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  • An iPad buying guide for 2021

    An iPad buying guide for 2021

    One of the most important questions that arises for paperless studies is that of note-taking. Tablets are generally a good solution for this. This article takes a specific look at Apple’s offering. An iPad buying guide for 2021.

    I first wrote this article in May 2018. And then again pretty much exactly a year ago. In both previous versions (the most recent of which is included linked here), I tried to be as comprehensive as possible in mapping out the various options, and in particular to include the Microsoft Surface line.

    This time I’ve decided differently. I will only write about iPads in the next section. I simply don’t have the experience for Windows and Android devices and I don’t want to judge anything I haven’t used myself. Therefore, this article is about which iPad makes sense for university. But if you’re on the lookout, you should also take a look at Microsoft’s Surface line or Samsung’s tablets. In the past, Android tablets were usually not that great because the app offering was not good, especially in the productivity area. I can’t say whether that has changed in the meantime.

    So if any manufacturer reads this and wants to send me a test model of a Microsoft or Android tablet, I’d love to try a tablet that isn’t made by Apple ????

    The obvious solution: laptops

    But first, let’s take a brief look at the obvious solution: the laptop. If you look into any lecture hall, you will see many, many MacBooks (usually MacBook Airs), supplemented by one or two Samsung devices, rarely Lenovos or others.

    That makes sense, since most people still prefer laptops, since tablets are not „real“ computers. When it comes to taking notes, however, it’s the other way round. With the right practice, you can take notes very quickly, but when it comes to annotating slides, it becomes problematic. If you want to add a sketch or a diagram, you are quickly at a loss. Before you have copied such elements with mouse and keyboard, the professor has long since moved on to the next topic. It is therefore worthwhile to think more carefully about whether the laptop is still the most suitable solution for lectures or whether a tablet or convertible would make more sense.

    However, I would like to say one thing: if the decision is laptop or tablet, I would still go for the laptop. There are certainly cases where you could get by with just a tablet. As a rule, however, a classic laptop is still the more universal solution and those who have to choose one should probably prefer the solution with which everything is at least feasible. The following sections are therefore aimed at all those who either still have a computer at home anyway, or at least somehow still have access to a classic computer when they need one.

    It would go too far to do an extensive laptop comparison here, so I’ll leave it at pointing out my own current laptop: The M1 MacBook Air* from last year. Ever since Apple started building its own processor, the MacBook has had an almost ridiculously long battery life, is really fast, and since Apple’s hardware usually ages very well, you can definitely do an entire degree with it (yes, Bachelor and Master). And at currently 1400€ for the model with 512GB SSD, you can definitely consider this investment. In any case, I’m extremely satisfied.

    The better solution: tablet with keyboard and pen

    When it comes to diagrams/sketches/drawings, it turns out that not everything was worse in the past. With a little practice, almost anyone can get a usable diagram on paper in no time.

    To be effective in this respect even without paper, I therefore recommend a combination of tablet, keyboard and corresponding stylus. This trio combines all the advantages: With a (Bluetooth) keyboard, you can take notes just as quickly as with a laptop keyboard. The pen allows you to draw or take notes directly by hand, and everything is directly digital, as it should be.

    Of course, you can also use GoodNotes, for example, to annotate the lecture slides directly. I have described the best way to do this here.

    Which iPad would you like to use?

    So this is explicitly about which iPad I would recommend for university. However, years of experience have shown me that you can do a lot right with Apple’s tablets. They’re fast as hell, come with a host of great apps out of the box, are top-notch in terms of build quality and thus maintain their value – partly because they get software updates for many years. Moreover, high-quality apps like GoodNotes or LumaFusion are usually developed for iPadOS first and only secondarily for Android or Windows – and sometimes not at all. This is not meant to be an advertising block for Apple, but in my eyes they have simply been leading the tablet market for years.

    So what is my current recommendation? The answer is somewhat differentiated. Apple currently has four models on offer: the iPad without a name suffix (8th generation, subsequently iPad 8) with a 10.2-inch display, the iPad Air (4th generation and 10.9 inches), the iPad Mini (5th generation, 7.9 inches) and the iPad Pro (5th generation, 11 or 12.9 inches). iPad 8 and iPad Mini only support the first generation Apple Pencil, Air and Pro also the new one. But even though the Pencil 2 does a lot better than its predecessor, both are great for digital note-taking and drawing, so the tablets don’t differ too much in this respect.

