I remember when...

I remember when school work, at least for me, used to be devoid of any sort of technology beyond the sophistication of a calculator. Even then, my parents rarely allowed me to use one because they thought that it would make my brain lazy. The nerve! So I had to settle for pencil and paper, not that doing so was a bad thing! To this day I find something comforting and even pleasurable in taking pen in hand and imprinting my thoughts on a sheet of paper. 

Now that I'm in college, I spend quite a bit of time doing just that as I take notes during lectures. Things have changed, though. Assignments aren't handed in hard-copy anymore, but are submitted electronically via email or some other means. Even to write this post I must forsake the pen and take up the keyboard. I have mixed feelings about this; as fun as it is trying to see just how many keys I can strike in the correct order in the least amount of time and as cool as I find the sound of that relentless tapping to be, I still miss my chicken scratch. However, I see that technological fluency is a necessary thing now so I've tried to adapt. 

I'm the kind of person who likes to consolidate resources, so if I have to do some things on a computer, I'll try to do complete as many necessary tasks on the computer. To this end, I've tried taking notes on a computer on a number of occasions. But the habit never seems to stick--the typing feeling tedious and forced--and before you know it I've got my notebook and pen back out and have resumed my chicken scrawling renewed vigor. My situation appeared hopeless. Will I ever acclimate to the digital age? Am I cursed to forever prefer outmoded means of communication?

But then earlier this month my Dad introduced me to a new-to-me Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone. I'd had a smartphone before; I was quite happy with my iPhone 5S -- it did what I needed and that was that. But the larger screen and the stylus intrigued me and the promise of handwriting digital notes intrigued me. 

I admittedly skeptical at first because of bad experiences I'd had trying to do the same thing on my iPad. That didn't work out because I could never get a stylus that actually behaved like a pen. I would try to write in my own comfortable style (which is cursive, by the way, please don't hate me!) and that clumsy, squishy rubber tip would constantly skip lines, curves and curls and I'd always have to rewrite my notes -- something that I detest because it is tedious and I don't have the time for it when I'm trying to keep up with a lecture and the guy refuses to pause his slides long enough to get all the information down and --arrgghhh-- the frustration! But I digress.

So last Friday I had to attend an in-service meeting at a local elementary school. In a nutshell, I took notes on the Note (I know, aptly named, right?) and I loved it! It actually worked and I didn't have to carry anything around with me between meetings. It was awesome! I know, having to carry a notebook and a pen isn't exactly asking much, but hey, talk about streamlined! So we'll see how long this habit sticks around.

Until next time,
Jared D. Clark