I thought to have a conversation with you guys, to give you a sneak peek into my life at Paperless X. It will touch on the developers, my personal feelings and emotions that can be a source of bias.
Sponsorships
Naturally, the most logical reason to get biased for any reviewer is for sponsorships because they bring more money than YouTube ads. But, sponsors also have a lot of demands. They want you to say certain things, review videos before they go live, and make adjustments. That is one of the reasons we don’t get a lot of sponsors. We make sure to tell the developers that they can’t be involved in our review process, or even look at the script. That’s usually when the conversation ends with most of them. The only developers to have supported this channel without bias or making any demands are Nebo, LiquidText, Kyoku Flashcards, and Noteful.
Goodnotes
If I were biased, I would probably hate Goodnotes the most. We’ve covered the app since the beginning of this channel, and I was probably the first YouTuber to start focusing on handwriting on the iPad. Since then, I have covered Goodnotes’ new features, kept you guys updated, and even had some meetings with the developers to share some ideas. Paperless X has only made $600 from Goodnotes for one update they really wanted a positive review on: The Goodnotes Community, which they have since discontinued. I am sure they were unhappy with that review because that was the last time we had a meaningful conversation with the Goodnotes developers.
I was touched that Goodnotes would start an Ambassadorship program and not invite us; that really hurt on a personal level. But when we looked at the requirements, we realised it was probably for the best because Paperless X doesn’t represent Goodnotes. We don’t represent any app; we cover all apps with an aim to educate and inform users to ease their way around new apps and technology.
Some of you guys might think maybe I was a little entitled to expect an invitation to the ambassadors program. Let me make my case: Goodnotes just invited us to join their affiliate program that we had no idea existed. I think I’ve summed up my relationship with Goodnotes. So, with all that said, if I were biased, I would never recommend Goodnotes to anyone. I would amplify the app’s bad features and bugs. But Goodnotes is a great app, and our goal at Paperless X is to help you find the best digital tools you need. It’s not about me or Goodnotes; it’s about you! We wake up every day to make sure we give you unbiased reviews of every app, no matter how much we dislike the developers.
If we made biased reviews, this is what we’d probably say: don’t use Goodnotes because it drains your battery and heats up your iPad, which will completely destroy it, giving it a short lifespan. Why? Because a lot of people have complained about this, every video, most conversation we’ve had, etc. It’s a real problem in Goodnotes that we can amplify. The reason we don’t say it is because we haven’t experienced this ourselves, and no matter what we’ve tried, we’ve not been able to replicate it. We also haven’t had the opportunity to observe someone with the issue to see if it’s solely an app problem or if there is anything users can do to reduce it. We use the apps we review, we evaluate them fairly to see who they can help. So, amplifying issues we haven’t experienced ourselves breaks the code.
Apple
It’s strange that I seem to hold a bigger grudge for Goodnotes than I do for Apple. The iPad team from Apple contacted Paperless X some years back with a really cool proposal. We exchanged emails, hopped onto a call, and we were about to strike our biggest deal at the time. Until they asked me where I was and where I am from. The answer to both of those that questions at the time was: Africa. That was the last we heard from Apple, and all our emails have never been responded to since. They kept my email in their newsletter, though. So, I still get invited to events and get some inside information, but that’s it. We’ll not get into racial profiling and all that, but it was the first and last time I experienced that. Apple doesn’t work with Africans; great! Just to clarify, by African, I mean a person who was born on the continent of Africa (which has 54 different countries). There are a lot of definitions for what being African means, so that’s my definition.
If I were biased against Apple, I would have probably closed shop. Paperless X focuses on apps that work. We take our time to evaluate apps, sometimes even years, and that is a true reflection of me as a person. I love things that work. Be it a house, car, phone, app, city, town, or country. Apple devices work, their apps work, and I don’t have enough time to try other brands. It was great when we were starting to build our Android team, but without support from Noteful, that quickly crumbled. But the goal is that we will get a chance to rebuild our Android team and bring on the channels humans that love the platform to start searching for apps that work on it.
Notability
Notability is no different. Like Goodnotes, they paid us $600 for one update review when they went subscription. We even advised them against making the subscription compulsory for old users, but our advice fell on deaf ears. But of course, the digital note-taking community forced their hand on that one. I don’t have any major issues with Notability like I do with Goodnotes, but we don’t actually have a functional relationship either since that update. I just wish developers could get this: Paperless X is not a marketing brand. We are digital strategists trying to make sure everyone has a digital workflow they love and that it makes them more productive.
If we were biased, we would tell you that Notability has the worst user experience of all the handwriting note-taking apps on the market, which will waste a lot of your time. Why? Notability complicated very simple tasks for a better look. It definitely was a problem for old users at first, but I am sure most have gotten used to it by now. It’s probably a lesson for other developers; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Notability developers were trying to give us a modern app, and they achieved that. We can at least take that. Amplifying that would be unfair, don’t you think?Â
Lessons
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. I can’t do a video telling you how terrible Goodnotes, Notability, or Apple Notes is because of how I think the developers have treated me. There’s a chance my interpretation of the events that took place is incorrect. Even if I were right, it serves no purpose to dwell on it or bad mouth good apps because of my feelings towards the app developers. At the end of the day, one thing stands: every app has its flaws and strengths. At Paperless X, we cover them all to make sure you enjoy and love your digital transformation and that you don’t resent it. We’ve been able to keep all our reviews unbiased because of all the support we get from you guys who watch our videos and read our content, our Patreon community, members at Paperless Humans who are learning from our paid courses, and the few lovely developers who have chosen to support our vision through their generous donations.
