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New Thinkpad To Combine Pen/Paper
Fervent writes: "You want handwriting recognition, but you want to have a real machine, not a PDA? You want as compact a machine as possible, maybe as small as a screen and some notebook paper? Check out the article on IBM's new Thinkpad which will be debuting Friday at the CES. The article is at ZDNet -- keyboard and mouse are optional."
Lets just hope we dont have to learn another whole new letter and charictor layout like the palm has. That is the most annoying part of pen computing in my opinion.
Really? The Newton 130 and 2x00 are pen computing devices. And they don't require a whole new character/letter layout. (the pre 2.x versions of Newton Intelligence, well, sucked.)
Perhaps with newer and faster palms, these faster palms will be able to have useable handwriting interface without having to re-train the user.
The pocket PC line has the processor cycles, but many do not find the software compelling.
If it was said on slashdot, it MUST be true!
I always struggled with the real differences between a notebook and a laptop. Other than size and weight I've never really found any difference. It's nice to see that someone is going to make a diffinitive stand and make a true notebook computer.
I just can't figure why anyone would need to write something on paper?...I bet the government/insurance/healthcare people who need everything in double triplicate are driving the market for this contraption.
I'm LEFT HANDED! My elbow will be all over the keyboard!
Did I get it all? Ok, I'll just be getting to work, now...:) Seriously, is there anything in there that seems to be mutually exclusive? The keyboard is often a big one, because it's so hard to make a good portable one that doesn't take up much space and is yet still useful for people that type quickly. Other than that, I'd think that something like foldable smart paper would do it. Combined with some sort of docking station that had the keyboard? That was flexible enough to fold and put into a pocket, but when extended was stiff enough (like a clipboard) that you could hold it and write on it? Would the wireless connection need to be in the device itself, or could it be in the docking station, ala a Palm sync?
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I have awfull handwriting and was having
problems with it since school. I was so
happy that currently you type almost
everything. Now these guys trying
to resurrect handwrting again! Somebody
please stop them!
I can't use the machine .. because I'm left handed.
--
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
IBM will also offer TransNote models for both right-handed and left-handed writers.
DYSLEXICS, UNTIE!
This is really the best for someone who needs a laptop's functionality and power but also needs to be able to take notes without the limitations of a cropped-down QWERTY keyboard (ie. college students, especially in math and comsci classes) I'd like to see good flowchart and composite software. What would be really sweet would be a program that tried to translate into ASCII as you went along, but kept undecipherable letters in their original bitmapped form along with apparent mispellings or misstrokes (kind of how Adobe Acrobat does OCR - it translates what it can, and simply includes what it can't.) and also allow for drawings, diagrams, etc.
This would be perfect for me (PDAs, particularly palmtops, have size and flexibility limitations for doing serious work) to use, if only it were cheaper. I'd buy it for $2000, but as always, laptops must be overpriced. I'd also like a (much) bigger screen, but that's asking for a little much.
This sounds awfully similar to what Apple already did really well (then killed) with the Newton 2x00 series. I have a Newton 2000, which can recognize even my horrible writing... and while it doesn't have actual paper, why would I need that? It also has about a two week in-use battery life (gotta love that 162 MHz StrongARM!), actually fits on a palm top and does cursive as well as printed recognition. You can find out more from all sorts of places, including Planet Newton or This Old Newt. There's an entire community out there who hopes daily that someone - anyone - will build something as good again. I hope IBM has done so... that is, if the screen part works separately from anything else, and has similar PDA-like characteristics.
The Signal/Noise ratio can be improved in two ways. Remaining silent is the OTHER way.
Rather than having the pad of paper to the side, couldn't the (presumably) touch-sensitive bit have been put on the underside of the laptop? You could then make notes on it like it was a clipboard... And it could fold out to the side for use when the laptop was open in the usual way.
A recent Ask Slashdot about Electronic Class Notebook discussed a paperless pen computer. The Crosspad was also mentioned there several times.
One possible technique would use the hall effect to detect the change in a magnetic field from the pen material. That would require a specific type of pen. I'm not sure from the article if this is the case or not.
What makes this thing so heavy?