    Display size as an important decision

    The most important difference is display size. Here you have to know (or best try out in a shop) which display size you prefer. The normal iPad and the iPad Air are most likely to be the usual iPad size. If you want a large device that also allows you to easily display two documents at the same time, you have to go for the Pro. At the other end of the continuum is the Mini, which is more of a digital notepad, but may be interesting for that very reason.

    In terms of performance, there is more than enough leeway with all versions. The Mini and the iPad 8 are the most likely to fall behind, as they „only“ have the A12 chip, which is from 2018. However, if you don’t use the iPad for editing and exporting huge video files, this is not a problem at all.

    The iPad Air, on the other hand, has the newer A14 Bionic chip and the Pro models even have the brand new M1 processor, which is also in the MacBook Air. So when it comes to processors, Apple doesn’t show any weaknesses; you’ll have fun with every model in this respect.

    How much storage is necessary?

    Once you have decided on a size, you should think carefully about how many gigabytes of internal storage you need. My rule of thumb here would be that 32 GB is too little, 64 GB can work and it becomes comfortable from 128 GB onwards. Just take a look at your smartphone and see how much internal memory you have, that should be a good indicator. If you want more than 128 GB, the iPad 8 is already out of the question, as you only have the choice between 32 GB (don’t buy it, far too little storage!!) for €379 and 128 GB (€479). With the Mini you can choose between 64 GB for €449 or 256 GB (€619) and with the Air the same (64 GB for €649 or 256 GB for €819). The two Pro models then have the widest choice. Here you can choose between 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB and even 2 TB.

    Finally, you need to know whether you need LTE or whether Wifi is enough. For most people, Wifi will probably do, but only those who are really on the road a lot should think about LTE.

    An external keyboard is really a necessity

    Now that we have taken care of the inner values, let’s look at the accessories. The question of the stylus is quickly answered. For the Air and Pro, you take the second-generation Pencil, for the 8 or Mini, the first-generation Pencil. If you want to save a little and don’t need all the functions, you can also take a look at the Logitech Crayon. The only difference between the Apple Pencil and the Crayon is the pressure sensitivity. The Apple Pencil can recognise how much pressure you apply when writing or drawing, but the Crayon cannot. But it only costs €70 and not €99 (Gen. 1) or €135 (Gen. 2). You can also find both versions of the Pencil cheaper if you search for them on Amazon* or other online retailers.

    It gets more confusing with a possible keyboard. In my experience, it is very helpful to have a keyboard for the iPad as well, because writing is much easier. The basic decision to be made here is whether you want a keyboard from Apple itself or one of the many variants from third-party manufacturers such as Logitech. It is impossible to make a recommendation because of the large number of products. Personally, I would stick to one of the big and established manufacturers like Microsoft, Brydge or Logitech and always choose a keyboard that is also a case/cover for the iPad, so that I have a ‚total package‘ and not the iPad and another loose keyboard.

    I’ve heard good things about the 1 BY ONE Bluetooth Keyboard*, for example, but I haven’t tested it myself yet (which would be just a keyboard and not a cover, oh well..). Logitech’s Slim Folio Keyboard*]8 might be interesting for those who want a keyboard and case in one.

    Apple’s (expensive) solution

    The second option is, of course, to use Apple’s own solution. What comes into question here again depends on the iPad chosen. Apple currently offers three models: the Smart Keyboard, the Smart Keyboard Folio and the Magic Keyboard.

    Smart Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio are more or less the same product, except that the former is compatible with the old iPad design, which the iPad 8 still has. The Folio is then the choice for all iPads with the new design (flat edges, narrower borders), i.e. the iPad Pro and the iPad Air. However, Apple’s keyboards are not cheap. The Smart Keyboard currently costs €179 in the Apple Store, the Folio even €199. For that, typing on it is really fun. But of course you can also get one for much less money.

    If that’s not enough, you can buy the Magic Keyboard for a whopping €339. For that you get a pretty sophisticated „hover mechanism“ to attach the iPad to the keyboard and – much more important – a trackpad. But since that will probably only be of interest to very few people at this price, I’ll leave it at that.

