For many years, I have been a prolific note-taker. Starting in college, I took notes on yellow copy paper, three-hole punched to fit my looseleaf notebook. I liked the broad, open space on the page, unrestricted by lines. I favored the unique color that easily separated my notes from run-of-the-mill white paper. Plus, copy paper was really cheap.

Even after college, I still took lots of notes. For a while, I switched to blue paper, but soon gravitatated back to yellow. After a while, I switched to half-size (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches) but still bought reams of yellow paper.

Until last summer. Then, I switched almost exclusively to taking notes on my computer. I had grown tired of all the file drawer space my notes took up and the time it took to file and retrieve the notes. While I routinely took notes of long meetings or workshops on my computer, I still recorded notes from telephone calls and short meetings on my yellow paper. I figured it was time for a change.

So, since that time, I have typed and filed away hundreds of pages of notes using Sun’s StarOffice word processor. But alas, I was saving lots of paper and filing time, but retrieval was still questionable. And StarOffice was really overkill for 90% of my notes.

Enter DogMelon, a quirkly little company in Australia. I began to search for a suitable note-taking program that would match my desire for freedom of expression but satisfy my need for easy organization and retrieval. Most programs I tried were too restrictive – like lines on note paper I rejected 35 years ago. Then I found DogMelon Note Studio – literally a personal wiki, where I could take notes and easily organize and retrieve my thoughts, all to my heart’s content. Plus, it brought an unexpected bonus – all my notes could be synched with my new Treo 700p – so I could carry and update all my organized notes in the palm of my hand!

Note Studio isn’t perfect. It has some odd ways of doing things. I have already assembled a short list of features I would like to see in the next release. But in the critical areas of flexibility, organization, retrieval and speed, it really matches my style.

What I really haven’t figured out, though, is what a quirky name like DogMelon has to do with taking notes.

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