IBM did do the software for Crosspad - they even released an SDK at IBM Handwriting with version for Java and C++. This is an adaption of that work. The problem with the Crosspad was, among other things, the time it took to resync work to the PC. This skips that step allowing for a much more fluid handwriting/typing interaction.
Heh, you should see the Thinkpad 240, it would really drive you nuts. It has a 'Function' key where the Ctrl-key normally is, and the Ctrl-key is packed between 'Function' and the space bar.
Oh, btw, it rocks my world for editting text, and I've never had any problems with CTRL on this or any other keyboard. You're just karma whoring.
Go Kathryn Thurber!
I think this is very usefull. Especially when I'm in a meeting, and I bring a laptop to quickly type up notes. Although I would not use this for the text recognition, but for the drawing diagrams. We usually have a white board to write on and show diagrams of the design, and I don't have time to enter it in some graphics utility. So being able to just draw it with a pen would be a great help.
Same thing goes for business trips. I write ideas for software products into a laptop, but there are times when I want to draw pictures to help explain the idea. Again, I don't want a graphics tool, but to just draw something would be of great help.
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind
i can understand the level of dispute on this thread - i have a Jornada myself and won't get a Palm because i dislike the input method. however, i can say that people who have 'car offices' (like real estate agents, sales reps, and lobbyists - not techies) will have a much better time using this kind of laptop/PDA combination. the pad of paper makes sure that they don't have to take their eyes off the road while they're driving, and since it folds and doesn't weigh much it'll be appealing for long travel.
i used to do tech support for lobbyists who drove many places, had phone meetings in transit, etc - they will LOVE this item.
and don't forget, the thinkpad 701 was not very well designed either! for example, the keyboard made it difficult for you to attach peripherals in the side ports after you opened it. they grew from that little model to the brilliance of their 300 and 600 series. therefore, i think this type of item will be improved in the same manner - over time.
Yeah, I have nightmares like that all the time. Then I have dreams of having it calculated by Maple.
DataSquid.net, a little about me.
The very end of the article (right above the comment from "Kay" stating the same problem) says there will be a left handled model availiabel as well as right handed.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
What no one has pointed out yet is that using diagrams is crucial for note taking or just writing down ideas of any kind. This product is the best I've seen so far for doing this. You can enter text by keyboard and then directly draw-in whatever pictures you need with the touch-screen. For note taking, this sceen is more useful than the palm just by the scheer size of the screen. However, without good software, either product is useless for recording notes or ideas.
Of course this is not what the rest of the consuming world wants. IBM, back in the 80's did a poll and found that people said they wanted less, so they released the PC Jr. Which, of course, nobody wanted.
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
I was interested in the machine, though not the article. Besides, what better a way to get a response than to post a smart assed comment?
--
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
eh. i still use my Newton MP2100 (final model, baby) every day. The handwriting on the later units (2100, 2000, even the 130) is really good. And, it uses normal English characters instead of that Grafiti crap.
Being able to scribble on paper, and then have it translated to text? That is even kewler. It'll leave you with a permanent deadtree record along with the data, ready for processing and distribution.
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
It's not a laptop computer, it's a portable, folding desk for the Internet age. I want one.
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
"I can only show you Linux... you're the one who has to read the man pages."
This is dumb. I am left handed, and the rest of my family is right handed. How are we supposed to get along with this?
I already sacrifice enough with the mouse, the keyboard, the stick shift, the remote control, the roads, eating at restaraunts, doors, pr0n sites. This is right handed person's world, and I am sick of it.
LEFT HANDERS UNITE!
Buy from the Left-torium!
They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to...protect me from the enemy, myself
Absolutely... IBM Research is one of the most fascinating sites out there, IMHO. They've really come a long way from the old calculator makers.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
IBM had a rebranded version of the Crosspad as its own already. Maybe they could remarket it if this takes off.
//picks crosspad off the shelf, blows dust off//
"Hey brand new thousand bucks"
Great, going to have great fun with this as a left handed person :-)
I have a 380ED, and when I got it when it was 3 years old and most of the hell had *already* been banged out of it. A very durable little box, though at 7lb, it is a bit rough to use on the go, so I prefer to think of it as a "portable". And as a bonus, all of the h/w is fully supported by Linux, so it runs Slackware wonderfully.
