Thursday, March 28, 2002
Improving on the Cocktail Napkin
Posted by Tycho Morgan in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 07:50 PM
http://research.microsoft.com/msrnews/smartquill.asp
For those of you who may not know, I keep a few scribble books and I do a fair amount of writing with a fountain pen. Yes that's right; I have a Jornada on my belt and write in paper notebooks with fountain pen (I have a Carbonesque Namiki Vanishing Point with a medium nib, seen below, if you were wondering.) My handwriting may not be the best in the world, and it can be a pain to type things up, but all in all I enjoy doing certain things in a notebook, especially outlining and note taking. I still use my Jornada quite a bit, but I tend to use it for things that absolutely must be typed, typing up notes, and PIM functions.
I think in the long run, the ultimate solution for me would be some sort of a tablet computer that combines the best of both worlds: the speed, elegance, grace, and feel of a collage ruled notebook (including the texture, and sensitivity), and the organizational efficenty of a PDA. Needless to say, I think this kind of technology (at a reasonable price) is a long way off. That's the thing about ultimate technologies, they either don't exist, or they aren't in your price range; I'd love to use a Mac, but I simply can't afford one, I'd also like thought based input for my Jornada, but that doesn't exist (yet).
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So anyway, I'm supposed to be writing about this new smart quill pen thingy (above) that Microsoft Research has developed that senses movement and is able to transcribe the motion of the pen into electronic text. Very nifty if you ask me, this is something that could earn a very honored spot in my gear arsenal.
"The pen is slightly larger than an ordinary fountain pen, with a screen on the barrel. If there's no cocktail napkin handy, never fear: it can detect and remember handwriting on the air. The user trains the pen to recognize a particular handwriting style - no matter how messy it is, as long as it is consistent, the pen can recognize it. The pen is then plugged into an "inkwell" that transmits the text to a PC or handheld or to a mobile telephone to be sent as email."
"Williams is convinced the Smart quill could be brought to market by next year at a reasonable price of about $200, about the same as a high-end fountain pen. “It’s the pen for the new millennium,” she says. “All the computing power you need, right in your pocket."
I hope that they really do make this a fountain pen: that would be just too cool. I also would really like that price tag and time line, but something in my gut says that it will be more than a few years and a little more than 200 dollars. We can always hope though.
For those of you who may not know, I keep a few scribble books and I do a fair amount of writing with a fountain pen. Yes that's right; I have a Jornada on my belt and write in paper notebooks with fountain pen (I have a Carbonesque Namiki Vanishing Point with a medium nib, seen below, if you were wondering.) My handwriting may not be the best in the world, and it can be a pain to type things up, but all in all I enjoy doing certain things in a notebook, especially outlining and note taking. I still use my Jornada quite a bit, but I tend to use it for things that absolutely must be typed, typing up notes, and PIM functions.
I think in the long run, the ultimate solution for me would be some sort of a tablet computer that combines the best of both worlds: the speed, elegance, grace, and feel of a collage ruled notebook (including the texture, and sensitivity), and the organizational efficenty of a PDA. Needless to say, I think this kind of technology (at a reasonable price) is a long way off. That's the thing about ultimate technologies, they either don't exist, or they aren't in your price range; I'd love to use a Mac, but I simply can't afford one, I'd also like thought based input for my Jornada, but that doesn't exist (yet).
. So anyway, I'm supposed to be writing about this new smart quill pen thingy (above) that Microsoft Research has developed that senses movement and is able to transcribe the motion of the pen into electronic text. Very nifty if you ask me, this is something that could earn a very honored spot in my gear arsenal.
"The pen is slightly larger than an ordinary fountain pen, with a screen on the barrel. If there's no cocktail napkin handy, never fear: it can detect and remember handwriting on the air. The user trains the pen to recognize a particular handwriting style - no matter how messy it is, as long as it is consistent, the pen can recognize it. The pen is then plugged into an "inkwell" that transmits the text to a PC or handheld or to a mobile telephone to be sent as email."
"Williams is convinced the Smart quill could be brought to market by next year at a reasonable price of about $200, about the same as a high-end fountain pen. “It’s the pen for the new millennium,” she says. “All the computing power you need, right in your pocket."
I hope that they really do make this a fountain pen: that would be just too cool. I also would really like that price tag and time line, but something in my gut says that it will be more than a few years and a little more than 200 dollars. We can always hope though.