    For many, the focus should probably go to third-party suppliers like Logitech or 1 BY ONE anyway.

    Digital transcripts: the iPad as a convincing solution

    This article was only about iPads, Android or Microsoft tablets or convertibles were not considered due to my lack of experience. That’s not ideal, but I can say in good conscience that you won’t go wrong with an iPad in any case. Without advertising unnecessarily: In the tablet market, Apple sells the most devices for a reason. They are simply very, very good, durable and not that expensive – at least compared to the competition.

    But which iPad would I recommend? If it’s just a matter of having a companion device to annotate slides in a lecture, for example, or to read texts for a seminar, then probably the iPad 8 with 128 GB memory for currently €479. You get a superbly manufactured tablet with a still fast processor and the option of using it with a keyboard and pen.

    If you want a bit more of everything, including a larger colour selection, larger display and faster processor, you can go up a notch to the iPad Air. But since the price for 256 GB of storage is already €819, I think the extra price is only justified if you really have the money to spare and can derive real added value from one of the features.

    Mini and Pro as edge cases

    That leaves the iPad Pro and the Mini. Let’s start with the second-named. I can’t really recommend the Mini to anyone unless you absolutely want a very expensive notepad. Don’t get me wrong, the Mini is exciting in its own way. But because it’s so damn small (7.9″), you can hardly edit slides or PDFs on it in any meaningful way, which rather disqualifies it for everyday university use. Since the 256 GB version also costs a whopping €619, it’s probably out of the question for most people.

    That leaves the Pro. Who is it for? I think, on the one hand, for those who only want to work with the iPad and want the absolute best that Apple is currently producing. From the M1 chip to the LiDAR sensor, 12MP camera and 5G, this tablet really has everything on board. And then of course there are those who would like a really big iPad. You can’t get the 12.9″ of the big iPad on any other tablet. However, even the smallest memory version (128 GB) costs 1200 €. And that is probably not within the realm of possibility for most students.

    To help you decide, here is an overview of the four current models. By the way, you should always check with providers like MacTrade to see if you can get a discount. These are often available to students, especially at the start of the semester.

    ModellDisplaygröße (in Zoll)ProzessorStift / TastaturSpeicherPreis (in €)
    iPad Mini7.9A12Pencil 1. Gen / Bluetooth Tastaturen64GB449
    iPad Mini7.9A12Pencil 1. Gen / Bluetooth Tastaturen256GB619
    iPad 810.2A12Pencil 1. Gen / Smart Keyboard32GB379
    iPad 810.2A12Pencil 1. Gen / Smart Keyboard128GB479
    iPad Air10.9A14Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio64GB649
    iPad Air10.9A14Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio256GB819
    iPad Pro11M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio128GB879
    iPad Pro11M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio256GB989
    iPad Pro11M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio512GB1209
    iPad Pro11M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio1TB1649
    iPad Pro11M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio2TB2089
    iPad Pro12.9M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio128GB1199
    iPad Pro12.9M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio256GB1309
    iPad Pro12.9M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio512GB1529
    iPad Pro12.9M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart Keyboard Folio1TB1969
    iPad Pro12.9M1Pencil 2. Gen / Magic Keyboard o. Smart

    All prices refer to the Wifi option, not the LTE model. As of: 27.04.21, Source: Apple.com/de

    Links marked with an asterisk * are affiliate links. When you make a purchase, I profit from a small commission without the product becoming more expensive for you. This is a wonderful way to support my work.

    Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

  • DuckDuckGo – the better search engine?

    DuckDuckGo – the better search engine?

    If you search for something on the Internet, you do it through Google. But aren’t there perhaps privacy-friendly alternatives? Yes! DuckDuckGo.

    If you’re looking for something on the Internet, you do it – of course – through Google. But aren’t there perhaps alternatives that don’t create a complete profile of my life and still deliver useful results? I think so: DuckDuckGo.

    For the past few weeks, I’ve been seeing them everywhere: billboards advertising DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is a search engine, and now you might directly ask yourself why you still have to write articles about search engines in 2021? Google has monopolized the market, and you can get anything you want there. And at this point, you can’t fool yourself either: Google has the best results. And it’s no wonder, after all, they are a multi-billion dollar company that pulls together data from all sorts of sources and creates personal profiles. So for an alternative, it can’t be about delivering better results. Instead, it must stand out in other ways. Moreover, the results must not be too bad, of course. I can accept a little worse results if the added value is greater overall. Too bad results won’t do, of course. So what is the state of DuckDuckGo? And why should I use DuckDuckGo instead of Google at all?

