Friday, January 07, 2005

My newest high tech addiction: wire bound notebooks

Froogle Search: National Brand college ruled notebook

As I descend ever further into the depths of senile decay, I am ever more susceptible to the blandishments of paper. At one point in my life I resisted this temptation, for work on paper is often lost. I have at last come to feel, alas, that much of my work is better lost.

The paper can be used on takeoff and landing. It can be used when I don't have an outlet. The display space is enormous -- I can scatter papers over a wall. A 10 foot display is too costly for me (though I'd like to try a VR display if they ever make it to the mass market). Paper is rigidly linear, I know things won't move around on me. It requires little or no cycles for me to do data entry; it has no distractions. It doesn't ping me. It doesn't lure me into email or the net.

Ahh. Great innovation that paper. But wait ... legal pads are bulky, pages get scattered and lost. The pad doesn't fold well. What is to be done?

Wire bound notebooks by National Brand! Micro-perf pages can be separated easily and are pre-punched. It is a good thickness at 60-80 sheets and it stores well side by side in magazine racks (the wire spines intermesh). The spines and covers are robust. It is tough, durable, reliable, lightweight and portable. I can return months later and parse out my scrawls.

I think I'm in love.

Update 11/18/07: I'm not alone.
Resolved: that the Mead (or Cambridge) one-subject notebook, 8-1/2” x 11”, action planner format, side bound, double wire spiral bound, side perforated, 80 pages, 20 lb. bond, white paper, rule lines printed in gray and maroon; catalogue number 06064 or MEA06064; or the Cambridge Executive Action Planner Limited Notebook, otherwise identical, Cambridge catalogue number 20568208—

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