled notes and diagrams with Evernote afterwards

nothing beats pen and paper by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 12:41 · Score: 0

when it comes to taking notes AND organising the day via a hardcover calendar.
online solutions are simply is not allways the best. Also no battery, no internet, noone will steal it, ...

Re:No April FOols? by pushing-robot · 2012-04-01 12:43 · Score: 5, Funny

If it helps, I made up some ridiculous stories to fool your friends with:

Duke Nukem Forever released
most of game involves jokes about Half-Life 2 Ep. 3

Kim Jong Il, Gaddafi Dead
mad, mad world now almost 7% less mad

Apple now biggest computer manufacturer
HP says it never liked PCs anyway

Seal Team Six Kills Osama Bin Laden
then finds, kills Higgs boson

Windows, Ubuntu adopt new kindergarden UI
OS X still ignoring touch revolution

Newt Gingrich Runs For President
convinced he'll find his base among moon-men

Liberals Protesting Unemployment, Poverty
Starbucks shares sharply higher

Steve Jobs Dead
meets with Apple board three days later

My Little Pony Now Cool
teenage boys squee in delight

NASA Ends Space Shuttle program
asks if they can bum a ride with anyone

--
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?

Zoom H1 HandiRecorder by ivi · 2012-04-01 12:47 · Score: 1

I'd like participants to have some means of recording their own talks,
meetings, etc. - ideally by recording from a radio signal, received by
a small receiver, connected to a Zoom H1 MP3 recorder.

Until the "ideal" comes into existence, I'd like to "wear my H1 out-
side on my jacket/shirt pocket" so I'd -advising- others that I'm re-
cording our conversations, meeting, conference talk, etc. -and-
so I don't record the noise of the H1 brushing against inside poc-
ket-fabric, from the inside.

(I'm also interested in changing laws to allow anyone to record
their own phone calls, so that repetitive, abusive calls can be
documented by evidence-quality recordings; older people can
stay longer in their own homes, if they can record such calls,
as well unexpected visits from would be contractors, et al.,
who use "surprise" to sell more, sometimes fraudulent and/or
low-quality repair / refurbishments or other services - again,
so that someone [almost] cheated by such visitors or callers.)

Re:Zoom H1 HandiRecorder by Arker · 2012-04-01 13:12 · Score: 1

I'm also interested in changing laws to allow anyone to record their own phone calls
Many places, no change in law is needed. No federal law prohibits this in the US. 12 states have laws that might apply against it, the other 38 do not, so in most of the US this is legal. In many other countries it is too, you should check if it actually is illegal where you are before deciding the law needs to be changed.

--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Re:Zoom H1 HandiRecorder by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 14:45 · Score: 0

In the UK, you're welcome to record your own phone calls, however you (legally) must inform the other party that they are being recorded.
Re:Zoom H1 HandiRecorder by Tastecicles · 2012-04-01 15:42 · Score: 1

No you don't. Section 36 of the Data Protection Act 1998 specifically allows you to make recordings for domestic purposes - but there is no specific requirement to inform the other party. As long as ONE PARTY (ie YOU) is aware that the call is being recorded, then it's OK.
DISCLAIMER: I have been through this in Court several times and beat down the opposition EVERY SINGLE TIME. Right before nailing them on something incriminating they let slip during a phone conversation or during a meeting.
Incidentally, the only argument against covert recording is the fact that it is considered entrapment. This, however, does NOT apply to transcripts. The written word, in whatever form, is generally admissible. Therefore, you can use a transcript to incriminate someone quite legitimately, however if there is disagreement over the transcript then the recording itself comes into play - usually the judge hears it in chambers.

--
Operation Guillotine is in effect.

Depends by Gideon+Wells · 2012-04-01 13:00 · Score: 1

Depends on your note taking style. No matter what, I would recommend a audio recording fail safe just in case you miss something or simply mishear it. If allowed.

For when I cover meetings I switch between my tablet and pen/paper as needed. Rarely at the same meeting. Right now, the specific tablet doesn't matter if you are thinking about buying one. They all lack in the stylus department. So unless you are fine writing your notes as if holding a crayon (stylus) or a Crayola Marker (finger) you are best off typing a device or using pen/paper.

