I have always had an affection for Moleskine notebooks, especially when taking notes during an interview or client meeting. I hate flipping up my laptop because it seems impersonal. When the iPad was introduced, I felt a little better about it because nothing created a barrier between me and the client. However, I still felt taking handwritten notes was more personal.

Moleskine notebooks are iconic. They are simple, clean, and make a statement. But using them also created a few extra steps for me:

  1. I had to keep them in stock.
  2. I had to carry them with me in addition to everything else. When you travel, you become very aware of everything you carry with you.
  3. I had to tear the pages out to scan them into Evernote. Major drag!
  4. I had to throw the notebook away which created a lot of guilt.

Introduce Penultimate.

I first came across Penultimate a year ago. It wasn’t that exciting. In fact, I actually removed the app. When Penultimate recently announced a seamless integration with Evernote, I decided to give it another chance.

Now I love it!

Penultimate has vastly improved its application since I first used it. Here’s why:

  1. I can quickly create a virtual notebook that looks like my Moleskine notebook…on my iPad. That means one less item to carry.
  2. I can easily write in my natural handwriting with a stylus. It really does feel natural.
  3. I never have to worry about running out of paper.
  4. I can easily scan thumbnails when I need to add a quick note to a previous page.
  5. I can quickly export the pages I need to Evernote. No tearing pages or scanning!
  6. In addition to Evernote, all my notebooks are automatically backed up to Dropbox.

If you find yourself taking a lot of notes and spending a lot of time getting those notes into digital form and organized, give Penultimate a try. I think you’ll really like it.

What has been your experience with Penultimate?

Ben Stroup is a content activist in a post-paragraph world. He is chief broker of opportunity at Ben Stroup Enterprises. Connect with Ben via email, Twitter, and Google+. Subscribe via email to learn how to use content to move people to action.


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