Writing: Technology vs. Nostalgia

A friend-of-a-friend posted this link on his Twitter, “How to Make a Moleskine PDA - http://tinyurl.com/dzj7u4”. I’ve been a big fan of Moleskine since high school.

My generation might be the last to not have laptops mandatory for every student, and I still have old notebooks that have story notes/outlines in between algebra problems and history notes. So I have very fond memories of tucking a pocket Moleskine in my hoodie when heading out the door.

Recently with technology being more and more accessible to every person, more user friendly, and people just getting used to taking notes on their PDA or iPhone; the tradition of note taking has changed.

Twitter is just a note taking program. Gmail has built in documents. A computer is always a 2 minute walk away in Lubbock or any other city.

I’ve been known to whip out my iPhone while at the bar, jot down a story idea in the “notepad”, and go about my business. I used to rely on the Moleskine for that purpose and in some ways I still do. My Moleskins were never as organized as the link above, more for general notes, but the point is they are still around. Yeah, they’re locked up in my files (I’m a self-conscious writer and constantly have people in and out of my apartment, often unsupervised) and I only look through them when I think I’ve already got notes for something, but they are THERE.
Most of my iPhone notes stick around for about a month or two and then they’re deleted. They could stay on the phone for all of eternity, however the privacy issue comes up again. My phone is passed around a lot at the bar.

I’m not a big fan of sharing my story ideas or even my writing till I’ve “finished” it or at least feel comfortable that the idea is strong.

When I used to whip out my notebooks in class or around friends, it’s been an instant attention grabber. Most people now-a-days know I’m a writer, in high school I didn’t talk much about it, but it still leads to questions.

“What’s that?”
“My notebook. I keep it around when I want to remember something.”
“Remember something for what?”
“For a story later.”
“I’m going to be in a story?”
“No, but the way you just got shot down by that girl might be.”

The point of this is that while I prefer the tradition and permanence of the notebook, technology is starting to win.

Moleskines get wet. Ruined. Lost.

My phone/computer can be backed up. Printed off. Incognito.

There’s a major snag that still keeps me from relying on electronic means of note taking, recently my computer stopped. Won’t get past the boot screen. My phone dies, often. The notebook never runs out of power. While I was traveling in China my computer stayed in my apartment unless I was at the café downstairs. Even when you live in China, you’re backpacking in China.

Files get deleted all the time. The phone has to be cleared out to make room for the album I just bought.

But the Moleskines are still in the file cabinet.
Waiting to embarrass me at a later date.