The Evolving Landscape of Note-Taking Tools

We can really think of note-taking tools as content creation platforms. Broadly speaking, they actually fall into the same big category as video and audio editing software – they're all about helping people create stuff. The main difference is that text is way more flexible and has a lower barrier to entry compared to audio or video. That's why note-taking tools are also better at helping us retain knowledge and express ourselves, and they can even double as knowledge management solutions.

Honestly, no matter what kind of content you're creating or what platform and tools you're using to produce and publish it, the underlying creative process pretty much stays the same. It goes from topic selection, information gathering, and idea formation, to the actual production and finally publishing. These steps make up the core content creation workflow. If we were to map these steps out in a table, you'd clearly see where different types of tools come into play.

We've been looking at how AI is reshaping this process from two main angles:

1. Boosting Efficiency

Where can AI significantly boost efficiency? How were these stages done before, and what can AI replace or optimize now?

1. Advancements in Multimodal Output

Today's AI has made huge strides in its multimodal output capabilities. This means any content creation tool can directly generate videos, audio, animations, and all sorts of other content formats. This not only makes these tools more relevant to real-world needs but also aligns better with human nature and business logic.

The two main things we're working on right now actually revolve around these two directions:

First, in the idea validation stage – when we were building educational products in the past, we'd pour a ton of time and energy into things like PBL design, competitor analysis, and user research. Now, we're asking: Can AI help accelerate this process of "figuring out what we actually need to build"? That's our first big focus.

Second, in the final production stage – traditional note-taking tools are pretty much limited to text and images. But frankly, text and image content alone isn't a significant commercial offering. Given AI's multimodal capabilities, and with our team with expertise in both note-taking tools and the education industry, we're continuously thinking and experimenting with how to leverage this ability to create more valuable format-agnostic content. That's the second thing we're doing.

We're launching Recap 2.0 very soon! This version will really showcase our thinking and practical applications in both of these areas. Stay tuned!