That's great for some situations (like some college lectures or a daily scrum meeting) but simply doesn't fly in others. At my job, for example, missing a single detail in one of our interviews can be the difference between the success and complete failure of a project. Retaining just "a lot more" of the information isn't enough, you must retain (or record) all of the information. In such situations, note taking is mandatory.

Those are the same situations that encourage the "transcription" style of notes though, which as discussed above, presents its own problems. It's all about finding a balance.