Editing The Pen Addict 416/transcript (section)

== Productivity System Discussion ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' I think this is very attractive. But it's not what I want to do with my tasks. I am a use pen and paper to review the day person more than a use pen and paper to write down what I want to do in a day person. I want my tasks in a digital tool because I don't want to lose them or forget them. And I want to be able to sort them and categorize them. And I get that a lot of people will use a digital tool with this. And then they'll sit down in the morning and they'll write down what they want to do every day. That just doesn't gel with me. Like I don't even work from one desk, right? Like I work at different desks, different places in the home. It will be the same way in the studio. So I'll be picking up and taking this piece of card with me everywhere. It doesn't gel with me. Also, again, very beautiful. I know where they did it. I really don't like that they have three different types of card. I think they could have done something about potentially if they wanted to, either doing design or coloring the cards differently, but using the same paper stock to give a similar consistency in the way that pens work on the paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think, honestly, let me interject. When I talked to Jeff about it, it is supposed to be the same paper stock with different finishes. So he was actually a little bit confused on why I was seeing what I was seeing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, finishes is the issue, isn't it? Yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So you can have the same paper stock and finish them completely differently for the effect.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Well, then, what I would want to see is that they're colored differently.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So your point holds. Yeah. Yeah. But okay. Because I just figured by looking at them from the way you described them that they were three different types of paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That was my expectation too.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because I know that you can get a brand of paper and not only does it come in different weights, it also comes in different finishes. Right. You know, like you can get like, even, and again, there's another problem is you can get one type of paper, two different colors, and they operate differently. They feel different. Yeah. Because of the chemicals.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' As Myke and I know from people dealing with printers and paper samples, the menu selection for a single sheet of paper is like, it's like the Cheesecake Factory menu. It's insane for a single sheet of paper. Listen to this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't know if you can understand, but that is a packet of like 40 pieces of paper that are all technically the same paper. Right. So it can be strange.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So anyway, I've backed this because I want to use the little box, even though it's not the total storage system that I want. It's not a large storage system, which is what I'll eventually want, which I just haven't bought for myself yet, like a card catalog type holder for the way I use my cards. I wanted that. And then I will probably just pass on the note cards because again, while the note cards are technically great, I just don't, I'm not going to use that system like you. I use my system differently. I'm not going to change my system to fit these cards because like you said, it just wouldn't work for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' We have new field notes as well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. That kind of caught me by surprise. I'm kind of off the scheduling bandwagon. Like I don't totally, the timing in my head is not, is not as synced up as it used to be, I guess, because I'm not subscribing anymore. So what do you, tell me, tell me what we've got here.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So it's called the Heavy Duty Edition and they are spiral bound on the top, like wire bound, like flip over. It's almost like a kind of squat, like a stockier reporter's notebook. And it's effectively like a work person's edition and they're considered to be tough and rugged. They have one lined with a faint grid in the middle of the line, which is interesting. And then another, which is just a grid.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the front back of the page.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, is it? Okay. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's why you see the faint. That's why you see, I had to double check. Oh, right. I thought there was one of each, but that's a front back to where you can see through.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's an interesting way of doing it. Like I was initially quite turned off of this because I would only want 50% of it, like of the notebook for two pack, because I don't want lined. But doing like, you know, that makes sense. Like, yeah, fine. Like I wouldn't, in a book like this anyway, I wouldn't find myself writing on the back page very often because of the way that you operate the book. Like, this is the first field notes that I, that have been released since my subscription lapsed. And I'm fine with that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' These are, this is a great addition because I imagine it is an addition that people really want. And they said it, like it's like a format that they've been thinking about for a long time. I think it's a clever, I love, you know, we've always said, I love it when they do new formats because it's, it can be interesting and weird and cool in different ways, but it's just not really one that I want. It's just not a format that I need.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I have a lot of thoughts about this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It is, I imagine that it's going to be a pretty divisive issue, a release for them. But I think the thing that they nailed in this release is that they made it three and a half by five and a half, which is the standard size of their pocket notebooks, which the pictures don't show that. The pictures make them look full size steno book, which they've released in the past, which they stock normally, or closer to your reporter style notebook. That's not what this is. And it's exactly what I want. I want the small top bound notebook. That's why Nock made the top bound staple bound notebook. It's not wire bound. It's just staple bound. I like vertical orientation. I just said it with the index cards. Give me things that I can use in that orientation. And that's what this is. I imagine the size is going to be a problem for people, but I think it's the exact size this product should be.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. 25,000 packs, which is the smallest edition since byline.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So that makes sense. I think they know. I think they know that this is like, it's different enough that it might not be for the faithful, you know, but is going to attract different customers, which is always good. So here, and yeah, go ahead. I was just saying, there's only so much you can do with the standard notebook size that they have. So I've always appreciated it when they've gone outside of the comfort zone.