    One business model, two approaches

    The answer is simple: privacy. Google is not a search engine. Google is a data vendor. The business model is straightforward. We as users are not the customers, companies are. Google collects data from users through its unbeatable free offer, sells it to companies that want to advertise and makes money that way.

    DuckDuckGo stands out here. Yes, DuckDuckGo also places advertisements and earns a large part of its money this way. However, the advertising is not based on the user’s profile, as is the case with Google, but simply on what is searched for. If I search for „vacation at the Baltic Sea“ I will get ads for hotels at the Baltic Sea. However, no profile of mine is created, with which it would be possible to trace what I searched for five minutes ago, yesterday or two weeks ago and what else I am interested in. Google, on the other hand, knows where I go (Google Maps), who I write emails to (GMail) and what I watch in my free time (YouTube).

    The crucial question concerning search results

    Of course, it is difficult to quantify the quality of search results. One would have to conduct a long series of tests with different searches and user profiles to arrive at a reasonably comparable conclusion. So all that remains is good old anecdotal evidence. And here I can say that my usage experience has clearly improved over the years. When I tried to use DuckDuckGo a few years ago, it was simply not possible. I simply didn’t find anything.

    In the meantime, things look quite different. I use DuckDuckGo on all my devices and I no longer have the impression that it hinders me in my work. On the contrary. More often than not, I am very satisfied with the results. I can’t express that in percentages, but as a rule I am satisfied.

    Important here are the regional settings, which are located under the search box. If I search for something in German, I activate the switch and set the regional context to Germany. This also works with a variety of other countries and improves the results dramatically. It is the same when I search for things in English or simply an international context. In this case, I switch off the region-specific context and get significantly different results than if I were still searching in the German context. So if you are not satisfied with the results, you should first set your own country context.

    Right next to it, there are also settings for the family filter and the time period to which the search should refer: Sometime, Yesterday, Last Week, Last Month or Last Year. If you are looking for news or other time-sensitive information, this is of course very practical.

    Country context, family filter and time limit can significantly change the search results.

    And of course, DuckDuckGo also has various special searches, as known from Google for either everything, pictures, videos, news or maps. This helps not only with the specific search, but also to protect your privacy. You can watch Youtube videos directly in DuckDuckGo without Youtube and therefore Google noticing who is watching.

    !Bangs for a meta search engine

    And then there’s the trick with Bangs and that’s where DuckDuckGo really stands out. Bangs are short commands that convert DuckDuckGo to a meta search engine. They always work according to the scheme !shortcut and then search on the respective service without sharing your own data. DuckDuckGo acts as an intermediary. For example, I can search with !g on Google, with !a on Amazon or with !yt on YouTube. DuckDuckGo then leads me directly to the respective page and presents me the results. These are also just three examples, there are many more. In total, it is currently the almost ridiculously large number of 13,505 bangs, all to look up on a separate page of DuckDuckGo.

    It’s also nice that I can use DuckDuckGo anywhere. On desktop computers or laptops this has never been much of a problem: just open the browser settings to set the search engine of your choice. On a smartphone, it’s a bit more complicated, but fortunately it works. For Android, it is described here, for iPhones and iPads I go to the Settings app and open the Safari settings. There I find the entry Search Engines and I can choose between Google, Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo. I can now search on the go with DuckDuckGo.

    Less convenience, better overall package

    Of course, you shouldn’t fool yourself. DuckDuckGo is not as good or convenient as Google. You will have to do without many integrations, such as seeing opening hours, directions and the busiest hours of the day directly on Google when you search for a store or restaurant. Or the handy answer cards that Google provides for some questions, giving you the answer without having to go to the actual page. Here, Google simply has the edge.

    But if you can do without such niceties, you should definitely try DuckDuckGo. It is not a multi-tool like Google, but simply a search engine. However, this search engine works quite well and can be extended by bangs in almost any direction. For that alone, you could use DuckDuckGo. But the most important thing is privacy. I don’t want Google to record everything I do day in and day out, and therefore I accept worse search results from time to time. In a pinch, I search with !g on Google – but anonymously!

