The Moleskine Phenomena -A Retro Paradigm for a Hip, Tech-Savvy Creative World

It's the world's simplest interface: pen (or pencil) and paper. Bind a few sheets in notebook form and you've got an effective and easy-to-use information storage and retrieval system. Add a bookmark as a placeholder, slip in some tabs as markers, select blank or ruled pages (you can also choose pages with a grid) and voilà, you've got a powerful tool that won't shatter if it's dropped and has zero power consumption issues.

Did you notice the terminology in that first paragraph? You've read all those words before but in reference to your computer. That's because the vocabulary of computer interfaces comes from paper. In fact the whole move from command line interfaces (e.g. The Blinking C:/ prompt in DOS) to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) evolved from a design that used paper as its paradigm (hence black text against a white background, and elements such as folders and a desktop).This concept emerged in the 1970s at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the famed facilty belonging to Xerox, the document management giant that started, not surprisingly, as a paper company.

Today,  flat-panel iMacs, Tréos, iPhones, notebooks, handlhelds and palmtops, all use sophisticated GUIs that are variants of that original design, yet one of the hottest accessories among fashion-conscious and tech-savvy creative professionals is based on the real thing rather than on the metaphor. I'm talking about the Moleskine notebook, an old-fashioned paper product.

Taking its design cues from sketch books and journals used by European artists and intellectuals (at least according to the marketing hype) the standard Moleskine notebook features rounded corners, oilcloth-bound covers (usually black), an integrated cloth bookmark, a wrap-around elastic to keep it closed, and an accordion pocket on the inside back cover for scraps of paper, stamps, loose change and other small items. In its pocket format it's a classy take on a bachelor's little black book or a traveler's notepad. Its desktop version looks substantial, like something that Marcel Proust would have used to write Remembrance of Things Past. And in these days of 6 to 18-month product cycles and constant upgrades, there's something remarkably comforting about its old-fashioned allure.

Modo & Modo, the company that manufactures and markets the notebook, places an emphasis on the history of the product and its role in the 19th and 20th century  culture, citing names like Van Gogh, Wild, Hemingway and Chatwin. (Is there any better endorsement than that of a dead celebrity?) While this definitely adds to the mystique of the product, it also addresses a vital issue in these times of accelerated change: the need to feel connected to something a little more permanent. Technology is evolving, software and hardware are constantly being upgraded. New tools replace the old. The word processor that was perfect in its previous version becomes unusable in its new incarnation. A newer computer can't interface with an older CRT-based display. The database back-end used for the previous incarnation of a website is now obsolete. Such "progress" forces changes in work methods, but scribbling a note or sketching an image on paper remain what they were and are ridiculously simple, to boot. Then there's the sheer tactile pleasure of writing with a pen, feeling its barrel between the fingers and enjoying the sensation of ink gliding against paper. Dragging a mouse across the desktop or using a graphics tablet just don't feel as sexy.

Another compelling feature of the Moleskine is its disconnectedness. Every day brings phone calls, e-mails, text messages, blog posts and Facebook updates requiring interaction with clients, co-workers, friends and family (online and off), all of whom use networked tools. Writing longhand on paper is a way out of that interactive information loop and into another, private world. As an added benefit, information stored in a Moleskine isn't susceptible to malware, equipment failures, crashes and compatibility issues. At the same time, the most immediate and effective way to share the contents of a Moleskine is to open its pages and hand it to somebody else, creating an instant physical social network rather than a virtual one. Disconnectedness therefore breeds improved and immediate connectivity.

While virtues and simplicity of the Moleskine have made it a de rigeur accessory in some circles, but that hasn't stopped some tech-heads from trying to improve and alter it. A number of sites offer Moleskine hacks that range from the simple (adding tabs to organize things) to the inspired (coverting a notebook into a case for an iPod touch.) Such hacks are a regular fixture at Merlin Mann's 43folders.com, a website best known for introducing the world to the no-tech Hipster PDA (a stack of index cards held together by a clip or ring) and for the promoting the virtues of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GDT) organizational system.

There are blogs, Flickr communities and even a Facebook group devoted to Moleskines. The devotion inspired by the little black book is a great reminder that, when it comes to designing tools, newer is not necessarily better and simplicity can carry the day.

Posted by Christos Tsirbas.

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Comments

[Ian Kemmish]

You sound as if you almost believe that it's NOT the users who drive creeping featurism. But I can't imagine that anyone really believes such a preposterous idea.

If it were down to the boffins, all software would stop at version 1.1, and be both simple and elegant.