:)
I keep hearing that the new Thinkpads aren't as tough ad the old ones. Guess I'll keep mine.
--Ben
There's nothing fundamental about the landscape orientation of a screen. With the proper drivers, the screen could be used either in portrait or in landscape mode. In any event, writing on the pad would just put the input into a document. If the document didn't fit ont he screen, it would be scrollable.
wouldn't writing on the pad mash the keys against the table?
My impression is that there is no keyboard on the unit, just a place to plug in an external keyboard.
I think that there's a real niche market for this kind of thing. I attend meetings and would love to have my huge financial spreadsheets available without printing out 60 pages of output.
But 5 pounds and 2.5 hours battery life dosn't seem all that useful. I have some meetings that go on longer than that.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
Or at least the dreaded Post-Before-Reading Syndrome. Quoting the very last line of the article:
And I'm agreeing with you on getting laptops more acceptable. We're getting to the point of disposable desktops, but a low-end laptop is still usually at least $1000. We get laptops down to ~$500, and they'll finally be for The Rest of Us.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
you mean like the Newton? oh wait, that was a few years ago wasn't it?
1. All people really want is a slim tablet-shaped box with rounded corners, that has a touch sensitive TFT-style LCD screen on top, and a stylus that doesn't have a wire attached to it.
2. The screen needs to be about twelve inches diagonal or better, and the box needs to be as slim as possible.
3. Software just has to be capable of collecting written and drawn pages, and storing and retriving lots of them.
4. Operation in note-taking mode must be silent.
5. The box should have a keyboard, ethernet, and video output port.
6. When attached to a keyboard, the critter should act like a full-blown pentium-class pc.
Everything else is optional. This gets you the ability to take notes without paper, and without scaring the rest of the people in the meeting. It gets you the ability to read and use the computer while curled up on the couch, or sitting in the airport waiting for the flight. When you need a keyboard, you can either get a fold-up one or simply borrow one, and prop up the screen so it looks like a workstation. At home or office you simply have stock keyboard and bigger monitor.
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
IBM had a laptop with a touchscreen and handwriting recognition (along with some gesture commands) a while back. I remember hacking one at EPCOT Center once about maybe six years ago. It was a very cool machine and, of course, I want(ed) one. The screen folded over the keyboard so you could use it like a big tablet. It was like a full-computer version of Vadem's Clio. I think that it ran on a 386, or a slow 486. I don't remember the specs, but I do remember being disappointed by them.
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Oh shit! I forgot to click "Post Anonymously"...
I'm very curious to see if this catches on, but here's why I'm pessimistic. I have a Palm Professional and I got it for the same reason that most people got it... It does everything I need it to, it's small, and boot time is non-existent. The other handhelds (predominantly ones with WinCE) don't nearly compete because you can't whip it out, jot down a phone number, and drop it back in your pocket like a piece of paper and pen.
While I'm very interested in getting rid of the keyboard/mouse combo and I'm curious to see new handwriting recognition software, I find it hard to believe that laptop users will move down to this device or that handheld users will sacrifice their small size and speed for the extra computing power. I see this selling to a small population purely on geek factor. There's nothing wrong with that, but I don't see a revolutionary idea here.
Lets just hope we dont have to learn another whole new letter and charictor layout like the palm has. That is the most annoying part of pen computing in my opinion. IBM makes really nice laptops now. I think the thinkpad series is one of the best laptop brands on the market. Lets just hope that IBM continues this with there new model.
"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"
and my typing is much more legible than my handwriting.
Doesn't this remind you of the pen based 486's that were being sold at a big discount in 1994, maybe $300 for a 486/25 with 4/80?
They are going to have separate left handed and right handed models. So if I buy a lefty one for myself, my wife won't be able to borrow it. That's really freaking handy.
Not that I care - I learned how to type when I was fairly young (even though boys didn't normally take typing in my school) because my handwriting is atrocious. The last thing I need is for a computer to start nagging me about that.
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However, I wouldn't want to sit next to someone on a plane with one of these things. It seems as if it takes up a lot of space. It looks *fragile*. I had an IBM 380XD, and you could bang the hell out of those - I don't know about this one.
I have been using my Cross IPEN with my laptop for a couple of years now and have achieved the same functionality that this new product will provide (sans actual paper).