  • Organize notes in Obsidian – my workflow

    Organize notes in Obsidian – my workflow

    Organizing notes in Obsidian is certainly possible thanks to folders and hashtags. However, I wanted to take a different approach and rely on a mixture of tables of contents (or maps of content), tag pages, and very classic folders. A detailed overview of my file structure in Obsidian

    For about a year now, I can’t imagine my daily work without Obsidian. In the beginning, I was just looking for a home for my Zettelkasten, but in the meantime I write everything from quick notes to diary entries to scientific papers in Obsidian. And sometime last year I realized that it would no longer be enough to treat Obsidian like a Zettelkasten. Because it wasn’t (just) that anymore.

    Sure; if I only kept notes and fragments of knowledge in Obsidian, there would be no need for structuring beyond tags or the like. But I use Obsidian every day for my normal work and for that I need quick access to all notes and texts from the project I’m working on. If I had to use search every time to find the summary of a meeting, for example, I could stop working right now – I simply wouldn’t get anything done. So I had to find a system to structure the different types of text in Obsidian and make them quickly accessible. I decided on a mixed system of tags, folders and maps of content.

    Folders for different types of notes

    The first organizing principle is folders, but they are filled very disproportionately. The background is that I do not use thematic folders, but divide them by note types (with one exception). The following folders are currently in use:

    My folders in Obsidian

    0 [Seedbox][1] is my inbox. New notes end up there first, whether I create them in Obsidian or import them from another app. Extracted notes from Zotero consequently end up there as well. I often leave notes there that I’m working on. I usually take a closer look once a week and decide which notes get moved to 11 Notes as permanent notes, what can be deleted and what stays there for now. With that, we’ve already anticipated the second folder: 11 Notes contains the absolute bulk of my notes, as it’s the place for all content notes I want to keep – regardless of the topic. Classic Zettelkasten notes are there as well as texts I wrote for the blog or drafts of scientific publications.

    1 Indexes and MOCs contains the already mentioned Maps of Content which I will discuss in the next section.

    2 Daily Notes contains my daily notes, which I use as a kind of diary. I usually capture there what I did during the day, what I was happy with and what I was not. I find this kind of reflection to be an extremely valuable part of trying to continually improve myself.

    3 Meetings contains meeting notes that I want to keep separate so that I can quickly get to a specific meeting if I need to review something. I have also created a template for meetings, so that my meeting notes are always structured according to the same scheme. Together with the [Templater Plugin][2] I can create a meeting note in no time and focus on the content.

    In 4 People there are notes about people. Especially for my PhD this is very valuable, because I often read the names of people that might be interesting later on. Interview partners sometimes give clues to other interesting people, or you meet someone at a conference, but you wouldn’t remember them after a few years.

    The folders 5 Categories, 7 Attachments and 8 Templates are quickly told: In the first one are my category notes. Pretty much every note gets a category according to the scheme @category. For example, a note about a book gets @book. A podcast gets @podcast. But I also use categories like @PhD or @PapierlosStudieren. I use the @ sign only so that I can see the category at first glance and so that it stands out better from other tags. For me, categories are just tag pages, which I will discuss below.

    7 Attachments is then simply my folder for all attachments (images and PDFs) and 8 Templates holds – not surprisingly – templates for notes.

    My PhD folder as an exception

    What remains? 6 Literature, 9 Reviews, 10 PhD and Old notes. Maybe starting directly at the end: In Old Notes are leftovers from an older system, which I still haven’t integrated completely. A bit like the last moving box, which still stands in the corner half a year after moving into the new apartment. But one day it will be unpacked, eventually.

    In 6 Literature there are literature notes. These are often quotes or marked parts of texts that I imported to Obsidian to write new notes with them. How I do that, I have described in detail [here][3]. I have a separate folder for it, because it’s often not my own thoughts, but what I find exciting in other people‘ s work. To separate both, I use different folders. There are also resumés for books I’ve read. Every book I read gets a little résumé in which I briefly note what it was about and what I thought of it.

    There is not much in the ninth folder yet. In principle, however, annual reviews or reflections on my [annual theme][4] end up there. All the reflections I do in regular intervals to think about whether I’m still on the right path (for me).

