iPad is not a Note taking device

I went ahead and purchased SoundPaper ($2.99). They have fixed the growing sluggishness as the lecture progressed. SoundPaper also has added copy and paste which was important to me.

I do not need drawing as much as I need all the other features of this application. Because app switching is so fast on the iPad I could always launch a drawing app for additional note taking and then switch back to SoundPaper to pick up where I left off. I also like the fact they use AAC instead of some crappy low bit rate to record. AAC also means the audio files will be smaller then a raw recording of 2MB per minute.

I also like the feature SoundPaper highlights the text that you typed when a particular audio point is reached as the lecture is played back. Being able to jump to any part of the speech by taping on a word in your notes is very desirable for managing playback so you don't have to listen to the whole thing all over again just to refresh a point or add more written notes for detail.

itunes.apple.com/us/app/soundpaper/id364789577?mt=8​

 

I find the iPad very simple to take notes on in any class. If I need to do more than typing, for example, if I need to draw a diagram, I'll type a quick note into my note taking program that says something like "see 12.2" and draw a diagram or picture on a regular piece of paper with a 12.2 written next to it. I find this is the smoothest way to do it for me, as I'm a science major, and most science diagrams involve a lot of little small text in odd places. So the iPad takes down the bulk of the information, and then I manually draw out anything I need to.

 

I've come to the conclusion that the iPad does not work well for pen notes. Pen annotations - circling things, numbering things, drawing stick figures - sure - works great. But you can't use the iPad like a piece of paper yet. This may be due to the type of screen which requires some kind of capacitor resistance or whatever it is.

The Pogo stylus is OK - but works much better for drawing and not writing.

Whether they develop a new type of stylus that is more accurate - there's still the issue of resting palms on the screen, etc.

I do not see this as a failure or limitation of the iPad but rather a "that's how it is". I would much rather be using the iPad screen instead of a tablet PC screen.

So - typed notes with pen gestured annotations - fine.

 

Great point.
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Just another area that will require improvement in the future. The standard Notes works fine for me, but it would not work for all equally.

 

You have to admit synced recording of the lecture sound along with your text notes is 'dah bomb' compared to just taking notes.

 

Maybe, but in the meetings I go to, I would like to have a way to record voice and then print it out later. Even better woud be to be able to cross reference by topic. I go to a lot of meetings with contractors and engineers that have bad memories about what they said a few weeks later. The notes that get taken are usually very brief and may not cover all the details.

 

@SeaDog that is the exact reason I think SoundPaper is a good idea. And I am not the only one, if you have the time read all the reviews of that particular app.

After you type the notes you can jump back and forth in your recording and add additional notes that also become synchronized to what you add.

I noticed one person burns both the audio and notes to a CD and shares it with others.

Another mentioned its covert use in keeping people honest.

A journalist said he had lived a lifetime dreaming of this exact thing for getting the news story straight.

I rate SoundPaper with five stars.

And it will only get better with time.

BTW SeaDog I saw a MacRumor this morning that Steve Jobs in an email said printing will come to the iPad. There might already be a thread here about that.

 

Yeah, I started it.

 

AudioNote vs SoundPaper

I would like to revisit this discussion. Recently I had to attend a convention where sessions all day long had to have notes for future reference.

After a few mi-steps I decided to use SoundPaper to record and take notes. I brought along a Microsoft Wireless 6000 keyboard. The combo worked perfectly. I found I could even kill the screen and the audio would continue to record. If I tapped any key on the keyboard to begin typing notes again the screen popped back to life.

I have found a similar app that has nice features called AudioNote. There is a free version for trying out some of the note taking features.

Either of these also work great when you are out and about for taking notes too outside of a formal setting.


Both apps allow you to paste large amounts of text into the page you are working with, even after the initial recording has been made.

Export is generally via a PDF file and a separate audio file.

Both apps allow drawing with the AudioNote being slightly better.

AudioNote highlights the text or lines in blue as it plays back the audio which is a nice eye catching feature that aids you in following along.