A tablet vs laptop depends on the scenario. Length of sessions vs computer battery life. Knee space vs table space. Stuff like that.

--
by Anonymous Coward: I, for one, welcome the shift from car analogies to pizza analogies. um.. overlords?

Re:What Is the Best Note-Taking Device For Confere by cmdr_tofu · 2012-04-01 13:06 · Score: 1

I use Ibm X servers (X60t) and xournal with stylus for math/equations/drawings, but vim in laptop mode for everything else.

re: iPad for notes? by King_TJ · 2012-04-01 13:09 · Score: 1

I recently purchased a Booqpad case for my new iPad.... Basically, it's a case that holds an iPad-sized pad of paper on the right-hand side when you open it up, and has a place in the middle to hold a pen (or in my case, one of those combo pens and iPad stylus gizmos).

I like the idea that with it, you're bringing both your iPad and good old-fashioned pen/paper with you, so you're ready to use whichever is more appropriate in a given situation. But what would make it much better, IMO, would be a similar case that made it easy to flip the iPad over and take photos of the pages you write on the pad of paper. Then you could use software like Evernote to store a digital version of your scribbles, complete with OCR capabilities.

Re:OneNote by sco08y · 2012-04-01 13:10 · Score: 1

OneNote is simply the best piece of software Microsoft has ever released. I'd like to know who they bought it from. If you use a convertible notebook with a stylus, it can't be beat.

I'm glad that they've still got good stuff coming out, but just a historical nitpick: better than Word 5? Or the concurrent version of Excel? If you had used them, you'd know they beat Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect, both of which were excellent pieces of software in their time, on the merits.

What kind of conference? by damn_registrars · 2012-04-01 13:11 · Score: 1

Some conferences might be better suited to digital note taking than others. If you are going to conferences where you need to be able to draw figures and also write text, you'll likely find that pen and paper is the only reasonable solution. If your conference is instead all text, then a laptop might work.

Also, some conferences allow you to take photographs of the slides (while others expressly forbid it). This can be very helpful as well.

Personally, I take all my notes by hand, pen and paper. Then I transcribe them in to an openoffice presentation to disseminate my notes to my colleagues. Finally, I convert the presentation to PDF and post it to my web site so the text can be searched by anyone who knows how to find my web site.

--
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.

Paper, but... by chaboud · 2012-04-01 13:13 · Score: 1

Like many, I recommend paper and pen/pencil. More precisely, Moleskine (or, better still, Leuchtturm 1917) books have great features. They're bound, small, can have page numbers, and have pockets in the back for holding things like business cards (not in Asia, please!).

If it must be tech, I'd probably go with OneNote on a convertible tablet. It's fast, and the ability to record audio and video that can be played back with synchronized writing can be useful for figuring out *why* you wrote something in the first place.

Just track down jacket-pocket sized books and concentrate on the presentations. You'll get the proceedings anyway.

Youtube by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 13:15 · Score: 0

If I don't find a video of a conference/event on Youtube it wasn't worth my time.

Naw... by spookthesunset · 2012-04-01 13:17 · Score: 2

I used to take all kinds of notes during a lecture. Then I realized I never used them and worse, since my handwriting sucks it takes me forever to write them and I'd miss key points while scrawling things out.

My hunch is if you put a fancy electronic note taking device in front of me, I'd spend most of the time either:
a) fucking around trying to get the thing working
b) fucking around doing something other than listening to the lecture (checking email, checking the clock, checking... whatever).

Now days, I like to just listen--I find I gain a lot more when I do. That said, I feel very uncomfortable without a pencil in my hand and paper in front of me, even if I never use it. Of course, your milage may vary.

Re:Naw... by GPSguy · 2012-04-01 18:16 · Score: 2

And, I've found that the act of writing the notes, even when I never used them again, helped me better understand and recall the material from the lectures.

