I want to use digital notebooks, but they’re not for me

• The advantages of a digital notebook
• The problems with digital notebooks
• So who is a digital notebook for?

There’s a whole sector of the tech industry that’s strangely romanticized in 2025. By that, I mean it waxes nostalgic for a pre-internet or even pre-digital era, but refuses to actually jettison modern technology. Think, for instance, of “hybrid” smartwatches equipped with analog watchfaces, or smartphones that intentionally limit you to a handful of apps. You sacrifice some of the convenience of, say, an Apple Watch or a Pixel phone, but in return you gain a little extra style, or a life free of social media services like TikTok and X. Essentially, they sell us on the notion that life was better in the 1990s or early 2000s.

Nothing exemplifies this better than the concept than the new wave of E Ink tablets, such as the reMarkable Paper Pro, the Amazon Kindle Scribe, or my own Boox Note Air4 C. While you can use them as e-readers, you’re really meant to use them as handwritten notebooks — a way of scribbling down ideas, plans, annotations, and sketches without having to heft an iPad or Galaxy Tab. After using one for a few months, I’ve come to appreciate the concept, but realized that it just doesn’t suit my lifestyle. It’s for a very slim niche of people, as I suspected from the start.

The advantages of a digital notebook

A little physical, mostly psychological

On a material level, the main benefit of a digital notebook is the ability to jot paper-like notes without wasting paper, but also without the cost and weight of an equivalent iPad, Android, or Windows tablet. That’s going to depend on the exact device you buy, naturally. At $500, the Note Air4C is actually far more expensive than a base iPad — and not that much lighter, coming in at 420 grams (about 0.93 pounds) versus 477 (1.05 pounds). Boox does at least include a decent stylus, whereas Apple makes you pay extra for an Apple Pencil or a third-party accessory.

Another undeniable advantage is battery life. A conventional tablet is unlikely to last more than a couple of days (if that long) under any serious usage, owing to the combination of an LCD or OLED screen and a powerful processor. E-ink devices can often last for a week or longer, since they don’t need much in the way of graphics capability, and their displays don’t consume any power until an image animates or if you turn on a frontlight. For note-taking, that means that an E Ink tablet is almost always ready to go when you are.

Some people just prefer handwritten notes, whether because of their flexibility, the deeper impact on memory, or the raw tactile sensation.

The real reasons people buy a digital notebook, though, are psychological. Some people just prefer handwritten notes, whether because of their flexibility, the deeper impact on memory, or the raw tactile sensation. Many of them are designed to simulate paper down to the texture of the screen, and that truly is satisfying — I once spent a few minutes sketching a flower simply because it reminded me of what I missed from childhood.

They’re also sold as a way of distancing you from distractions. Even the models that support apps like TikTok or Reddit aren’t ideal for them, which makes it easier to stay in a productive mode. If you’re truly committed to a digital detox, you can make one a primary device, narrowing most of your entertainment down to e-books and maybe the web.

The problems with digital notebooks

How much do you care about efficiency?

Perhaps the most fundamental obstacle for me is that I can’t make an E Ink tablet a daily driver. My job involves writing all day, every day, and the only way of accomplishing that efficiently is on a single device with a keyboard, a mouse, and easy access to all my research materials — i.e. something like my Windows laptop. A digital notebook is something I have to go out of my way to pick up and use, which makes it a detriment to productivity.

I can and have used my Note Air4C to brainstorm feature pitches, but I quickly realized that when all I’m doing is putting down text, it’s far simpler to tap something out on either my PC or my smartphone. I’m always going to have one or the other with me, and I’m far faster at typing than I am handwriting. You probably are as well. Specifically, I prefer to use iCloud Notes, which automatically syncs between all my devices. In that regard, a digital notebook would only simplify things if I needed to do a lot of sketching — but I’m not in Chemistry class anymore, and I’m definitely not an illustrator.

When I do bother scribbling something in E Ink, it’s cumbersome to integrate it into my workflow. Usually I need to manually export notes to an outside cloud service. The people who use a digital notebook for calendars are from a different planet, I think — it’s so much more practical to put events and bookings into an app that reminds you of all the details right when you need them, such as Google Calendar.

So who is a digital notebook for?

You probably know who you are

The most obvious use case is someone who spends hours a day jotting down complex notes, or at least filling out forms. A few examples that spring to mind include students, doctors, and some office professionals like lawyers. Color models will attract some artists, designers, and architects. You can’t produce commercial-quality artwork on an E Ink device — but it is a nice way of getting the ball rolling when you’re not in front of your Wacom.

I’d suggest some serious research (and introspection) before you plunk down a few hundred dollars on something that’s often less capable than the devices you already own.

If notes are just a minor part of your life, I’d suggest some serious research (and introspection) before you plunk down a few hundred dollars on something that’s often less capable than the devices you already own. Notice that the ads for devices from Boox and reMarkable often depict an elite, “executive” lifestyle — immaculately dressed models working from well-appointed rooms, with nary a Mac or PC in sight. If you spend most of your day in front of a computer crunching words, numbers, or code, you’ve probably got all the tools you need already, and little opportunity to lounge for several minutes with less efficient hardware.

If you do feel a burning need to eliminate distractions and connect with your notes, by all means go ahead. But personally, the next time I buy a tablet, it’s probably going to be an iPad. By the time I’m ready to upgrade, a 13-inch iPad Air might be as light as anything E Ink has to offer, without all the practical limitations.