    10 PhD is then the only exception, as there is not a specific kind of note in here, but everything (content-wise) related to my dissertation. As much as I like to use tags and search, I also like to click through folders from time to time and with such an important and at the same time extensive project as my dissertation, I wanted to have a place where everything can be found. Hence this folder, which doesn’t fit into the system, but gives me peace of mind as I have a very specific place to go for all my thoughts, notes and texts on my PhD project. I can still use tags and search, so I don’t lose anything.

    Quick accesses and Maps of Content

    So much, then, for my basic folder structure, which still doesn’t do that much with actual content notes. Here I use tables of contents, also called Maps of Content in the English-language discussion. These are located in the appropriate folder (see above). I have created these maps of content on different hierarchical levels. At the top is my index, where I link all other MOCs. So to speak a table of contents for tables of contents.

    Then there are the actual MOCs, each representing a large area of my life. For example, I have one for everything related to my work as a social scientist or one for my freelance work as a writer and blogger. In another, I link my mini-reviews that I write for each book I read. Within these MOCs, individual project MOCs or individual notes can then be linked. Here I just decide based on what feels useful to me. Often this comes with working as well. I’m working on a project and I always need that one note, so I end up just linking it in the appropriate MOC. Also, MOCs are very helpful for me to clear my mind. I don’t like having to rely solely on search, and that’s where MOCs give me the ability to create a clickable collection of all project components.

    An example from my MOC for the blog
    and my books MOC, where I link short reviews of books I read

    And then there are the pinned notes that Obsidian itself provides. Here, notes can be pinned with a keyboard shortcut and quickly retrieved. I find this very helpful, because I can pin everything I need regularly, including MOCs and searches! Currently I have there

    • pinned my most important MOCs (Index, Academia, my old project I worked for until the end of 2020 and my PhD MOC),
    • a note containing article ideas for the blog,
    • a help note with the color codes I use to mark up PDFs,
    • a search for all notes that have something to do with my [newsletter][5]
    • and this article.
    My current pinned notes and searches

    Topic pages instead of tags

    The last thing that remains is how I connect pages with similar topics. Many will resort to tags (i.e. #) here, as you know it from Twitter. I usually don’t do that, but use topic pages. To do this, I simply create a [[topic page]] and link to it at the end of the note. A note about academic writing would then have e.g. [[academicWriting]] linked. This has the advantage that I create keywords over time that work like pages. So I can quickly see all the notes that have been linked to that topic page via backlinks. Also, I can potentially expand topic pages into „real“ notes simply by writing in the still empty note. I can’t do that with hashtags.

    Combining structure and flexibility

    Obsidian does not provide structure. This is both a curse and a blessing. At the beginning, I still thought that the search and the Knowledge Graph would be completely sufficient for me. However, from the moment I started using Obsidian for my daily work, I quickly reached its limits. I simply lacked quick access and overviews so that I didn’t have to search for a note every time I was in a meeting, for example. With the combination of topic pages, pinned notes, folders and maps of content, I now feel like I have enough structure in Obsidian to not panic every time I can’t find a note.

    My constantly growing Knowledge Graph

    At the same time, my content notes are still all in one folder, so I get the inherent benefits of Obsidian. With the Knowledge Graph, I can still drift and roam associatively through my knowledge base in a beautiful way. Obsidian’s great strength (among others) is precisely this flexibility. I can easily adapt it to my preferences and working conditions. On the other hand, it also increases the barrier to entry, since you really have to think about what you want and need. For me, though, it was more than worth it.

  • Readwise – My new Information Hub?

    Readwise – My new Information Hub?

    Digital texts can be floating around in all kinds of apps. Getting interesting passages out of there to write notes with them, for example, can be quite annoying and fragmented. Readwise wants to be the missing piece in the middle here, bundling highlights from Kindle or Apple books, PDF, articles on websites or even podcasts in one place. I took a look at it.

    The problem with digital texts

    I read digital texts in many different ways. One is RSS feeds, which I use instead of social media to read exciting articles. Often, though, I don’t have time to read an article at that moment and save it to Instapaper to read it later. Then, of course, there are eBooks. Sure, I read a lot of „real“ books, too. Still, over the last ten years, eBooks have become an integral part of my reading process. And I buy them wherever I can get them at the best price. Usually that’s Amazon, the Apple Books store, or – in the case of indie authors – simply the person’s website.
    So I read things on all possible corners of the internet and of course I want to do something with it. If I just read a text, it might be nice for the moment, but it’s not very helpful in the long run. Often, even after months, I still have a feeling for a text and a rough idea of what was in it, but I certainly don’t get the argumentation or details straight. So I have to make sure that I not only read texts, but also process them.

