I have a notebook with my password details, and I keep it in a safe place. There's something faintly ridiculous on the insistence on never writing down a password: we're quite happy to have physical keys for valuable property, which aren't kept all that securely.
The danger is in the password kept on a note stuck to the monitor, or somewhere else where it can be trivially discovered.
The security does shift away from the detail of the password to how that notebook is stored, but since it's not on a computer, the vulnerabilities and risks are different. The risks associated with the internet are mitigated by a complex password, and keeping a copy which is not on the internet greatly improves the safety of the system.
How is a written-down password, securely stored, any different from the tools, stand-alone or in web browsers, which remember your password for you?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
