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A Practical LCD Writing Tablet
An anonymous reader passes along a word about an innovative LCD writing tablet. The Boogie Board costs $30, can be written on with a stylus or a fingernail, and uses no power in the act of writing. Only erasing consumes power — from a watch battery, which lasts for 50,000 erases. The total cost per "page" comes out to only 1/15th that of steno paper. The writing surface is pressure-sensitive and "highly responsive to variable amounts of pressure," so you can make thick and thin lines.
"I want to jot down a small note that I can hardcopy later for posterity, but I don't ever want to need to worry about my pen running out of ink, as long as I remember to change the battery occasionally"
Indeed, that seems to be all it is really good for -- other than the geek factor of writing with passive liquid crystals.
I solved the "I don't want to run out of ink" problem by buying a Fisher Bullet Space Pen. The ink cartridges are said to last a very long time and never run dry from disuse. So, for the meager amount of writing that I do, this pen will probably be able to stay in my change pocket for many years before it needs the cartridge replaced. And it was $10 cheaper than this "practical" LCD tablet.
Kid-proof tablet..
It looks to me that this is not an electronic device, per se. There's no ability to save because it does not detect the presence of a writing object or the state of the surface. It seems to be just a really crappy, but durable, LCD screen. When you apply pressure, you displace the liquid crystal material. And when you "erase" the board, it applies electricity to redistribute everything. In order to add saving features, the "energy-efficient" part of the device that seems to be one of the major selling points would pretty much have to go down the drain.
This is not meant to be a permanent record, and I don't know why they relate it to a pad of paper... it's more like a monochrome dry erase board.
(I am not affiliated with the makers; I have never seen one of these up close and personal; The above writing is based purely on assumption from looking at pictures and reading what it does)
Many years ago I was going to have jaw surgery. I was going to be wired shut for about seven weeks. They told me to bring a paper tablet and a pen. I went to the toy store to pick up one of the pads called magic slates in the midwest. I came across a new toy called a Magna Doodle.
This is two sheets of plastic with white oil and iron fillings (or something similar) you had a magnetic wand and the back has a wide magnet.
When you write on the surface with the wand the dark particals move to the front and turn it dark and the slider on the bottom wipes it back out.
The doctors/nurses had never seen one and would borrow it at the start of each shift and show it at the daily meetings.
Not pressure sensitive, but I think it does most everything else the board does
Have you ever tried to jot a quick note on an Etch A Sketch? It's much more like a Magna Doodle.
I actually didn't know there was such you controlled with two knobs too. Sounds a bit hard and limiting. Magna Doodle is probably a little bit closer with its pen and free drawing.
The Etch A Sketch toy was invented in the late 1950s by a man by the name of Arthur Granjean invented something he called ``L'Ecran Magique", the magic screen, in his garage. The inside surface of the glass screen is coated with aluminum powder which is then scraped off by a movable stylus, leaving a dark line on the light gray screen.
and Magna Doodle
The key element of the Magna Doodle is the magnetophoretic display panel, filled with a thick, opaque white liquid containing tiny dark magnetic particles. These particles can be drawn to the surface by the stylus or the shapes, or to the hidden back side by a sliding eraser bar. The middle layer is divided into a honeycomb of cells, keeping the liquid static and the particles evenly distributed across the panel. The liquid is formulated so that the particles can be pulled through it in response to the magnetic forces, but not due to gravity.
Interesting concept though. I always wanted to know how it worked :)
Or for just $9 more you can have a tablet input. I gave one of these to my youngest and he just loves it. Good luck on ever getting that kid to go back to working with just pen and paper or a keyboard and mouse. It is surprisingly accurate and sensitive, allowing him to not only write fluently, but to draw freehand and make some truly sharp artwork. me? I am lucky if I can draw a straight line.
But I just don't see the point of spending $30 on this with no PC input, when for $9 more you can have a tablet input. I'm sure the level of sensitivity on the tablet probably kills this thing, and unlike this it doesn't "die" after x number of erases.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Well for starters, just about everyone here in the USA already has a PC so that isn't a problem. Thanks to PCs passing "good enough" awhile back PCs for under $100 are quite plentiful.
As for the second? If I was a tablet manufacturer I would simply get one of these and copy its tech into one of my tablets and add $30 to the price. With them selling at $30 I doubt they have sunk huge amounts of R&D, more likely they simply came up with a "recipe" using already available tech, and considering how much money the tablet manufacturers like Genius make I'm sure they could just buy this company outright if there were IP issues. If they are making a profit at $30 then a large scale manufacturer like Genius could probably incorporate this tech into their tablet line for $20 and still make money off of this, just add a rechargeable or easily replaceable battery and all is golden.
But those that would and could afford a Cintiq frankly wouldn't look at either device. And without PC input I really don't see what kind of "advantage" it has over good old $0.99 paper and pen. And of course kids would probably burn through those "50,000 erases" pretty quick, which with use and abuse will probably be closer to 5-10,000. Looks to me to be more landfill fodder than anything else. I would much prefer a tablet input in that case, as I have a graphic artist customer that has had his tablet going on close to a decade, and my youngest has been using his heavily daily for soon to be two years. I would say the "bang for the buck" lies squarely in the tablet input camp, wouldn't you?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Well, it comes up quickly, but first I have to reach for the phone, press the home button to wake it up, slide to unlock, enter in my passcode, then swipe to the screen with the Notes application, touch that, and then read what my note is. By that point, I need to get a cup of coffee. :)
This beats shifting my eyes 6" to the left to read the post-it note without my hands leaving the keyboard/rodent. Win!
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