Is There a Perfect Tool for Capturing Your Thoughts?

Weekly Wheaties #2547

Nov 23, 2025

In this newsletter:

📝 Post: Is There a Perfect Tool for Capturing Your Thoughts?
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: AI Making Headlines
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Battle of the Billionaires
😎 Pick of the Week: Photography Picks
📦 Featured Product: Composition Notebook Cases

📝 Is There a Perfect Tool for Capturing Your Thoughts?

As mentioned in Weekly Wheaties #2446, hopefully, you have some process for capturing to dos and notes, along with calendar events, to help you stay organized. The question then becomes, how do you capture those things in the moment? Either what’s the quickest way for you to capture, or the easiest way?

Maybe you use a digital assistant of sorts - either at home or on your mobile device. Alexa, Siri, and Google all interact with your home’s smart speakers or phones to add items to a to do list, take a note, or create a calendar event. You can even use audio notes and talk to your phone for capturing lengthy information. Perhaps you are even the type of person who uses speech to text when sending a message.

However, research continues to show that physically writing something down helps us remember, at least when taking notes in class or during a meeting. So, maybe you’re the type to use Post-it notes everywhere? Did you know there’s also a digital version of Post-it notes? On Windows PCs, it’s called Sticky Notes, and on Mac OS, it’s called Stickies. There are also tons of third-party alternatives I won’t even get into…

Physically writing in general is also just good for our physical and mental health. Popular Science even shares Why you should journal while soaking up nature. While there are many forms of notebooks and daily planners to choose from, perhaps you’d like to incorporate technology a bit more moving forward.

You could start small with a dry-erase board, reusable Post-it notes, or even the Boogie Board Reusable Writing Tablet. However, none of these allows you to access your notes in another location.

To achieve the most accurate writing experience possible, a Rocketbook Reusable Notebook utilizes an erasable pen and integrates with its app to store and search notes taken. While probably the most life-like in regard to note-taking, it still requires extra steps for the digitization part to happen. You must use your phone to scan each page that gets put into the app, where it can then possibly be transcribed.

The Ophayapen Smart Sync Pen allows you to write on any type of notebook or paper while recording what you write for a digital twin. There’s a lot more to this pen and the app (audio recording and syncing) that I haven’t had the opportunity to experience. I did try something similar in the past, and from what I can tell, it uses a camera to record and ‘playback’ via writing what you have written. To then transcribe it in the app. Reviews are also mixed.

The next level of hardware available provides a great writing experience with a much more seamless software experience. These are known as paper tablets and provide a single-page writing surface, with a digital notebook as he backend. They can also be used as e-readers and allow the user to mark up imported documents and books. Three of the more popular paper tablets include:

Note that these options are somewhat more expensive compared to the other examples shared. They typically come with a proprietary writing stylus, require some type of subscription to access your notes and documents, and have a much higher-quality build of materials. There are also fairly mixed reviews of all three (at least in comparison). Most enjoy them, know what they’re buying, and are overall happy, with many businesses opting to go all in as well. From the little bit of experience I do have with these, if this is something you have been wanting and don’t mind paying for it - this is the way to go.

The last option of having a ‘digital notebook’ is probably more of what you may be thinking. Simply use your Google Tablet or Apple iPad! They are heavier and may be a bit more awkward to use compared to a paper tablet, though. There are tons of apps to choose from here, too, that recreate a writing experience on your screen, along with multiple size options. As mentioned, Apple Notes, Google Keep, and Microsoft OneNote are good places to start. Or, you could consider third-party apps built around handwriting and/or notetaking:

Now that we’ve covered a bit of the hardware and software side of things, what are you using to capture notes?

🗞️ ICYMI: AI Making Headlines

Another week, more AI headlines. But first, one you may not have suspected. Three songs generated by AI topped global music charts this week, with the country track ‘Walk My Walk’ hitting number one on the US Billboard chart.

Money is still being put into this industry as Anthropic was valued in range of $350 billion following investment deal with Microsoft and Nvidia. To potentially save money, Meta is about to start grading workers on their AI skills after cutting jobs last month. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s talk that the value of OpenAI could be hit as ChatGPT may soon require ID verification from adults, as some argue, due to security and privacy issues.

I talked about the importance of passwords in Weekly Wheaties #2421, but apparently Gen Z has weaker passwords, as the world’s most common passwords usually follow the same formula, and they frequently use “12345.” If Microsoft has anything to say about this, they’ll be using their Microsoft Agent 365 to help take over (well, maybe not fully) security for some IT folks.

🗞️ ICYMI: Battle of the Billionaires

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, created an A.I. start-up and is the Co-Chief Executive. “Project Prometheus will focus on AI for the engineering and manufacturing of computers, automobiles, and spacecraft. Some of those spacecraft will probably be for his rocket company, Blue Origin, as Mars is now ‘on the Radar’.

The founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, is launching a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates. They look to start at $60/day and allow for 3-7 day rentals. I believe this will be a great and arguably inexpensive way for people to test out EVs and see if they work for them or not. Unlimited free supercharging is included, along with Full-Self Driving (and no, you can’t sleep at the wheel). If you plan to purchase one, you can use my referral code and save up to $1,000, depending on the model. Alternatively, You can now buy pre-owned Ford vehicles on Amazon.

Elon’s other company, Starlink, now offers a very enticing residential plan. This satellite internet service works just about anywhere in the US. Check out their coverage map, which is always being updated. The new plan, for $40/month, still provides unlimited data, but is capped at 100 Mbps. And for probably half of the US, this is probably sufficient. The pricing may be dependent on your address, however.

😎 POTW: Photography Picks

As we get closer to the end of the year, how about some photography awards, along with a few extra photography picks!

📦 Featured Product

With all the writing we’re doing this week, perhaps you miss having a simple composition notebook? Well, fret no more, you can purchase a case that looks like one to protect your note-taking devices. Below are links to a composition notebook case for your:

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