From a simple scribble to a lengthy to-do list, the art of writing has connected humanity’s greatest achievements across centuries.
Today, Amazon Kindle has revealed new research showing this old age habit remains as powerful as ever, with nearly two thirds (66%) of Brits still creating to-do lists and taking notes, just as history’s most iconic minds have done throughout the ages.
To demonstrate the timeless importance of effective note-taking, Amazon has teamed up with historian and co-host of The Rest is History podcast, Dominic Sandbrook.
The collaboration explores how some of history’s greatest thinkers might have organized their ideas using digital writing tools like Kindle Scribe – a device that combines all the benefits of Kindle with powerful note-taking capabilities to deliver a writing experience that feels like pen on paper.
It comes as research reveals 69% of people believe they remember things more effectively once written down.
Historian Dominic Sandbrook unveils Amazon Kindle Scribe’s reimagined notebooks of history’s greatest thinkers including William Shakespeare
Modern note-takers cite feeling more organised (42%), more in control of their day (28%) and remaining focused (26%) as key benefits of note taking – highlighting how writing continues to drive productivity across the ages.
Working closely with historian Sandbrook, Amazon has crafted modern-day interpretations of what these historical figures’ notes might look like if they had used Kindle Scribe. These digital reimagining showcase how the device’s features could have aided their creative processes:.
‘You often can learn more about people from their notes, jottings and doodles than you can from hours of speeches or piles of letters,’ said Dominic Sandbrook. ‘So it’s great fun to speculate what we might learn from the to-do lists of history’s greatest characters. What little historical clues, would we pick up from the scribbles of William Shakespeare? And how much easier might their lives have been if they, like us, had been able to reach for a Kindle Scribe to organise their thoughts?’.
Despite living in our digital age, more than three quarters (81%) of Brits still depend on bits of paper for jotting things down.
Plenty use whatever comes to hand – 65% scribble on scraps of paper, envelopes or receipts, whilst 68% rely on sticky notes.
Yet this old-fashioned method has its pitfalls, with one in 10 (11%) saying they frequently lose or misplace these notes and one in 10 (11%) confessing they cannot decipher their own scrawl.
More than a quarter (29%) of those surveyed highlight the capacity to edit and rearrange notes whilst on the move as the primary advantage, whilst locating particular notes swiftly (29%) and structuring notes effectively (17%) also demonstrate worth.
How Leonard da Vinci would have looked with an Amazon Scribe
When jotting things down, Brits employ different techniques including underlining (25%), highlighting (24%), penning summaries (16%) and incorporating doodles and sketches (10%). Kindle Scribe encapsulates all these methods with its paper-like display, Premium Pen, and seamless integration of reading and writing.
Users can utilise the built-in notebook with customisable templates plus seamless note-taking directly within books.
The Kindle Scribe also allows users to convert handwritten notes to text alongside the notebook summarisation feature to easily recap notes or refine handwriting into an elegant script – all organised distraction-free on one device.
The Kindle Scribe also allows users to convert handwritten notes to text alongside the notebook summarisation feature to easily recap notes or refine handwriting into an elegant script – all organised distraction-free on one device.
