Did a thing today that I hoped to never do -- I went back to paper for field cruise data. Between hardware standards issues and operating system licensing hassles and various other problems, field computers have always been problematic. I finally just got tired of it, and decided to take a stab at doing it old-school. For the first time in I don't even remember how long, I left the truck without any computer devices at all, save my work phone and radio. It was honestly refreshing to take good notes on paper with no formatting restrictions and no crashes, to fall back into the familiar rhythm of pacing between plots, and to feel the satisfaction of coming out on the other side of the unit exactly where I expected to be. I haven't figured out a good non-digital way to do 3P cruises yet, so I'll most likely be using the computer for marking, but at least on volume/inventory type cruises, I think I may be done with electronics. This actually hurts my sense of progress, but the years just haven't brought good field computer solutions. In fact, they are barely better than they were 20 years ago. They weigh less, and the battery lasts longer, and the screens aren't as affected by temperature change or glare, but the basic tabular structure of the data hasn't changed, so neither the hardware nor the software interfaces have done so, either. I am very disappointed.
If you're curious --
THIS is the notebook I'm using. I am paper-clipping a map into the inside front cover, and rubber-banding the current page to open automatically. Left side has tree data and ground notes, right side has log data in 16-foot logs. There are spaces for 16 logs there, but I only number 1-12 since that's about the tallest I see on this ground. I would make an exception if I needed to... which is EXACTLY the sort of thing computers aren't good for and paper is.
I would love it if Moleskine would make
THIS notebook in Rite-In-The-Rain paper; I wrote them several times asking for exactly that but have never received so much as a "Thank you for your interest" response. For now, I'll use the one I've got. It's a damn sight better than the stupid computers I've been doing battle with for so long, even if I DO have to commit to manual data entry later. I know I'm trading one headache for the other, but at least it means less aggravation outdoors, which is where I would rather be anyway.
(I'm gonna watch it rain 2moro :msp_biggrin