--
Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by tenure.
Re:Naw... by mellon · 2012-04-01 20:51 · Score: 1

To this end I find taking notes on a full-sized keyboard is the fastest--I type much faster than I write, and writing makes my hands tired very quickly. Of course, mostly when I'm taking notes at a lecture I don't have to draw a picture or write down a complex equation; keyboards completely fall over as soon as you need to do that. If you waste time faffing around with a note-taking device when it's in front of you, that's because you didn't learn how to use it before. Never try to learn how to use a note-taking device at a lecture.
My usual note-taking device is an iPad with an external keyboard. If there were a way to draw accurately on it, it would be perfect.

ZIM desktop wiki by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 13:20 · Score: 0

I use ZIM desktop wiki to organize all of my notes at scientific talks, lab meetings, and conferences. It's unobtrusive, easy to organize with minimal effort, searchable, and allows super easy and fast incorporation of images / links / files for times when that's appropriate or just lets you rapidly type things in. It also exports to several formats including html making it easy to throw your notes up to share with people who missed a talk. I put my ZIM master notebook file in a dropbox folder that syncs to all of my devices and OS partitions (dual boot Ubuntu / Win7, Android phone). I also do use paper and pen a lot (when I haven't been paying attention to battery levels) and I prefer ZIM of the two. I use it with a laptop; I don't have a tablet so I haven't given that combo much thought.

It's available for many Linux flavors (there's a PPA for Ubuntu) as well as Windows, but no Mac.

Re:OneNote by Amouth · 2012-04-01 13:20 · Score: 2

we use use x200t & x220t 's with OneNote at work and to be honest the battery life isn't an issue unless someone forgets to charge theirs during the night.

--
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'

answer by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 13:25 · Score: 0

use a pocket recorder for audio....otherwise pen and paper...no contest....no tablet can keep up otherwise....

Pocket notepad by simonbp · 2012-04-01 13:25 · Score: 1

I've had a series of small, pocket-size bound notebooks. That plus a good black pen is just enough, always works, and I don't need to carry a bag or anything.

Re:No April FOols? by Samantha+Wright · 2012-04-01 13:27 · Score: 1

It's been a weird year, hasn't it?

--
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!

Re:No April FOols? by JustOK · 2012-04-01 13:33 · Score: 1

WW is not a 0 based array, but anyways, the Maurauders used surprise in their attacks, killing more than they got killed, so I guess you're lucky the only lame you got was the jokes.

--
rewriting history since 2109

Re:No April FOols? by socceroos · 2012-04-01 13:35 · Score: 1

Lol, now that's the dad I wan't to be. Cheesy, lame jokes are my thing, I think. =D

Plus, as you've noted, people *do* remember all those fun times. =)

Re:What Is the Best Note-Taking Device For Confere by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-04-01 14:01 · Score: 2, Insightful

Plant Jihadi rumors about your conference - then have the NSA scoop up everything - lecture proceedings to passing hallway conversations.

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."

asus transformer & android by bbulkow · 2012-04-01 14:04 · Score: 1

I have a LiveScribe, I never look at the notes, and no one reads my summaries. It's not much better than a pen and paper. Last conference I took my Android Asus Transformer. I was very happy with the solution. Benefits: 1) small keyboard, but a full keyboard, I could touch type, thus still think about the preso 2) I could immediately send my notes to colleagues at home 3) I used an editor that supports Word format, which also supports google docs, so they would push and pull automatically 4) I like the android touch oriented UI most importantly: **) 18 hour battery life, no looking around for a plug

I know it is not considered high tech ..... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 14:07 · Score: 0

... but if you need to take notes a pen and paper is what you need.

If you can't write fast enough or the info is moving too fast, a simple voice recorder will lower the stress level.

MacBook + Google Docs + Keyboard Shortcuts by HalcyonBlue · 2012-04-01 14:17 · Score: 1

I attended a conference a few weeks ago and found the combination of using my MacBook with Google Docs and learning a few of the keyboard shortcuts to be a highly successful combination. This allowed me to have a persistent copy of my notes in a form that would be readable from anywhere, and in a way that would be very presentable. The keyboard shortcuts helped me keep up with the speaker. I made a lot of use of keyboard shortcuts for headers and bulleted lists. Now I can be counted among the ranks of both apple and google fanboys.

Re:No April FOols? NOW 20% COOLER by Anonymous Coward · 2012-04-01 14:19 · Score: 0