Sunday, July 29, 2007

Tech Savvy way of organizing ur notes

If u have Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and a Tablet PC, you have brand new way of organizing your notes.

In One Note ( which comes along with Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007), you can record audio/video, make notes using stylus (u can use diff colours - hence can make a mindmap)

If you still prefer to study on paper, you can always take a printout

Positive points of this approach:
1. Organized in one place - hence very useful while commuting (if u r used to ebooks, its like carrying ur entire library, colour pens and notes along with u to college/home/office).
2. Can make easy backups (even store them permanently on Internet).
3. Can easily be integrated with Outlook (hence managing contacts/to do list/emails - very easy).
4. Writing on it ~ to writing on book (since stylus is magnetic, therefore placing ur hand over screen wont create a problem, but it may take some time to adjust)

Negative points:
1. Tablet PC - quite costly - (Price of Laptop with same config + 10 to 20k extra).
2. (If u like to study on paper), printer will add to ur cost.
3. What if ur tablet PC crashes and u dont have backup ???
4. Everything is not integrated (ie email, calendar, notes, etc...)

What I plan to do -
1. I already have a Laptop (hence buying tablet would be waste of money) which I will use for ebooks. I will prepare my mindmaps on papers and take pics using DigiCam or will use scanner. (therefore it will allow me to take backups of my mind maps easily (See: http://niketanpansare.googlepages.com/mindmaps)).
2. Taking printouts is very costly for Student and I prefer my mindmaps on paper rather than on PC.
3. Once I start working / earning, I will prefer this option as I will rarely use my mindmaps for more than half hour (I have worked as Software Developer and I know that u dont get time to revise ur mindmaps, nor can u carry them to ur office. Other than time, there is another factor - Uncertainty - u wont know for sure which Mindmap will u need today (unlike exams in college days))