    The first step for me is always to mark interesting parts of the text. Especially with digital texts this works very well. There’s just one problem when you read content in many different places: every service, every app has its own system for exporting highlights. And usually nothing is automated. So I’d have to keep digging around in apps or web interfaces if I wanted to get to my highlights. Not exactly a workflow that you would call intuitive and uncomplicated. And that, of course, reduces the chance that you’ll do it at all.

    This is where Readwise comes in. Readwise is a web service that aims to solve the problem I just described. You can connect Readwise to other services and then grant Readwise access to the service in question. Readwise then takes care of importing highlights. A simple example is Instapaper. Almost all articles that I find interesting first end up in Instapaper. I then read them there and highlight sections. Readwise then imports them automatically, so I don’t have to do it myself. In the same way I’ve connected my Apple Books and Kindle library, so Readwise can import highlights from books I have there. So instead of exporting highlights for three services and each article or book myself, Readwise does it for me automatically.

    Import possibilities as far as the eye can see

    So far, so good. But what if I don’t use any of these three providers? Then there is at least a pretty good chance that Readwise can still help. If there’s one thing that impresses me about Readwise, it’s how many implementations they’re working on, or are already on board, respectively. In addition to Apple Books, Kindle and Instapaper, they currently have Pocket, Twitter, Medium, Feedly and Hypothes.is, Google Play Books and O’Reilly Learning, as well as the Command browser, which specializes in intensive text work.

    But these are only the websites from which highlights are imported directly. In addition, there are a myriad of other ways to import readings into Readwise. For example, you can connect your Kindle via USB to have the file with all the highlights directly read and imported. Or have it emailed to Readwise. Another way is to upload a CSV file (i.e. from Excel). There is also a workaround for the (audio) book flatrate Scribd to be able to import highlights despite the lack of an API.

    But that’s not all. Currently, a feature is in beta that allows PDFs to be uploaded so that highlights and comments can also be imported from PDFs. Please don’t get me wrong: the services I listed above are great and it’s an impressive range. PDFs, however, would be a real gamechanger. PDF is the backbone of science, all current papers and texts (also) appear as PDF and if I had a service through Readwise to export and bundle my annotations and comments from PDFs, that would be a fantastic help. Currently the way it works is that you have to send the PDF to the address [email protected]. Of course, you have to use the same email address that you use in your account, so that Readwise can assign the PDF to the right account.

    Real books on the shelf? No problem

    But that’s not the end of the story either. It is also possible to either add text yourself via copy & paste or to take a picture of a section in a printed book and then upload it. In Readwise it is then possible to mark a few sentences, which are then OCR’ed. I have only tried this once so far, but it worked very well, especially because I was able to assign the correct book from a database.

    But that’s all now, isn’t it? ISN’T IT?? No. There is also the Goodreads integration, Supplemental Books and Airr. Goodreads is a social network for books. You can create lists of what you’ve read and what you’d like to read, rate books, write reviews and much more (if you want to see what I’m reading, you can do that on my Goodreads profile). But beyond that, Goodreads also offers to show popular highlights for a book. You can then see which parts of a book others found particularly interesting. Now this isn’t necessarily useful if you want to strictly just collect your own thoughts. But it can be very helpful if you’re looking for inspiration or are just curious about what others found noteworthy about a book.

    Supplemental Books does something very similar, showing popular highlights from books you’ve read. Where Readwise gets the highlights from is not entirely clear to me. Possibly from its own database, i.e. highlights that other users have imported. One of the most exciting integrations, however, is Airr. Airr is a podcast player that allows you to clip short sections of a podcast. It is also possible to automatically transcribe a podcast and then send parts of the transcript to Readwise. In this way, podcasts can be integrated into a text workflow. Podcasts can become a source like web pages, PDFs or books1.

    Organizing highlights with tags

    So there is no lack of ways to import content into Readwise. But what about organization and management? It is of little use to me if I have all the content in the world, but can’t work with it in a meaningful way.

