The way of taking notes has changed over the years. The best way to take notes is the way you feel comfortable.
Are you friendly with the use of a laptop or notebook? To figure out your comfort, let us put forward the advantages and disadvantages of the two.
Which are the best among a laptop and a notebook?
It is a debatable issue to conclude which is better to use in the growing world. Notebook is no doubt the most primitive and easy way of taking notes.
But in the fast-pacing word laptop is the most crucial technology that is fast as well as feasible to use.
Using a laptop in daily use will make one get acquainted with so. Whereas, the use of a notebook is irreplaceable.
So, let’s weigh and consider the possibilities of the two.
When we use a laptop for taking notes, we can avail of the following benefits-
Fast typing
In the case of lectures or meetings, you can type much faster than you can write. Many colleges and universities nowadays avail the use of a laptop.
Whereas in the case of notebooks, we have to listen and write each word with our hands. This calls for more speed than necessary in laptops.
In lectures, the professors often give fast lectures or dictations which gets difficult to copy. But if you just type those on your laptop then you’ll see the difference. You will be able to note all the notes down without missing much.
Whereas in writing we often miss chunks of what the professor dictates. This is applicable in meeting too.
The speaker is too fast in what they say resulting in little scope to jot down the essentials. This also improves our typing speed in leaps and bounds.
The data won’t be blur or lost
Our writing comes in a particular font which can be altered too. We can easily make changes to the write-up without making the page dirty. Whatever we write can be checked whether there is any grammatical error or not.
The data are not easily lost even if it is deleted. If you by mistake delete any file it remains in the trash. This makes sure that your precious file is secured with the laptop.
A laptop is much handy to carry to any place. When we write something with our hands it can get blurred. This is so because we write fast and it gets impossible to maintain decent handwriting.
If data is stored in a laptop it will be much easily recovered. It may happen that you suddenly need data from years ago. You will be able to easily fetch it on your laptop than just searching it in your notebook.
When we write in notebooks it is not as clear as that of laptops. It can result in a scribble while attending running dictation.
Your notebook cannot be stored for years. Your notebook can be lost but, your data on the laptop won’t be lost that easily.
A Laptop is much organized
In the case of notebooks, we often get disorganized regarding the sequence. But in the case of the laptops, we are much organized. The files and folders are handy to be managed.
Whenever you need to make any changes you can instantly include that. The files are maintained according to the sequence of the date or size of the file. This ensures that you have a track of your course material or work papers.
Email availability
If any of your friends or professors need any reference of the notes given to you any day, you just can forward it to them.
You don’t need to xerox or lend the notebook. You have the file much secured in the laptop than notes.
This won’t even hamper the time needed to lend and get it back. You will be able to help your friend without hampering your studies.
Whereas when you write in a notebook you need to lend the entire piece to them. This can also hamper your studies. Your friend can have difficulty understanding too.
Also, when you borrow you face the same difficulty.
Copy-paste the portion
If you need to apply any portion of the notes in any project or to resend to any friend you can just copy-paste the portions required.
But in the case of notebooks, you don’t get such availability. You have to either rewrite or photocopy the required pages. You cannot copy-paste.
There are few bad effects too when you note in laptops.
Distractions from the motive
I’m sure you agree that it is easy to get distracted from the lectures or meetings and scroll through social media in case of using laptops. When you are joining a meeting or lecture from home you don’t realize how much you are deviating from the focus.
So here it is better to use notebooks to improve your focus. If we use notebooks then we don’t have any other option than to just focus on the ongoing work.
Malfunction of the laptop
The laptop is a device and any device can malfunction in the time of need. It may happen that when you are writing up notes it gets glitched or damaged. This will hamper your work or studies.
The notebook is rather safer as it won’t suddenly get damaged while writing. It won’t get lost as well if taken care of. But devices always bear a greater risk of malfunction.
If any data of the laptop gets crashed due to the malfunction then nothing scary than that.
Easy to memorize handwritten
When you write on your own it gets easy to memorize. Also, when you write on your own you are aware of your writing speed.
This is so because you cannot type on your examinations. Writing also improves your handwriting in leaps and bounds.
If you are a medical student and preparing for the USMLE Step 2 CK review course then you should maintain your notes in Laptop.
Picking of the essentials
When we write in a notebook, we automatically note the essentials of the lecture or the meetings. But when we type, we unconsciously keep typing whatever comes our way.
But when we note in a running dictation, we automatically edit the unnecessary details. Writing makes us much more conscious than typing.
Writing in notebooks helps you practice shorthand as well as an abbreviation. No matter how much the technology improves writing never goes out of date.
Get slow in writing
If you are habituated to typing then you are bound to get slow in jotting while writing. The practice of taking notes helps us in staying updated and be aware of the lecture.
If we write in a notebook, we will easily memorize it than in the laptops. This is so because our system is still habituated to learning from notebooks rather from laptops.
Conclusion
It will be unfair to state any one of them as the best. It is about what suits best for the users. You have these points to be considered now to determine the best way to take notes.
Both laptops and notebooks come with a certain amount of negative and positive aspects. You just need to weigh and consider the best or you can use both in need.