It is much more convenient to work with a pen like device when only one hand is available I have found (no, the other hand isn't anywhere near my pants).
Byzandula
Looks to me like IBM wants to try to cater towards the PDA group. For me, I don't need something THAT powerful for taking notes. I have my Visor. And, if I have to hotsync out on the road I can either dial in or take my laptop with me. It's an interesting idea, though.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The COBOL Warrior
"COBOL's Not dead, it's just underground"
This is probably appropriate for a very large market - for example I often take notes whilst interviewing people - it's rude to type during a meeting (perhaps that's a culture thing, but then you should be sensitive to it), so I write quick notes and type up minutes afterwards. This would be very very useful in my case, and many others I can think of.
On the other hand, it's not necessary, just useful - the current way works too. And if this thing gets overtaken by something else within 9 months, it's going to miss my company's refresh cycle on PCs, and it will pass us by. Also, it suffers from the fact that it's newness classifies it as a gadget in the minds of those who have budgets, and so maybe it won't sell quite so well as a consequence.
I don't think I'll get one, either personally or through my work, but I like the fact that IBM push the ideas envelope and make things like this - not bad for a monolithic blue-chip.
Salocin.com
This seems like a great idea, usable as a computer in those situations where a full computer just doesn't "feel" right. When I'm taking notes, jotting down a poem, etc, I usually hate to type, rather, I like to scrawl my scribblings on a pad of paper. Don't ask me why, it just feels better to get those emotions down on ground up trees. However, since one can't send a sheet of paper to someone across the country nearly as fast as you can send an email, so I end up having to type it out anyways. This seems like it'll get rid of most of the redundancy of having to put down an idea twice just to get people to be able to read it.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
I have owned 3 pda's over the years (newton, ce, * handspring) and 1 laptop. Personally the only one that I have ever found useful was the newton. Other it had some problems it allowed me to effectively take notes, actual do some computing, and was nice and portable. I like my handspring but I fnd it only useful as an organizer. CE is powerful enough but clunky and crash prone. My laptop only makes we wish i was using my desktop system. However this, a system with power, note taking capability, portability ...
Only real question to me is how portable is it really. Ideally I would probably design this to be more like a pda but I would be willing to pay a lot more for it than I do a pda.
So where are those webpads we keep hearing about as internet connectivity is also something I want in this (I'm sure you can attach a wireless modem to the thinkpad).
CES ended last tuesday, so wherever this is going to be introduced, it's not going to be at CES.
This brings a whole new maining to the term "notebook computer" *snicker*
All information in this post is true in some sense, false in some sense, and meaningless in some sense.
Thank you for reminding me. I just started to wonder about getting a notebook.
Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
I am left handed. I see no indication from the article that I will be able get a model suitable to one who uses a pen with his/her sinister manus.
Am I wrong here? Anyone from IBM care to comment?
Well although this may not be the end all of ideas, it is good to see that someone is thinking about new means of inputs.
Personally I'd like a handwriting recognition pad for my computer at home and at work. So that I could use the stylis(sp) as a pointer as well as a partial replacement for the keyboard.
You know I am not talking about replacing the keyboard and mouse, but I am talking about making more available and less expensive alternate means of computer input.
It will be funny if in 10 years we have a full generation of repetitive stress syndrome people cause they are all forced to use computers with primitive keyboards & mouse from first grade through college. Then we will be forced to come up with new ideas.
I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
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Only 'flamers' flame!
This is an interesting, but hardly revolutionary combination of a notebook and existing devices like Crosspad
If I had to choose whether to take my laptop, Crosspad, PDA, or Transnote, I would not choose Transnote It seems the bulkiest possible combination of the Crosspad + notebook.
It sounds like you want something like a touchscreen Clio, where the screen can flip around to hide the keyboard.
totally. I could never see buying this bulky, awkward thing for 3k, when i could get a rocking new Titanium g4 powerbook for $2600.00 plus i think i've seen something like this already as a legal pad that hooks up to your computer, that's been out for at least a year. Comparing this product debut to the recent macworld keynote really shows the difference between the PC and Mac markets.
