Ben NanoNote Trip Report

This is my trip report for the first extended use session with my NanoNote. I went camping for four days without access to power or any computer other than my NanoNote.

The battery powered the device for the duration of the trip. I used the NanoNote for the following of applications:

  • Outlining
  • Writing
  • Task List
  • Summarizing Conversation
  • Journaling

Outlining

I wrote outlines for a couple of topics I wished to write about later. Recording an outline was very easy. I would like rearranging the outline material to be easier.

Writing

I brought one partially complete writing project with me. Working on an existing project was difficult:

  • The project was started on an 80 character terminal, lines wrapped poorly on the 40 character NanoNote.
  • The document was poorly organized, which was more obvious and difficult on the small screen.

Task List

I recorded a handful of tasks for later completion. I haven't yet transferred them off the device and into my normal system.

Summarizing Conversation

I used the NanoNote to summarize several conversations. This use was similar to writing an outline.

The intention would be for this summary to make it's way into a larger document's outline.

Journaling

I also used the NanoNote to record thoughts and observations while engaged in activities. This use could benefit from a template to record date, time, and location.

Bugs

I'm experience a bug where typing a right single quote in vim causes the cursor to advance two spaces on the display, rather than the one I expected.

Refreshing the display with ctrl-l fixes the display. The final output is unaffected.

The del key being right above the enter key was frustrating. I would often hit one when I intended to hit the other.

I was typing at night, and really wished for a back lit keyboard. I settled for tilting the display down to illuminate the keyboard.

Summary

I consider my first extended use of this device a success. My most pressing unmet need is to have a better outlining tool, as the screen size on the NanoNote makes outlining a document a necessity to effectively see enough context.

This document was written from my NanoNote, while I was traveling and not able to use a full size computer.

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