In university I noticed that some of my classmates just sat there and didn't take notes. So I stopped as well. I sat there, listened and then took pictures of the blackboard. This method worked better for me and I noticed that I performed better. The lesson here is that people learn in different ways.
This was key for me as well. I tried doing transcription style notes on my computer (I'm a fast typer), and I tried doing deliberate handwritten notes. When I first started actually paying attention without noting I learned so much more
To extend this further, most of my math notes in college were done with a wacom tablet and a note app, xournal. this worked better for me than an ipad because I was able to keep my eyes up, my small laptop screen right below the whiteboard in the front. I was able to handwrite, but also adjust scale to make tiny annotations or large diagrams. I could also use built-in tools to quickly make perfect straight lines for graphs, change the background to lined, graph, blank, or a pdf, insert images, etc.
Then I was able to export notes as pdfs for classmates, retaining the speed of handwriting for non-text notes but also having the digital usefulness and never forgetting a notebook.
Yeah the more auditory learner types don't need to take notes. If I try to do this as a visual learner I'm like "yeah yes OK I get it!" then completely forget what the lecture was about 30 min later. If I just take like two- or three-word notes, especially placed around some kind of diagram, it allows me to remember a little bit of what was said (and, more importantly, be able to look it up).