Seiko has a device out that sounds pretty neat. It's a binder with a digitizer pad built into it so when you write on the paper notepad it sends the text to your Palm via infrared while you write it. I didn't look into it enough to see if it actually did anything like OCR. I think it just keeps a bitmap image of your notes but still... beats writing in the chicken-scratch Graffiti when all you want to do is draw out a map or diagram and take notes in a meeting.
which was to've been a pen slate system running Go Corp's PenPoint (eventually released as the 710T)
Nice to see, but rather a shame there's no sign of the PenPoint OS---did Taiwan's MITI ever do anything with that when they bought it?
--
Lettering Art in Modern Use
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
Looks somewhat similar to the Cross Crosspad, with the laptop/pad interface integrated into one unit. As a person who can't have a 30 second conversation without drawing a sketch, I thought the Crosspad was pretty neat, but it died in the market. Wonder if IBM can do better? I believe they did some of the Crosspad's software to begin with.
sPh
The only thing i use pen and paper for still is for calculations; having a recognition program for that to mathml/latex/mathematica would be really useful..
Imagine writing down your integral and have it calculated by mathematica...
oh well.
You got your laptop in my notepad!
You got your notepad in my laptop!
Seriously, how useful is this? Pen entry is good on a small device where adding a keyboard would be impossible. But the device is the size of a laptop already (bigger, because they added a notepad). What does the pen entry add, really? It sure ain't speed or accuracy.
The only possible consumer is people who can't type. And even they can only get data into the device. What am I going to do to perform a search or print a report? Write all the specs with pen on paper to get it into the laptop? Why not just hire an assistant that knows how to work a laptop and write notes to him/her--it's the same effect, plus you can have sex on business trips.
--
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The display looks to have some other type of hinge besides the usual clamshell, along the lines of the GRiD Convertible or the Clio -- perhaps it's even removable and useable as a tablet. That would require a digitizer underneath both the display AND the paper, no? I don't know -- this thing looks like a bad compromise to me. At any rate, I'm hopeful that we'll see more modularity in these devices, so that a common processor/storage core could be configured as a PDA, a tablet, or a subnotebook, depending on what you needed, AND what your project's pricepoint dictates. For example, in k-12 education, your pricepoint is way below a full laptop, but a pda for every student is a real possibility.
--
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
The Trans-note isn't using a Transmeta processor. That would be rather transcendent idea to transfer information via pen.
If only IBM could transform it into a Linux system.
Ooh... The Internet is on computers now... Good for it.
--Homer Simpson
"This is not a company that appears to be bothered by ethical boundaries."
Attorney General Mike Hatch on Microsoft
This really isn't intended for the technophile, it is a transition vehicle that enables three different technologies: keyboard, pad and touchscreen, ultimately weaning luddites from their fear of PCs/PDAs. Perhaps this is the logical transition point between laptop and PDA (subnotebooks are a failure IMHO).
The pad is the key component because you can always drop back and scribble if your windows crashes, giving a sense of security. Plus, it's in a nifty package, so you don't have to fumble a laptop AND a pad of paper.
Plust the flexibility of using just the touch screen is what I've been longing for. I used PenWindows and a backlit Wacom pad back in 93 and fell in love with it, then it died a horrible costly death. Hopefully it will be reborn soon by devices like this.
For me, there isn't a program fast enough yet that I can use to go from mind to screen. Even visio isn't fast enough... Sometimes I even drop into notepad or paint, but they still can't compete with pen/paper for rapid thought.
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There is a fundamental mismatch between the portrait-orientation of the pad of paper and the landscape-orientation of the screen.
The article left me with several questions:
- Do you have to write with special characters, or will it recognize my native printing?
- Does the pad fold all the way around for when you're not using the computer?
- If so, wouldn't writing on the pad mash the keys against the table?
Why can't they just collide a whole bunch of little hadrons?
It's 5.5 pounds and 2.5 hours of battery life. That answers a lot of questions about product placement, or non-placement, as far as I'm concerned. But a cross-pad for my iPaq would make sense.
I've been waiting for something like this. Nice work, IBM!
To me, using ANY alphabet to WRITE seems stupid for text input. I can type at more than twice my writing speed, and I enjoy it more. The only things I want paper for are drawing diagrams for something. This is easliy done with a $80 Wacom drawing tablet that attached to the USB port.
