(Last edited Sept 15, 2008)

The next default Palm application we will be discussing today will be the Note Pad application, which in my mind, may be the easiest for the beginning Palm user to figure out and get used to, especially if making the switch from paper daytimer organizer to the digital Palm organizer.

Why? Because, you are still writing on a surface, very much like writing on a piece of paper, except, you are now writing with virtual ink, or really just scribbling on a glass surface.

There’s not much to learn. Simply run or launch the Note Pad application by tapping on the NotePad application icon and maybe create a new entry by tapping on the “New” button and start writing. If you make a mistake, use the virtual “eraser” in the program and remove the mistake and start over. No eraser bits to deal with and your note looks as good as if you never made any changes or mistakes. This is very similar to using MS Paint on your computer and scribbling on it, except that you aren’t using a mouse, but a stylus, which is very much like a pen.

Now, mind you that there are obviously some differences about writing with a stylus on a Palm screen as opposed to writing with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper. First of all, unlike writing on a piece of paper, you are not pressing down hard on the writing medium to force the lead or ink be smeared on the writing medium. Actually, putting any noticeable amount of pressure on the glass surface may affect how effective the underlying digitizer hardware and software is at detecting your scribbles. The digitizer located directly underneath the glass is very sensitive and a lot of times, dirt or small pieces of debris which is caught on the glass surface may be a cause of many “unresponsive” tap or stylus detection problem. This usually can easily be solved by cleaning the glass and running a piece of paper along the edges of the screen and casing where debris may be caught that the digitizer is detecting. Unfortunately, the digitizer isn’t smart enough to figure out that a piece of debris isn’t the stylus or your finger.

So, the first thing is to recognize is that you will need to somewhat change how you “write” on the Palm. If you tend to put a lot of pressure on a piece of paper when you write (simply flipping over a piece of paper and seeing whether you can detect any indentations on it should give you an idea), you may wish to re-adjust how you “write” on the sensitive Palm glass surface. The screen will detect even very light touches. In some ways, for those who tend to “drag” their pen along the paper as they’re writing will also need to re-adjust how they write. Since any soft touches along the glass surface will be detected as an intentional scribble, if you don’t try to adjust your writing style, you won’t be able to “write” something legible on a Palm notepad.

Writing on a virtual notepad still took some getting used to because unlike a regular pen or pencil which you can control “when” you start writing by pressing and dragging the writing instrument, the Palm will detect your stylus when it’s close enough to the glass. So, it may take a bit of practice to “write” on the Note Pad application so that as soon as you place your stylus near the glass, you’re ready to write and remove it when you’re done, so you don’t get something that looks like a messy scribble.

To be frank, at first I liked the idea that I was able to still write in my handwriting in the Note Pad, but I found was that I didn’t like viewing my handwriting on the Palm (not that I liked viewing it in the paper organizer either). It probably seemed worse to see this horrible piece of handwritten note (chickenscratch) when everything else in the Palm looked so neat and tidy. It didn’t take me long to figure out how to use Graffiti 2 to input letters and the default Palm pop up keyboard. Then, everything looked neat and not messy. I felt better organized since there’s less need for me to keep remembering everything but rely on the Palm for the reminders.

If you’ve never tried to test out the Notepad application on a Palm, I’d strongly suggest you do. Go visit your nearest Staples, Best Buy, Circuit City or computer stores where they sell Palms an have some demo units on display. Open up the NotePad application and try to “write” on it and see how effortless it is to “write”. You may discover that you will need to re-adjust how you write on the glass screen.

Needless to say, I also had to re-adjust how I wrote on the Notepad application.

My Daytimer history and experience pre-Palm

For me, being someone who was a paper daytimer organizer, (originally the pocket-sized wire-bound ones that fit inside a nice leather cover, and then, to a ring binder one), converting to a Palm took a bit of getting used to.

When I first got the wire-bound Day-Timer, at first it seemed like it was great. I had the ability to add in extra sheets with a special tooth comb-like tool that helped insert the add-in pages in between specific date pages. But, even then, the add in pages weren’t fitting too well in the wire-bound books and over time, they tend to come off, especially if I needed to remove and re-insert (ie-tasks or notes that I needed to be reminded of that carries from today to the next day and so on).

