# The iPad mini has genuinely changed my life [no hyperbole]

TL;DR

This might sound OTT, but I cannot overstate how awesome this product is. Being able to read and note-take by hand on one, small, mobile, light device has radically increased my ability & willingness to learn.

Background

I’m somebody who likes to read & learn a lot. I prefer to read/watch/listen and take notes, keep questions, thoughts, and visualisations to help me understand and remember.

Problem with using a laptop

A laptop, along with typed notes, is a decent solution when I’m at home, and want to sit at a desk.

Sometimes I don’t want to sit at a desk, if I’ve been sat at a desk working all day.

It’s not the most portable solution, especially on trains.

Typed notes are restrictive. I can’t easily diagram for instance, or jot informally.

Problem with notes on paper

Paper is great tech. No battery life!

It’s annoying to hold what I’m reading plus the note-pad though. Especially when not at a table.

What happens to the paper? Do I have to file it away somewhere?

Enter the iPad Mini

The iPad Mini solves all of these problems.

I can split screen, with Goodnotes on one side and the thing I’m reading/watching on the other. I can take notes seamlessly.

I’m holding just one thing. I don’t need a desk to lean on.

I can do it from anywhere. The sofa. The train. The back of a taxi.

The notes are filed digitally and synced to other devices.

For me, this has been a revolution in how I work and learn. Because it’s portable, I’ve tripled my reading and learning time.

I wish I had bought the f*#king thing sooner!

ARCHIVE

08 Apr 2026 40 Before 40 08 Apr 2026 A Year of Living Simply - Kate Humble 08 Apr 2026 Montaigne - Stefan Zweig 04 Apr 2026 William Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction - Stanley Wells 15 Mar 2026 Hitler's Secret - Rory Clements 15 Mar 2026 Nemesis - Rory Clements 08 Mar 2026 HRV & Me: Taming a messy stressy mind 02 Mar 2026 Nucleus - Rory Clements 19 Feb 2026 Corpus - Rory Clements 08 Feb 2026 Resonance 16 Jan 2026 A Night to Remember: Sinking of the Titanic - Walter Lord 01 Jan 2026 Everything I've read in 2026 (so far) 15 Dec 2025 Someone from the Past (British Library Crime Classics) - Margot Bennett 01 Dec 2025 Death in Ambush (British Library Crime Classics) - Susan Gilruth 23 Nov 2025 A Cold Wind From Moscow - Rory Clements 10 Nov 2025 The Boleyn Traitor - Philippa Gregory 24 Oct 2025 Death Makes a Prophet (British Library Crime Classics) - John Bude 13 Oct 2025 The Cheltenham Square Murder (British Library Crime Classics) - John Bude 04 Oct 2025 Sussex Downs Murders (British Library Crime Classics) - John Bude 22 Sep 2025 The Lake District Murder (British Library Crime Classics) - John Bude 15 Sep 2025 The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy 10 Sep 2025 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie 30 Aug 2025 Marble Hall Murders - Anthony Horowitz 25 Jul 2025 Where Angels Fear to Tread -- EM Forster 10 Jul 2025 Steve Jobs -- Walter Isaacson 10 Jul 2025 The Fifth Risk -- Michael Lewis 10 Jul 2025 The Ride of a Lifetime -- Bob Iger 03 Jul 2025 James -- Percival Everett 01 Jul 2025 Great Expectations -- Charles Dickens 23 Jun 2025 Hillbilly Elegy -- JD Vance 10 Jun 2025 Principles 09 Jun 2025 Revenge of the Tipping Point -- Malcolm Gladwell 06 Jun 2025 The Grand Babylon Hotel -- Arnold Bennett 04 Jun 2025 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo -- Taylor Jenkins Reid 03 Jun 2025 Rebecca -- Daphne du Maurier 29 May 2025 A Promised Land - Barack Obama 29 May 2025 Less - Andrew Sean Greer 13 May 2025 Careless People - Sarah Wynn-Williams 07 May 2025 Looking Glass War - John Le Carre 04 May 2025 A Murder of Quality - John Le Carre 01 May 2025 London Marathon 2025: Training Retrospective 29 Apr 2025 The Human Factor - Graham Greene 28 Apr 2025 London Marathon 2025: Race Review 27 Apr 2025 Photos: London Marathon 2025 27 Apr 2025 Spectating the London Marathon 2025 [Sunday 27th April] 26 Apr 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 16 23 Apr 2025 Call for the Dead - John Le Carre 21 Apr 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 15 16 Apr 2025 The Manchurian Candidate - Richard Condon 13 Apr 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 14 05 Apr 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 13 30 Mar 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 12 26 Mar 2025 Effortless - Greg Mckeown 23 Mar 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 11 16 Mar 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 10 09 Mar 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 9 02 Mar 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 8 22 Feb 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 7 16 Feb 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 6 16 Feb 2025 Problems & [Meta] Problem Solving 14 Feb 2025 Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson 10 Feb 2025 Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel 09 Feb 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 5 09 Feb 2025 Three Zero 03 Feb 2025 The iPad mini has genuinely changed my life [no hyperbole] 02 Feb 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 4 28 Jan 2025 Coming AI: Valuing Humans in a world where they have no economic value 28 Jan 2025 Value & Price 27 Jan 2025 The Vegetarian - Han Kang 27 Jan 2025 Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel 26 Jan 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 3 19 Jan 2025 Deriving my own proof for Unitary matrices 19 Jan 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 2 17 Jan 2025 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 12 Jan 2025 London Marathon 2025: Week 1 09 Jan 2025 NYC & DC '24 08 Jan 2025 Linear Algebra Playground 07 Jan 2025 Configuring an IKEA wireless light switch: Saving you the pain 07 Jan 2025 Goals & Goal-setting 06 Jan 2025 Digital Feeds 05 Jan 2025 London Marathon 2025: Training Begins 01 Jan 2025 Everything I've read in 2025