The main advantage of a system like this is because of the stigma people place on keyboard inside meeting, etc. Writing on a pad is not as much of a distraction for those attending. I say screw the distraction and use my Visor with a Stowaway keyboard for syncing when I get back to my Thinkpad.
I am curious how it will do in the marketplace, it seems slightly better than a toy to me.
But actually this could spur some interesting hacks... command line scripting with pen and paper? Of course it's hard to clear the screen when you've been badmouthing the boss, if it's right there on paper.
Ok my karma is maxed out. When do I become Enlightened?
...I think the pad of paper is kind of overkill. I don't see much of a difference between writing on a piece of paper and having the computer pick it up and drawing on the screen and printing it out - the latter probably being more accurate - what if the paper moves around, you never run out of paper... oh yeah, and erasing is quite a bit easier and cleaner, too...
:) ), or I can just set it to "script" mode, which just takes what I write as a bitmap and sizes it down... If they had something like that as a notebook I'd be taking that baby to classes :-)
A notebook with a touchscreen is enough, I'd say (and you could sill leave off the keyboard and mouse... damn, that would be a pretty cool! Star Trek Padds, anyone?).
Handwriting recognition is neat though. The Newton MessagePad, when correctly set up, will pick up around 95% of what I write (provided I'm not messy
A while ago they started a project at MIT for . They store a whole bunch of little balls in the paper that are half white and half black, and rotated to display the correct color. The electronics to control the balls were printed on the paper itself, and the resolution was pretty high (I think they were shooting for laser quality, and it wasn't too far off). It was static, so required no power once set. They wanted to use it to have books that could function (and in fact be) normal books that you could read, but the pages themselves could be rewritten at the push of a button.
I've always wanted someone to make this idea into a PDA. Imagine a single clipboard with a paper-like front that sits there with a page of text on it. Then you could push a button and a new page of text appears, indistinguishable from a laser printed (or typeset) page. Then you use the stylus to make notes in the corner, where the small PDA chips embedded in the clip part track your movements and create the lines under your pen simulating writing and drawing. Then you push another button and you can write a quick email and send it off.
If you could actually make this sort of appliance, (which shouldn't be hard with MIT's e-paper and a small embeded chip that only consumes power when you're actively doing something) you could have an essentially always on electronic writting / display tablet. With the ability to read and write like a normal piece of paper, but the power of a computer's ability to store and display hundreds of pages of text, you could replace school textbooks, novels, hostpital charts, almost anything you can think of. And with a display and chip that only use power when active (ie. refreshing with a new page or drawing with the stylus), you should be able to go days / weeks on a single battery. It could become the single most useful PDA-like device.
The possibilities are just too much. But I've never heard of anything like it, and I'm curious if anyone's ever had this occur to them too. With news of the new light-interference static display technology, you could have a full color pad too. Think about it a bit, and about how many normal uses it could serve, and it gets more exciting. Anyone else see this?
Just curious, as always. Feedback, please!
James
so much for innovation and examining real-world usage of paper pads. a wireless peripheral paper pad would not sell as many laptops i suppose.
I blame the 14-inch black-and-white Magnetbox with the incessant ghosting for that error.
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
is this product supposed to replace handhelds?
i have a palmV.. and i dont know what i would do without it.. well at least until i scrape up some money for an ipaq. these notepads look 31337 enought.. but still fairly large. if i was going to get something with a keyboard, and was willing to spend money, i would just get a sony vaio. theyre prettier and more useful.
the perfect world is a world without lag. a world without lag is a world without people
Remember that? The first-gen PDA from Apple, so ridiculed for its inaccuracy in handwriting recognition that there was even a Newton spoof on "The Simpsons" (Nelson takes out his Newton and writes down, "Beat up Martin", and the Newton translates it into, "Bring up Martha").
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
When writing notes in math/physics classes at the University, writing by hand is _much_ faster than using a keyboard, because writing formulas is next to impossible to do quickly on a laptop.
I would welcome this, as it would make it possible to create a more professional report afterwards, without typing things twice.
I can understand the receive part, but what does it transmit back to the pad? Perhaps an electrical shock if you write a dirty word?