 Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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Ya gotta admit, this looks pretty cool.
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Cool story in today's New York Times about the rebirth of pen computing -- only this time the computer is in the pen:
Instead of forcing users to write with a stylus on a computer's slippery display, Livescribe put the computer inside a plump ballpoint pen that is used on paper imprinted with nearly invisible miniature dots. As a user writes, a tiny camera near the pen's tip watches those dots go by, recording what is being written.
Mr. Marggraff said calling it pen computing is a misnomer. "We are creating paper-based computing," he said.
In addition to the camera, the pen, which is about the size and weight of a fat Montblanc pen, has two microphones to record sound, a speaker for playback, a small display that Mr. Marggraff calls a pixel bar, and, of course, a hidden computer chip and other sophisticated electronics. It fits into a docking station, where it can upload or download programs and data files to and from a PC.
The Livescribe pen is a more advanced version of the LeapFrog Fly Pentop Computer, which itself has some impressive abilities, even if it is intended for children. Fly users can draw a calculator on paper and make it work by tapping the keys with the pen; a speaker in the pen plays back the results. Users can also draw a piano keyboard on a piece of paper and play a tune on it.
Well, I wonder. The form factor makes it easier to carry around than a laptop, but anyone with modest typing skills can type faster than write.
Maybe if they could get a cell phone, digital camera and MP3 player stuffed in there...
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Apr Jun
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