[HN Gopher] Notes apps are where ideas go to die (2022)
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       Notes apps are where ideas go to die (2022)
        
       Author : pps
       Score  : 47 points
       Date   : 2023-05-31 09:11 UTC (13 hours ago)
        
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 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reproof.app)
        
       | djmips wrote:
       | CLickbait using the phrase 'go to die'.
       | 
       | It's just the old idea of relieving your mind of remembering
       | everything.
        
       | Mizoguchi wrote:
       | Bookmarked, will read it later.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | jimsimmons wrote:
       | Evernote context seemed great when I used it briefly with my
       | premium subscription.
       | 
       | Bubbles up relevant notes automatically without having to link
       | them like in Obsidian or something.
       | 
       | I think apart from that or an Anki like system there's no way to
       | solve this.
       | 
       | On the other hand maybe note taking is more about thinking and
       | catalysing an idea and less about using in later
        
       | dheera wrote:
       | I don't agree with this.
       | 
       | A lot of my ideas are dependent on timing and that's why I write
       | them down.
       | 
       | Like I have photography ideas for winter but it's not winter yet.
       | Or something I want to do or eat the next time I go to a certain
       | city but I don't want to fly to that city for that reason only.
       | 
       | This is one of my primary use of notes apps.
        
       | jeron wrote:
       | I actually disagree with this. For me, I find notes apps help me
       | reflect on things. I daily journal into Notion. If you ask me
       | what I did exactly seven days ago from today, I could tell you a
       | rough idea from the top of my head but my Notes app would allow
       | me to recall and tell you an answer. That, and it helps me flesh
       | out ideas that I want to explore. If the idea was bad, I would
       | jot it down and forget, but if it was really good I would
       | definitely go back to it
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Discussed at the time:
       | 
       |  _Notes apps are where ideas go to die, and that's good_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30344237 - Feb 2022 (158
       | comments)
        
         | TomDavey wrote:
         | Thanks for recalling the earlier discussion. It includes
         | testimonials to Emacs org-mode, and to the Zettelkasten package
         | built atop org-mode, org-roam.
         | 
         | Org-mode can't be beat, IMO, if you live in Emacs all day long,
         | as I do.
        
       | juliushuijnk wrote:
       | happy user of my own (free, no ads, no account, all locally
       | stored) android app Idea Growr, and I have ideas in there that
       | are many years old that I revisit. including the first entry,
       | Idea Growr itself.
       | 
       | Why let go of old ideas? in a year you'll have a different
       | perspective and a bad idea can become good or inspirational. I
       | believe in quantity.
       | 
       | The app is for ideas only, so easy to retrieve. Most if not all
       | my 'pet projects' started inside that app.
        
       | waboremo wrote:
       | I love this, and I love how disturbing it is for a lot of people
       | (especially those who only read the title)!
       | 
       | We think we write to remember, but it's really the act of letting
       | go as the article gets into as a theory, that really lets those
       | notes become effective to us. We can revisit these notes at a
       | later date, with fresh eyes, having forgotten about it entirely.
       | It adds value, not because the original idea or note was
       | particularly great, but because of what we are then combining it
       | with (action and experience).
       | 
       | This is also why blindly making notes isn't effective as a form
       | of memorizing. You are writing just to write, you have to revisit
       | them blindly in a new way for them to become effective with a new
       | combination. As if you are a chemist creating a new concoction
       | previously thought impossible.
       | 
       | So let your notes app become a giant trash pile. It's better for
       | you, and they should do their job with proper search anyways.
       | Don't spend time optimizing for note link graphs or any of that
       | BS that doesn't help you and you absolutely will stop caring
       | about those "features" in 5 months anyways. Such features are
       | just productivity industry nonsense to make you feel productive
       | while the content remains elusive to your mind.
        
         | kajecounterhack wrote:
         | I use plain text files (1 markdown doc per day) + grep so kind
         | of in line with your recommendation here. But I've also tried
         | Obsidian/Logseq and stuff like that for complex topics with
         | interlinking, and I still think backlinks & knowledge graphs
         | are useful and maybe better than just grep. Basic search relies
         | on you to remember some keyword you want to search on, but
         | networked notes let you traverse your old notes in faster more
         | productive ways.
         | 
         | I revisit old notes maybe once a month, and every time I do
         | that I wonder why I still haven't migrated fully to Logseq.
         | 
         | > Such features are just productivity industry nonsense to make
         | you feel productive while the content remains elusive to your
         | mind.
         | 
         | Don't forget that everyone has a different workflow and what
         | works for you might not be ideal for someone else. Also
         | Obsidian/Logseq are both free vs Roam/Notion/etc -- some people
         | just intensely incorporate notes as a part of their workflow.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | duncan-donuts wrote:
         | > we think we right to remember, but it's really the act of
         | letting go
         | 
         | I've found this to be true with writing music as well. Prior to
         | recording stuff I found I'd play stuff that I had written a
         | lot. The act of recording lets me forget those things and write
         | more (and usually better) song ideas.
        
       | tpmx wrote:
       | Bah humbug. The premise of this article is extremely shallow.
       | 
       | E.g. TextEdit.app (change default to plain text in settings) +
       | saving text files to _one_ particular directory with reasonable
       | file names + regular maintenance (like twice a year) + Mac full
       | text indexing /search works pretty well for me.
       | 
       | The thing is: After 6 months it's actually interesting to go
       | through your old notes. The Finder preview makes it a matter of
       | one keypress per file.
        
         | junon wrote:
         | That's kind of the point of the article, though. The title is a
         | little click-baity.
        
       | jbverschoor wrote:
       | Not just notes..
       | 
       | Everything these days is either archived, or gets lost in "the
       | feed".
       | 
       | I really miss the concept of a Desktop. A place where current
       | work is done.
       | 
       | Unfortunately, people think that the filesystem is not for the
       | endusers.. everything is solid per app, and hidden in it.
       | 
       | Ahh BeOS, where everything was a file.
        
         | yokoprime wrote:
         | <<Documentation>> is always digital for me, but all my working
         | notes are hand written and scattered over my desk at work.
         | Every so often I have to clean up the mess and go through my
         | notes. Most of it is trash, some have been reworked as digital
         | notes and sometimes I find some rare glimpse of past me
         | inspiring current me.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-31 23:00 UTC)