Day-Timer Pocket Wire-Bound planner with 1 page per day and month page

Day-Timer Pocket Wire-Bound planner with add-on Month page inserts

I also didn’t like not being able to fit more than one month’s book in the case. I was using the 2 page per day format where I have appointments on one page and notes on the other page and 12 books cover the entire year. Entering an appointment that was a month ahead or more meant that I had to refer to that month’s book, which I normally didn’t have on hand. That meant putting it somewhere on the current book and then making a reminder to enter it in the other book. Sometimes, I forget to do that and of course when the appointment day comes, I don’t have all the details since it’s all in the previous month. Then, I tried to downgrade to the 1 page per day format which fits two months in one book but didn’t like the cramped style of having half the area to enter appointments and notes. In the 2 page per day, I have an entire page for appointments and notes. In the 1 page per day, I had half a page, with a vertical split in the middle. I tried this for a few years before I decided to go to the ring binder version because I didn’t like the cramped pages, the insert pages that were falling out, etc.

Day-Timer portable Loose-Leaf planner month page with divider tabs

Day-Timer Desk Loose-Leaf planner with rings open to allow better writing at edge of page

The ring binder version was much better than the wirebound because I now was able to expand my datebook with extra add in sheets, but I didn’t like trying to write at the edge of the sheet where it meets the binder ring. Being right-handed, writing on the left page, the heel of my hand would back up against the ring as it got to the edge of the page. So I’d either have to open up the rings and try to write, or remove the page, write my notes, and then put it back and close the ring. Doing this often during the day was a nuisance. Even on the bigger Desk planner, it still wasn’t that much better. Had Day-Timer changed the layout so that if the the time and everything on the outer edge of the pages becomes inside so that the writable area is maximized, maybe I might not have thought of trying out the Palm. And of course, I wouldn’t have figured out how “great” the Palm device really is.

So, back to explaining what I mean with the page format, on a 2 page per day format for the ring binders, the left page would have all the appointment times on the right side of the page where the rings are and then, on the right page, keep it on the left so that the appointment times are always near the ring. That way, I would have more writing area compared to what it has in its current layout. As far as I know, they haven’t changed the style of the layout.

Shortcoming of the paper organizer: we have to remind ourselves

The main problem with paper organizers, as I’ve mentioned before is that first of all, it’s a piece of paper, or a bundle of paper. You have to actively keep remembering to do a lot of things to stay on top of things and stay organized. Unfortunately, with most of us, due to all the distractions and things happening in day, we can’t always remember. The paper can’t ring an alarm and remind us of an appointment. We have to find ways to remind ourselves during the day, or to keep remembering to check the paper daytimer organizer often to avoid forgetting. This is not a good organizational system in my view.

Advantage of a digital organizer: It will remind me even if I forget

With the Palm, all that’s required is just entering the information and setting it up. Once it’s in the Palm, provided it’s charged, it will organize and remind you of your tasks, appointments according to your specifications. In other words: IT JUST WORKS! (even if you’ve forgotten). Once it’s in, you can party and do what you do and provided you have the Palm with you, the Palm will remind you when it’s time. You stay organized as long as you enter it in the Palm and the battery has charge and power. That’s the beauty of a digital device.

Okay, back to the Palm. Going from a paper organizer took some getting used to. It was strange at first, just having an electronic device instead of the Day-Timer portable planner. I lost quite a bit of organizer bulk going from paper organizer to Palm. The Palm fits right in my pocket, much smaller than even the portable wire-bound planner. Originally, I was still keeping a little notepad with me, just in case I need to quickly scribble down something should I have problems entering stuff in the palm. But I found that I didn’t need it after a while as I got more comfortable entering everything directly on the Palm and didn’t rely on the paper.

Many Palm users use the Note Pad application to create visual ideas for work, mind mapping, explain directions to a destination, etc. This application is great for ideas that can be better communicated via visual means.

I will have to continue this discussing on the Note Pad Application in the next posting where I will show a simulation of creating a new Note Pad entry.

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