Technology is a tool. Handwriting is an artistic expression of yourself. One needs to be able to use one and to do the other. Using technology as an excuse for "bad handwriting" does not absolve you of the fact that you are too lazy to practice your handwriting. This series on how reporters use technology just glorifies technology. Really, since when did we need to brag about how we use a hammer? It is pointless.
Just one small data point: I was reporter and interviewer for a quarter of a century, and all I ever used was a reorder — digital, when it became available — so that my quotes were word-perfect. Both typing or writing broke down the rapport between me and my interviewees.
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I began using a Palm Pilot in the mid-90s. I learned the pseudo-handwriting recognition system built into the Palm in one evening of “playing” with the device and its plastic stylus. In less than a week I was using it with near 100% accuracy and almost never needed to hunt for an unusual character on the tap keyboard (but could do so quickly). Unlike paper notes, the little virtual keypads on modern phones, or even other handwriting recognition systems, I could maintain full eye contact at interviews or meetings or remain fully aware of my surroundings while making notes. And there was desktop software that made importing notes to a file for use with applications on my Mac computer easy. It was such a productivity boost that I bought a Palm for almost every member of my staff.
I sold my last Palm device about 10 years ago when I moved to an iPhone and continue to regret doing so as nothing works as well as a Palm for taking notes in that way. Licensing issues stand in the way of the Palm’s “Grafiti” system from ever making its way to an iOS or Android device which is truly a shame: It took me at least 4x as long to write and edit this on my phone’s touch keypad as would have been needed had I written it with a stylus using Grafiti.
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Refusing to break eye contact with someone as you furiously type on your phone seems like a slightly maniacal move.
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“Isabella Kwai, a reporter in Australia, rarely takes notes on paper anymore and instead uses her iPhone.”
So, that's why the photo shows her looking at the camera while using a MacBook Air!
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I suppose using shorthand is too difficult these days because junior has to learn something new. Taking notes by hand is still a sign of attention to the people you are conversing with whereas tapping on a phone could be construed to be doing something else.
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@Stephen W To avoid misconstrual, one can simply say, I’ll be taking notes on my phone.
No need to use a quill when a pen is available.
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Why have many in the younger generation refused to learn how to type properly? My father had the foresight to have me take typing in high school in the 70's and it has proven to be an amazingly helpful skill that young people seem to ignore.
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For audio recording & editing on the iPhone, there is an app called Ferrite Recording Studio which looks pretty good. It was recommended by Alson Young, a classical DJ/producer for Minnesota Publlic Radio who's on a LOA to hike the entire lengtth of New Zealand (!!! www.blissfulhiker.com) I think she has an iPhone 6, although she may have upgraded before leaving in October. She's keeping an audio log as well as a wriitten one and so maximum performance with the smallest footprint is critical.
Isabella, atrocious handwriting is an asset. If authorities ask you to reveal your sources you can honestly say "Gee, I don't know."
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You don't need power for a pen and a notebook. You should practice your penmanship.
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@James
I would practice my penmanship, but due to a physical condition no matter how much I “practice” it still looks the same - indecipherable.
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@James I learned penmanship in a Catholic school in the 1960s and have a schoolteacher mother whose writing looks like samples from a Parker penmanship book. There has always been some malfunction though when I write with a pen or pencil: I make many errors. Very frustrating. I’m a wiz at typing though. I interviewed someone last week. I wonder if he was judging me because I typed his responses into my laptop instead of using a pen and a notebook. What’s it like to have the confidence to pronounce what others should do?
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Taking notes solely on a smartphone (which she admittedly does not, as she still keeps a paper notebook) might have been interesting in 2007.
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OK, interesting article on using technology. However, I thought of a couple of questions. First, does taking notes verbally on a recorder require the reporter to notify the subject that he/she is being recorded? (How would you take notes for a phone interview anyway?) And second, if you mingle work and personal files on your phone, is your personal stuff at risk of exposure if someone wants to file suit or subpoena your notes on a story? (I know that Isabella is in Australia, and the laws are likely different there, but still...)
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It's a fun article but "she is resisting Apple’s marketing pressure to upgrade" is just nonsense. Tech companies, including Canon, Sony, Apple, typically don't pressure anybody. They make cameras or phones, improve them, and then don't make the old ones anymore
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@Svirchev But Apple was accused of deliberately slowing down older version of phones, forcing you to buy new ones. A class action recently addressed that problem.
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@Svirchev
Slightly misleading too... "a few years" when the phone has been out for nearly 4 years now. As if it's some massive conspiracy to no longer sell the 6s.
@Svirchev
Planned obsolescence is a thing, my dude.
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Chicken/egg. Her/our handwriting is atrocious because she/we use the phone instead.
Not being able to write legibly, even beautifully, is a handicap. Take this comment for example.
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I don’t blame my illegible handwriting on my phone. I am 61 and it has been horrible all my life no matter how hard I try to make it better.
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I enjoy these articles about how NYT reporters do their job. Every professional needs to keep notes about clients and information. Knowing what gadgets and apps to use is very helpful.
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Nice pointers. I’m still waiting for a stylus to make sense in terms of writing on a screen. The wait continues.
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