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Comment by muaddirac | Hacker News Reader

I guess I was thinking in the context of the author using this particular pen for shorthand - it records audio, so even if he's just writing shorthand, it's still recording.

Really good points though, it didn't occur to me that someone would be willing to go "on the record" but not be actually recorded.

There are some other solutions that use keyboards that wouldn't be as intrusive as a keyboard or tablet (and may be something to consider for you personally if you have a disability in only one side); things like portable one-handed chorded keyboards: http://www.handykey.com/ and http://chordite.com/

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Yeah, it's kind of weird that people would go "on the record" but not want to be recorded. But there's something about pulling out a tape recorder (or in my case, an iPhone with a recording app) that freaks people out. I think part of this fear stems from the age we live in, with the 24 hour news cycle and "gotcha" journalism. People half suspect you're going to use something they said against them, as if it's a police interrogation. :)

I like to reassure people that I record them for my own accuracy, and that it actually behooves both of us to do a recording. Even still, about 50-60% of people will decline. Younger people seem more likely to decline than older people, at least in my anecdotal experience, which strikes me as interesting. There might be something worth exploring there.

Yeah. I do press stuff as a volunteer from time to time, and I've learnt the art of speaking for half an hour with no part-sentence being an abusable pull-quote, after a few times where precisely that happened.

(Simple method: when speaking of tricky matters, twist your grammar and pepper with adjectives and adverbs. Always follow with a pullquote you'd like used. Use variations on your favoured quote a few times.)

This sounds interesting, but it's not clear how it's done. Could you give a few examples?

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