This resurgence in the popularity of notebooks isn't just limited to designer notebooks or alternatives to Moleskins. The whole market for pocket notebooks seems to be seeing a resurgence with a whole new generation, the millennials. These twenty-somethings are coming to realise that a simple analogue device has many advantages that our cutting edge digital devices cannot match. People who have literally grown up with handheld smart devices that are always on and always connected, have realised that there is an advantage to a device that does not need batteries, never loses charge and doesn't need to be connected to an internet server to work.
Today, we are trying to consolidate more and more devices and functions into things like smartphones. So, now your phone is your camera, your GPS device with mapping, your music player and your internet device in addition to being something you make and receive calls with. In this connected, digital age, the single purpose notebook has its own advantages. There is no software to install or update, there is no boot up time and there are no distractions, in the form of notifications from apps or your social media timelines.
Notebooks are also much cheaper that electronic devices, even when we are speaking of premium designer notebooks. More importantly, a notebook has a much longer life then an electronic device. Unless you lose it, you can have a notebook for many years and even decades. You can keep a notebook as a reference once you have filled it up. Electronic devices these days have obsolescence built into them so you have to replace them every couple of years.
Notebooks are also a lot harder and more resistant to damage. If you have an active lifestyle or even if you are just prone to dropping your personal belongings, a notebook is not going to get damaged or become unusable unless it hits the floor from a great height. In comparison, electronic devices like smartphones can become completely unusable and have their screens crack and shatter even if they slip out of your pocket and fall to the ground once.
One of the many cool things about notebooks that people are also discovering, is that they bring back the experience of putting pen to paper.
These days we all tap at keyboards all day for work. Even the physical keyboard is going away and being replaced by an onscreen keyboard in software with virtually no tactic feedback.
The notebook gives you the feeling of physical, lasting input. This is a satisfying feeling that a lot of people are rediscovering and realising that they really enjoy.
