Notepads is a relatively new feature that got introduced in the recent Cursor 0.41 (September 2024). When I first read about the feature, I got pretty excited. Specifying context is arguably the most important part of using Cursor effectively.

The more I build with AI tools, the less and less I ask them to do. When I started using Cursor, I had gotten caught up in the demo hype. I asked it to build big, complex features in my product. Features I didn’t define very clearly and that would take serious architectural thinking across many files to make work.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve gotten excited about all these new AI tools that have been coming out. As a product manager with some knowledge, but ultimately fairly limited technical skills, it’s unlocked a whole range of new technologies and technologies that are not just for the realm of productivity that I couldn’t have done otherwise.

I’ve tried to use Obsidian for a couple years now. My main aim has been to use it to set up a nice Zettelkasten system, which I’ve always hoped to do after reading “How to Take Smart Notes” years ago. Frankly, I’ve always struggled to get into a good rhythm with it, even though it’s clearly something that will be very useful for the way I work (I’m a heavy notetaker).

After reading Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games, I’ve begun to recognize that the garden could be the most important metaphor for product development (at least the kind I like to do, anyway).