Expert: Bobbert - 1/16/2011

Question
Hello Bobbert,

I wanted to know ur opinion here:

Do you think using computers to take notes and create plans and write books, essays, etc. reduces your in-the-moment creativity? I am wondering this because right now I am typing in the business plan I wrote down on paper, and I have noticed how my writing on paper goes in all different directions and allows a certain degree of freedom whereas typing on a computer is more monotonous and rigid. So, what is your opinion?

Answer
I'm not entirely sure that I'm the best suited expert for this question (this seems like something a systems engineer or business intelligence/development expert may know more about, since you're asking about workflow (or what my industry would call "wetware"), not hardware or software). From experience though, I can tell you that generally users do feel the same rigidity you're mentioning simply as a result of the design of software (it can only do what it's designed to be capable of doing - in other words if it can only write text in horizontal lines, thats what you get - whereas doing things by hand is only limited by your own personal creativity and dexterity). There are more "free-form" software applications, that allow hand-writing and other forms of input to software (such as dictation or optical-character-recognition (OCR)) - you may consider such applications if you're interested, although I can tell you that they're generally on the expensive side for most users and may not produce the desired results. On the other hand, there are areas of usage where computers excel beyond more traditional or orthodox methods, such as music creation or movie editing, as they can store and retrieve very large amounts of data in a very short period of time. Again, they are limited entirely by what they're designed to do (both hardware and software), but these limits are greatly expanded over more traditional approaches.

If the substantial increase in paper usage (such as printing documents out, either at home or at work) over the last decade is any indication, I would say that the general populace agrees with you (in other words, the observed trend seems to be towards working with data as hard-copy, relying on computers to store, archive, and generate data - but not to directly manipulate it).

Ultimately my best advice for users is to go with whatever solution suits their workflow - if your particular preference is towards working with pen and paper and then digitizing the data then work in that manner. Essentially, do what makes sense for you.

-bob