Review: Moleskine Notebook
Posted by Jon Lee in Personal, Reviews, tags: fisher-space-pen, hipster-pda, moleskine, review
How much does a notebook cost? A dollar? Two dollars? Maybe even 5 dollars? Try $15. Yes fifteen dollars for a Moleskine notebook. The Moleskine notebook is a legendary brand notebook used by famous writers and artists like Chatwin and Picasso. The cover is not actually made of mole skin; modern covers are a synthetic material made in Italy.
Moleskines come in many flavors, there’s something for everyone. Everything from different opening styles (reporter, fold-out), different layouts (plain, city guides, grided, music, calendars) and different kinds of paper (watercolour, acid-free)
There is a large cult following of people that swear by the Moleskine so I decided to pick up a couple to see what all the hype is about. 
I bought a pocket ruled notebook and a regular ruled notebook. When you pick it up, the first thing you’ll notice is the elastic strap that holds the notebook closed. It’s very handy and many cheaper notebooks have copied this feature. The second thing you’ll notice is the bookmark. It’s useful as well: to keep track of what page you’ve written up to, to divide sections etc. The third feature is the little folder in the back of the notebook that is used to hold whatever small sheet of paper or receipts you might have. It is also perfect for index cards just in case you have to draw someone a map or as part of your Getting Things Done system.
The notebook itself writes very well; the pages all open relatively flat and the size is perfect. The elastic is the perfect place to hold your Fisher Bullet Space Pen (on pocket sized Moleskines) or a G2 Pilot (on regular sized Moleskines).
Personally, I carry my pocket Moleskine (w/Fisher Bullet) around with me at all times. I use it as my blogging notebook – a place where I handwrite all my posts while I’m on the road or on public transit to and from work (if road conditions aren’t too bumpy and I get a seat). I use my regular sized notebook as a place to brainstorm, to draw a lot of webpage designs, UML diagrams, logo ideas and database designs.
With the pocket version at $15 and the regular size at $20 (in Canada at least), I think it is well worth the cost. It’s very high quality and a joy to write in. At $15, it really makes you cherish and use it. Although, I think a spiral notebook may be better since it can open completely flat. The Little Black Notebook has an elastic and might make for a better choice at $8.
Ultimately it’s up to you to decide whether it is worth the premium cost for the extra features and “brand name”. If money were no object, I would buy a whole box of them – don’t they look sexy all lined up?
P.S. The Moleskine Memo Pockets looks like a very good organizer for a GTD system!
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