    • My books in cover view
    • and list view

    Readwise relies here primarily on a classification by media type and tags. At the same time, it becomes clear that the focus is not on working directly in Readwise. The organizational options are not elaborate enough for that. As a user, I have no possibility to organize highlights according to my own scheme. The default options are books, supplemental books, articles, podcasts, tags, favorites, discarded highlights, and highlights that you find particularly important and want to learn by using the mastery feature. So the organization options are more for browsing or looking for something now and then, not so much for implementing a complex system.

    Learning with Mastery and Spaced Repition

    Readwise is not only an intermediate step for the actual work. It can also be used to learn content. For this purpose there is the already mentioned Mastery feature. This makes it possible to learn highlights with the Spaced Repition method. To do this, all you have to do is click on the Mastery button that each Highlights card has and then select the word or words you want to learn, for example because it is a definition. Then the next time, the selected words are not visible. However, I could only ever make a maximum of five words invisible, so it’s not good for hiding a complete definition, for example.

    • With the Mastery feature, highlights can be converted into index cards

    Fortunately, there is a second way to work with text sections. You can also create an index card by writing down any question and then entering the text passage or a part of it as the answer. This is a good way to learn longer sections.

    • Question and answer cards can also be created

    Daily highlights: Gimmick or real added value?

    For me, the daily email with highlights falls more under the category „nice gimmick“. The idea is that every day at a set time you can get an email from Readwise containing five highlights (or more, can be adjusted in the settings) from the existing repertoire. In addition, you can get a sixth highlight from a book that you haven’t read, but that Readwise thinks is appropriate based on your library. For each highlight, you can then specify whether you want to keep seeing it or not. You can also add them to the highlights you want to learn and assign tags. In the settings, you can change the frequency with which certain sources are shown. You can also set whether newly added content or older content should be displayed.

    A highlight card with several options

    For me it’s a nice ritual in the morning, but it doesn’t have too much value. I have set the mail to be sent to me every morning at 7, so that I can do the daily run-through over my morning coffee. Every now and then I indeed stumble across interesting passages from books or articles. However, I also have the feeling that Readwise still needs to do a bit of fine-tuning here, since I quite often get the same books or articles, whereas some others from my library have not yet appeared at all. Maybe I have to experiment with the settings again.

    Export to Evernote, Roam and Notion.

    But if Readwise itself is not so good for organizing text passages, it needs an exit. Readwise is then the intermediary that gathers my highlights from all sorts of sources, but not the place where productive work with that text happens. Readwise has its export function for exactly this purpose. It currently works automatically for Evernote, Notion and Roam Research, three of the biggest players in this field. You can also export CSV and Markdown files manually.

    Markdown export is fortunately possible

    Is it useful? Do I need it?

    How do I rate Readwise? Is it useful or just another subscription that you don’t use enough? First and foremost, I find the idea behind Readwise fascinating, as it addresses a real problem. People who work a lot with digital texts simply often get caught in a trap where they collect a plethora of content but don’t work effectively with it. Marking up is one thing. Generating retrievable knowledge from it or writing useful texts is something else entirely. In addition, the large platforms such as Amazon Kindle or Apple Books often do not make this second step particularly easy or intuitive. Readwise can play a decisive role here.
    However, you also notice that the service is still in its fledgling stages. The web interface often takes a bit longer to load and the algorithm for highlighting also needs some work. On the other hand, I find the number of integrations already in place quite impressive and I expect more to be added in the future. In addition, if the PDF import emerges from the beta phase as a reliable feature, it would increase the usefulness especially for scientists and students d.

    Educational discount and double trial period

    Currently, Readwise costs $4.49 per month in the Lite version and $7.99 in the Pro version without the educational discount. I tend to think that the Lite version is not sufficient. Many of the exciting features (Tags and Notes, Export to Evernote and Notion, Mastery) are only included in the Pro version. A complete overview can be found here. The good thing, however, is that Readwise offers a quite generous educational discount of 50%. As I understand the website, you just have to have something to do with a university. Study there, work there, still have a mail address left. A mail to [email protected] seems to be enough.

    If you want to have a look for yourself, you can do so via this link. If you register, you will get an extra month of trial period (60 days instead of the normal 30 days) and you will also give me a month to test it. Fair, isn’t it?

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