A couple of years ago, I went to a Dell conference, and got a free notebook. It was a nice notebook, but I didn’t really need a notebook right then, so I just tossed it in the big pile of odd stuff under my desk at work and forgot about it. For some reason, I pulled it out recently and looked at it. I was nearly at the end of the legal pad I’d been using for note-taking, and was going to go get another one, but thought maybe I’d try out the freebie Dell notebook instead. There was a note in the back that refill sheets for it could be got from Levenger. Well, I got curious and checked their web site. To my surprise, I found that the freebie notebook would have cost me $94 if I’d bought it myself from Levenger. Well, now I had to start using it, because you can’t just let a $94 notebook sit around gathering dust. It’s just not right.
I got curious about this whole “Circa” thing. It turns out that there’s another company, Rolabind, that also sells these things. Apparently, their angle is in using the little rings and hole punchers to make scrapbooks. They appear to sell their stuff largely through arts & crafts stores. They seem to be a little bit less high-end than Levenger. Some of their stuff is also available through Staples. Levenger’s stuff seems to be available only through them, and they seem to be going after the more (ahem) affluent customer.
I’ve ordered some refill paper, for when I run out of the pages that came with the thing. I suppose I’ll archive old pages to a 3-ring binder, or just stick them in a file folder or something. (Looking at some of my old legal pads, it appears that I go through about 100 pages a year.)
If you’re wondering if there’s a point to this story, there really isn’t. I just figured I’d blog this, so the next guy who Googles “Levenger Circa” might find this post, thus discovering the Circa / Rollabind connection, much like I did, in someone else’s pointless blog post.
Oh, and I could go off on a tangent about Moleskine, which, now that I think about it, is one of the reasons I started thinking about paper, and pulled out that Dell notebook. There was an article about Moleskine in the NY Times or Wall Street Journal or something. I’ve actually seen a few references recently to the concept of ditching the PDA in favor of good old-fashioned paper. (Google for “Moleskine” and you’ll find all sorts of weird fetishistic articles and blog entries.)
I’ve struggled a bit myself over the last year or two as to whether or not I should ditch paper entirely and switch to a Tablet PC with OneNote. I decided that Tablet PC prices just haven’t come down to a reasonable level yet. Maybe next year.