Of course not, you certainly don't need a smart phone to give you all of the other advantages of a digital log. Having your log on your phone is just one further advantage if you have a smart phone. But I might point out that a smart phone is a great tool for a diver with lots of useful diving apps besides a log, and if you end up getting one in 5 years, and you want to put your log on it then, you won't need to manually enter all of those dives. But certainly a minor point, and not central to the digital vs. paper discussion. I just haven't seen the need to digitally log dives, which I find more effort than paper logging. I can access the information in the physical logs readily, and haven't seen an advantage to the benefits of e-databasing - not that there wouldn't be some occasionally, or to some people, just that it hasn't seemed worthwhile to me.
I never take my laptop on a dive trip, and I never make log entries into my phone. I just enter them like I'm entering this post now, by typing them in on my computer at home. I guess if I was on a long trip, and I didn't have a dive computer that downloaded data, I might want to make a few paper notes on the trip, or even make digital entries in some other way, but again, having a digital log doesn't mean that you need to even have a cell phone or a laptop with you on the boat. It's a lot more certain that I'll have access to a logbook in short order following a dive.
I don't understand this one at all. A digital log is infinitely customizable, and the basic data can be redisplayed or organized as often as you like. You can include as much or as little information as you want. Seriously, let me know what you mean by this... I'm not sure I know what you mean. Try drawing a picture, or appending a memento!
Well, I guess this is a personal preference. Some people really like handwritten text on paper, and it speaks to them in ways that even a printout of a log doesn't. If that's the case, then I guess it does make sense to keep a paper log, as long as you don't mind trading away all of the other advantages that I mentioned above. Having used pen and paper for 'written' expression for the majority of my life, it's definitely the case for me that composing on the keyboard is notably different than on paper.
Digital data is much more secure. It is virtually impossible to lose properly backed up data, unlike a single paper object which of course can be lost, stolen, drowned, burned, etc.... Now lots of people don't properly back up their data, so it's not really a criticism of digital logs to say that if you don't know how to deal with digital information it's insecure. That's like saying that diving is unacceptably dangerous because some people do stupid things an get hurt or killed. I think it's more like saying diving with simple gear is materially more dangerous than diving with complex gear which has the potential of added benefits and redundancy, w/o considering the downside of the complexity or the context of the dive. Maximum technology is not always indicated for all endeavor for all people. With digital, if your protocol is at all short of ideal, the volume of loss is likely to be greater - eggs in one basket pitfall. No one misplaces a bookshelf, or has a whole library lock itself away, or throws away several books inadvertently, short of something as major as fire or flood, which can threaten digital data as well. And you never hear of thieves stealing dive logs!!
Again, I'm not sure what you mean by this. It seems to me that one of the advantages of a digital log is that it makes it easier to track your data, organize your data and review it in any way that is appropriate, now or in the future (on your phone, on a website, in a printed version, on your laptop, in an email, etc...). Within the framework of the mileau, of course digitized data is vastly more manipulable, but that mileau is pretty damn constrained and/or awkward.
, take pictures and attach it to the log, grab GPS data and all kinds of neat stuff.
