Millions of people still write notes on paper. According to research published by Mueller (Princeton) and Oppenheimer (UCLA) “taking notes by hand is better than taking notes on a laptop for remembering conceptual information long term.” But it’s hard to take notes by hand and simultaneously contribute to business discussions. And most people can only write legibly at the rate or 15-20 words per minute, while spoken communication averages over 110 words per minute.
Trendy journal maker, Moleskine, says the number of young, tech savvy entrepreneurs who use traditional leather-bound journals is on the rise. They reported sales of over 17 million journals in 2015, and have developed a kind of cult following! While it helps you remember to write things down, finding what you need later in these beautiful journals and note pads can be arduous.
Digital note-taking apps like Evernote and OneNote also seem to have a cult-like following. These apps are more than just a digital version of the same fundamental process. And most people can type faster than they can write with a pen on paper. However they have the same basic challenge: You either suffer the distraction of taking notes during the meeting or discussion, or you create notes after the fact. And you still have to organize the notes manually.
We make some of our most significant contributions to work in the form of conversations with others — using our voice. So, it makes sense to have a digital record of what we say. But the act of taking notes arguably lessens our effectiveness as participants, and it is still hard to search and find the gems of the conversations.
What if you could have a perfect record of what was said or shared without re-reading and re-listening? Perhaps blending AI, voice and cloud can change the world of meetings. We think so! Watch for our announcement on September 18. Meetings will never be the same, we promise.
