Slight mislead here, you do need apps, but you don’t need a ton of them. Every single post I see will tell you they use this app and that service, which is great — but that is unique to them. That doesn’t mean you need to start spending money.
In most situations, you will be perfectly fine with the stock options you have available. The only time to start looking at other options is if you start to hit issues. My best advice is to continually try to work around this first. Shortcuts is a wonderful stock app that I use to implement ‘new’ features into apps.
I am as guilty of this app arrival fallacy as anyone. I convince myself that I just require this new thing, and then I’ll be super productive — but I don’t. The truth is that is often hard to accept is that a new app absolutely will not make you more productive. Sure, fancy services look nice, the marketing makes you think you can get a load more done, but the real answer is to work smarter.
You will be more productive by having a good system in place, not having a fancy app. I will say it again for those not paying attention, a new app will not make you more productive.
I’m having a few weird experiences on YouTube at the minute. I watched a few videos on mechanical keyboards the other day, and I think I might have ruined Google’s impression of me forever. It started as a few PC building things and got worse from there. Mixed in with the usual productivity tripe and hustle things that Google seems to think all people want to watch, I have discovered a whole world of people doing their work with AI.
That’s fine and everything. I am a big fan of making the new tools work for you, and use Notion AI frequently — but when it comes down to making AI write your assignments and complete your notes, it all gets a bit silly. If the entire point of performing an action is the result, then AI is arguably the best tool to use. You can achieve some great things and cut down the time you invest dramatically. However, if the activity is the point of the exercise, then just do the work.
The point of writing an essay is to demonstrate your learning. The result is not the point of the exercise, the point is your ability to complete the task. This goes double for getting AI to write your notes. Again, the entire point in writing notes on a subject (in a classroom or out of one) is the practice itself. By writing things down, you remember them, and record them in your words. AI defeats the point.
In these instances, if time saved is what you are trying to achieve with AI, then you’d be better off not doing it at all. To get better at something, learn information or just show others that you know things — Just Do The Work. There are no shortcuts in life, you can’t adopt a morning routine or use a tool to cheat your way through because at some point you will get found out. By doing the work, you improve yourself.
Stray too far into self-help or productivity circles, and you will soon come across this idea of a commonplace book. The practice of writing everything down and keeping it in a place you can access later is held up as the reason people are successful and a way for you to get the most out of life. Although people like HP Lovecraft, John Milton and even Leonardo do Vinci kept one by their side, it is a practice that can be hard to stick too in the modern world.
Commonplace books are a tradition spanning from the Middle Ages, but one that seems improper in the modern world. Despite all the obvious benefits of manual tasks, the avoidance of feeling out of place is often a powerful feeling. One that I frequently can’t be overcome, I just don’t want to be that guy. There’s just no getting around the fact that carrying around a notebook in a digital world appears strange to most people.
As such, my first effort at keeping this ‘book’ had to be digital. It makes the most sense as I have my phone or my watch on my wrist nearly all the time, or I am sat at my computer working. Not to mention, all the things I save are then searchable and referenceable easily from all my devices. Saving digital things just makes sense.
An app such as Evernote would make an excellent digital commonplace book, in fact, numerous people I know have been doing this all along without even knowing it. Storing photos of notes, whiteboards, web clippings, meeting briefs and all sorts of things in the app to refer to later. Not wanting to spend money on Evernote after being burnt before, I opted to use Apple Notes instead.
The main reason for doing this was to make sure I carried things that I wanted to remember. That I got myself into a better state of working though my ideas and working on them later. So, I built a Shortcut to help me on this journey. To capture quotes from articles I read, thoughts that I could dictate from my Apple Watch, and also anything else I stumbled across.
The premise was simple. My iCloud notes now contained a folder titled commonplace book. Each time I wanted to capture something, the shortcut checked for a note titled with the current date, if it was missing, it created it along with a time stamped entry. If the note already existed, it appended a time stamped capture to the note.
This folder started to fill up with all sorts of things. Quotes, ideas, web clippings, photos and any number of random things. I became quite obsessed with saving things, but I am sure you can already see where this was going. I was absolutely dedicated to saving things in my new commonplace book, but I never went back and looked at it. Never browsed the notes for any other reason than vaguely remembering saving a quote I wanted to reference in some writing.
The digital folder was a great idea, but it was tucked away. It wasn’t in front of me to be able to look at, flick through and review the entries in it. Although I have confidence, some snippets saved would have been used at some point though searching my phone — I just didn’t get any use from it. It became obvious quickly that the whole point of a commonplace book, for me at least, was physically writing things in it.
OK, I am a little obsessed with notebooks at the moment. Since reviewing my plan for 2023, and reading Revenge of Analogue, I’ve adopted more manual processes. This means writing more with a pen and paper, as well as being aware of the enjoyment gained from tactile things. I even bought a mechanical keyboard, clicky!
So, my journal evolved into a commonplace book. There’s a certain level of worry that comes with even mentioning that you have a commonplace book. Most of the questions I see online are variations of “what do I write in this thing” and these exact questions come whenever you get out your notebook. You have to be prepared for this and answer them with confidence. The practice has existed for hundreds of years, and will do long after you are gone, so don’t worry.
Oh, and much like with the digital notebook, the answer to what you write in it is everything. While these practices make me much more satisfied in a sensory sense, it isn’t perfect. The fact that everything is written down manually, means that you lose all the advantages that digital note bring. They are not searchable and take up physical storage space.
