I’ve tried most of the note-taking apps. Notion for a year, Obsidian for six months, Roam briefly, Bear on and off since 2018. Each one started as a revelation and ended as a chore.

The problem isn’t the apps. They’re all genuinely good. The problem is that I kept mistaking the system for the thinking.

What plain text actually gives you

A folder called notes/ with markdown files in it has several properties that no app has matched:

• It opens instantly
• It works offline, always
• It will be readable in 30 years
• Any text editor on any device can open it
• Search is just grep

There’s something clarifying about having fewer features. I write more because there’s nothing else to do.

The one thing I miss

Tables. Markdown tables are miserable to write by hand. I’ve made peace with this.