
Why Startups Love Moleskines - coloneltcb
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-startups-love-moleskines?mbid=social_twitter
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backwardm
I personally can't use Moleskines. Not because of the paper or binding lacks
quality, but because they _are_ so nice—I can't bring myself to "mess up" an
expensive notebook with my notes. I much prefer to use regular copy paper.
That way, I can freely get ideas out without worrying about messing up a
relatively expensive notebook.

Once as an experiment, I bought a Moleskine, unwrapped it and promptly
scribbled like mad on the first page in an attempt to get past that. Didn't
work—I still felt really bad about it.

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Semiapies
I used to get the little pocket ones that were $10 for 3 and had no trouble
writing in them.

Field Notes have the same price point, but I like their paper better. (The top
of a page in particular has space I can put a title that'll stand out.)

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BrianEatWorld
I agree with the point about the benefits of physicals notes, but I still
don't understand what is so special about Moleskines. Maybe it was just
because I was an early hire and not a founder, but I actually preferred Mead's
line of Five-Star notebooks. Since I had to wear a variety of hats, from eng
to hr to content creation, the subject dividers were great for keeping
everything straight. They also seem to last forever.

My only wish was that they intermingled some engineering style quadrille
sheets with their college rule.

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ethanbond
Moleskines seem incredibly overrated to me. No organizational assistance, no
features (that's fine) and not even high grade paper/materials.

Rhodia/Leuchtturm1917/Clairefontaine at least feel/look awesome to write on
with minimal bleed.

Edit: Just saw there are like three comments already pointing all of this
out... But yeah, the minimalism isn't the problem. Minimalism without quality
is an odd success story though.

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camillomiller
Quality is there. Price might be a bit inflated, but that's marketing. While I
agree that there are many similar options for a book-type common notebook, I
still have to find a reporter notebook that beats the overall quality of
Moleskine's Reporter.

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lambdaelite
I don't understand why the Moleskine brand has grown so popular when the paper
quality is so poor relative to other manufacturers, e.g.
Rhodia/Clairefontaine.

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ryanmcbride
Brand marketing and good design. Moleskines look cool, Rhodia and
Clairfontaine have mostly spiral bound journals, which don't look as cool. The
paper might be higher quality, but I don't imagine most users actually care
that much.

I've been using Moleskine for years and the paper hasn't bothered me at all. I
might just be a pleb though.

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lambdaelite
Moleskine paper is notorious for feathering and bleeding when used with
fountain pens, even fairly dry writers. I've actually had better luck with a
no-name bound book from Office Depot than I have had with Moleskines.

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LyndsySimon
+1.

My favorite notebook right now is a Rhodia No 18 dot pad. Staple bound is far
superior to wire.

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jseliger
I prefer Rhodia: [http://jakeseliger.com/2013/01/05/product-review-rhodia-
webb...](http://jakeseliger.com/2013/01/05/product-review-rhodia-webbie-
webnotebook/) after this happened: [http://jakeseliger.com/2011/05/11/eight-
years-of-writing-and...](http://jakeseliger.com/2011/05/11/eight-years-of-
writing-and-the-first-busted-moleskine/). Nonetheless I do get the point and
still prefer physical notebooks for the reasons described in the article.

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nosuchthing
Moleskins arn't that great.

Only the last half of the pages are perforated. The pocket is nice but it's
prone to ripping because it's just paper. And for such a simple notebook it's
absurdly over priced.

I happened to find a pocket journal made for kids from Japan that cost $1.50,
the paper is higher quality than moleskins, it's spiral bound, has a clear
plastic pocket area with a flap that can be used as a page marker, and the
cover has an dual elastic bands that can also be used as page markers or just
securing the entire notebook closed. It fits neatly in my pocket. Also it has
a cute anthropomorphized bear on the cover with inspirational engrish.

For larger notebooks, staples carries a line of recycled sugarcane notebooks
which has excellent paper quality, comes with covers either blank or
monochrome geometric designs, and only costs about $5.

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justinsingh
When I use a (Lechtrum) moleskine, I feel like I am creating an artisan
product that is an extension of my thoughts- something to be kept as a remnant
of my mind.

I fill up the table of contents section with close attention. The page numbers
remind me of my progress more clearly. Filling in the date section is a simple
feature that reminds me how long it has been since I last used the respective
notebook, as I have graph paper moleskines and lined paper moleskines.

These simple features make my notes feel more important, and as a result I
take much greater care with the clarity and explanation of my notes.
Personally, after having spent about a year using moleskines, my productivity
and enjoyment with taking notes has increased significantly.

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teh_klev
Blimey, I am genuinely unsure if this is a parody comment or not.

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justinsingh
It's not a parody comment. I am a big fan of writing, and products that make
my writing feel more valuable make me care more about what I am writing. It's
as simple as that.

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boondaburrah
I've been exposed to asian style lined notebooks while in Japan and can't go
back. I use the Kokuyo or Mauruman loose-leaf paper in a binder and it has
little marks on the rules to help you line up your characters. Of course for
me this makes perfect writing/graphing paper, since the regular marks stand in
for a grid in a pinch. Also the paper quality is much smoother then
mead/staples whatever. Some may like that, some may not. I do.

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sebbean
they do?