I tried out indexing one of my notebooks, using a tag system to allocate areas in which they may be stored if I were to use the PARA system for Building A Second Brain. Given that I never referred back to it ever again in that way, I didn’t bother with the next couple of notebooks I have used. I tend to flick through them and pick up ideas and thoughts as and when I need to. This serves as a nice reminder, a diary of sorts, but also a way to review information to help with memory recall. Thats a Win/Win in my (note)book.
At the iPhone phone launch last September, a thought started to blossom in my head. As they presented all of their new devices, that no doubt they toiled away for months to create, I couldn’t shake the feeling of melancholy. Sure, they are nice and everything, but we might just have reached the pinnacle of what Apple’s current technology can offer.
The truth is, collectively we realised this with smartphones at least a couple of years ago. The iPhone 13, was mostly the 12, that in turn was a more square version of the iPhone 11. You can track the slow and steady ticking forward of the Apple iPhone from the very first one, but what’s inside and what it can actually do tended to take strides forward at least every other year. Now, not so much.
There is a limit to what can be achieved from a rectangle of glass and metal, and there’s something to be said for Apple’s consistency instead of Samsungs spaghetti at the wall approach. Unfortunately, for Apple, the downturn in creativity and technology improvement is also shaping into other devices. I’m not kidding either, Apple Watch, iPad, AirPods, MacBook, they are all pretty meh - and thats a good thing.
Apple’s most contentious device, the iPad Pro, is the perfect example. There has been very little need to upgrade your device since 2018. The current model features very little upgrade past a more powerful processor, making it a little better on battery and more able. Which is great, until you realise that most things you do on your iPad don’t even tax older iPads. The only thing that has changed a lot is the camera if that’s your thing (it really shouldn’t be).
The same can be said for Apple silicone MacBooks. The launch of the M2 MacBook Pro went by with none of the clamouring that the M1 Pro devices got. The tick that had followed the massive tock of desktop devices leaves very little need to upgrade depending on your use case. The M1 Pro powered MacBook that I do all of my work on still feels like it has headroom in every task I throw at it.
So, we’ve rubbished the upgrades for what’s in your hand, and potentially what’s in your bag, now let’s look at the Apple watch. A device that, once Apple sorted out what they wanted it to be, hasn’t seen a meaningful upgrade in years. Each year, the device gets a little faster and a little better on battery, but you’d have to jump up from a device 3–4 years old to see any improvements. Even then, the argument could be made that it wouldn’t really mean a lot.
Whilst presenting the newest version last year, almost each proposed upgrade covered could be attributed to software improvements, many of which would be rolled into older devices anyway. Thank god for the Apple Watch Ultra, one of my favourite devices for a few years, for at least a little excitement. I have a feeling that many purchases, my own included, were fuelled by the desire simply for something new.
I do think this is the right move though. No one wants to be updating their watch every year, and by providing even smaller updates there is less desire to, and less for Apple to shout about. Apple does indeed make devices more aimed towards periodic upgraders than early adopters. Those that get a free phone with their new plan every 2–3 years, rather than us hardcore upgraders.
Apple doesn’t make devices like it used to. We can’t fit them on a table as Steve Jobs said they should do, and they don’t always appeal to everyone. The devices are at the peak of what is a feasible upgrade, and that is becoming less and less about headline features. There’s less to crow about but more to love, the devices have peaked and that’s fantastic for all users, and our bank balances.
One of the biggest leaking Apple products I can ever remember might actually see the light of day at WWDC next month. You read that right, it looks highly likely Tim Cook will take to the stage on the Keynote for Apple’s develop conference and finally utter the words Reality Pro. Unfortunately, the long-rumoured VR experience from Apple has already missed its chance to make a splash, and will be launched into a market that doesn’t really exist.
Since at least the mid-80’s at various volume levels, futurists have been telling us virtual reality will be a massive thing. The slightly dystopian predictions are that we will at least strap things to our faces instead of staring at screens, and if you listen to some people, we might live a portion of our lives in a virtual world. However, that reality has never really panned out.
It has to be said I am extremely negative towards putting any computer on your face, but still open to the possibility. In many respects, it makes sense, perhaps not to live in a virtual world, but consuming content or playing games is a realistic current and future bet for VR devices. This is where Apple sees its headset fitting in, running iPad type apps and not diving into a metaverse. Being able to put on oversized goggles to be able to watch or use a gigantic screen instead of needing a large panel appeals to many demographics.
The issue is that the market for this kind of device is already exhausted. Either physically or metaphorically. Niche gaming sections are saturated with cheaper Quest or PlayStation devices. With others completely turned off to the idea due to a bombardment of Meta né Facebook insisting on the future taking place in their world. The truth is Apple scrambled to build a device to fit into a potential market that was promised for years on end, but no longer exists.
Whatever Apple’s entry into VR looks like; or whenever it arrives, it looks set to miss its market bar early adopter Apple fans with too much money. Granted there was a time for about 6 beautiful months where this device made sense. After months of not being able to navigate the web without being inundated with the word metaverse, that time has gone. That time may arrive, but like having business built around web3 in 2023, there’s not much hope currently.
That is the issue with entering into markets that are still emerging. You risk making the wrong bets. Wasting considerable amounts on money building devices that fall flat rather than sail the current wave of hype. This was something that Apple were notoriously good at. They waited, watched and launched their product a little later than others, but well-rounded and pushing industries forward. You only have to look at products like AirPods as an example of Apple usual ‘wait and see’ market tactic.
Which makes Apples VR device all the more strange, and something that no doubt is making them pause and think a bit longer. However, it can be said that we are not dealing with the same Apple any more, and even they can make mistakes – huge million-dollar mistakes. Just don’t mention AirPower.