At its very heart, yes. And that alone is cool, I think (the scripting part).
But it's also a lot more: org-mode supports a simple form of task management (TODOs, Agenda views,...), it has a built-in spreadsheet editor (with formula support, all in ASCII), you can export contents to various backends (HTML, Beamer, ...) -- it really is a beast!
But yes, there are advantages to paper, like the ability to easily draw diagrams and link ideas with arrows, etc.
On the other hand, if you need that, you could always use something like a Wacom tablet, or maybe some other touch-screen device with a stylus. That would give you the best of both worlds.
Are there tools that will let the user search "hand drawn" digital image ? One can always use tag like system, which one can't with paper, but then it is extra work, and adding "text" tags is easier when using something like org-mode, or just plain text.
Still, there are ways to make drawing somewhat searchable too.
The (typed) names of the drawings you make are searchable, as are the tags (if you've used any, and you should), and their location on your filesystem. If there's some writing on the same page as the drawing, that's potentially OCR'able, and then searchable. Finally, you could always combine drawings with typed text, wich will be searchable.
At least for me, it's hard to beat physically crossing something out (or tearing a card in half) after finishing something on my to-do list.
After a few days of memorizing commands and learning -- my reaction was "WTF, I could have gotten 90% of the functionality I use from a (web) GUI app with 15 minutes of learning?!"
A bit later I realized that Org Mode have two advantages and still use it:
- It is always here, integrated with my development enviroment. With everything I need. (And if not, I can extend it.)
- Just using the keyboard in an editing environment I was used to, instead of a GUI, made the app "disappear" from a cognitive load perspective. Org Mode is like paper + pen for me in the way. I just use it naturally, with a minimal effect on my concentration.