Rocketbook App 4+

As a college student, the majority of my homework is online and any actual work that I do is not collected. This notebook (and the corresponding app) makes it easy to write out homework problems and not waste paper, it’s all stored in google drive (or whatever other cloud service you prefer to use). Plus, the update that allowed the PDFs to be bundled made it easy to keep homework and notes in one file for easy viewing and reviewing. The notebook itself is incredibly lightweight and while I do carry spare notebook paper just in case I have to turn in something that class, it saves me from having to haul around heavy notebooks all day (no lockers in college, you know, when we finally have more than 4 minutes to go to a locker). I’d say the only downside is that I do take a lot of notes and have a lot of homework so I fill up the notebook in about a week-1.5 weeks and scanning and erasing the entire notebook can be very time consuming, especially when you still have a lot of work to do, but it is still totally worth it for the amount of paper I save by having electronic notes. I really wish this notebook had been around in High School when I used even more paper, but I’m glad I have it for college.

Rocketbook has helped me keep my notes organized. I’m a techie and as such, I’ve tried every major digital version of note taking, iOS apps, Apple Pencil 1&2, LiveScribe digital pens…. You name it. Everything just didn’t feel natural and I’d end up scraps of paper again as after decades of hard copy note taking and the tangible experience of it, it was my comfort zone.

On a whim, a good price on Woot, I decided to try a Rocketbook kit. I was hooked. I could keep my comfortable method of note taking yet still experience the convenience of digitally stored notes. I find it easy to customize templates and using different colored pens I could continue with my tried and true note taking. I also find that when working in the field with clients, writing notes in a normal notebook isn’t obtrusive or distracting to them during meetings. Whenever someone starts using the iPad, inevitably someone thinks that person is zoning out and checking headlines.

Rocketbook is easy. It’s economical. It’s convenient. It’s a workflow and organization tool that is transparent to allowing me to implement my classic method into a digital space.

Absolutely love these notebooks. I have the 5x7 and 8x11 sizes and they are infinitely useful. You can send PDFs or jpgs, even gifs by scanning pages in sequence. With 36 pages per notebook, you can keep a fair amount of work before wiping down and reusing the pages. Additionally, the RocketBook website has printable graph, music staff, and lined writing pages in 5x7 and letter size; these obviously aren’t reusable, but are useful nonetheless. As a matter of fact, if you wanted to try the concept before buying one of the notebooks, you could print a few pages and try it out with the app first. I wish that this was around when I was in college; one small, light notebook for all of my classes that I can scan my notes from. The transcription feature also works fairly well, so your writing can be transcribed to type when you publish the page. The only drawback is that you have to use special Pilot Frixion pens, but they are readily available, relatively inexpensive, and come in many colors. (FYI, I use it with email and Google Drive and have had no issues. I can’t vouch for other compatible services: iCloud, OneNote, Slack, Dropbox, Evernote, or Box.)