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Digital Pen Vibrates To Indicate Bad Spelling, Grammar and Penmanship
Zothecula writes "Use digital technology long enough and you start to become dependent upon it for such mundane tasks as spell checking. That means when you pick up a garden variety ballpoint pen you're back in dictionary and 'I before E except after C' territory. The creators of the Lernstiftdigital pen hope to bring handwriting into the 21st century by having the pen vibrate to indicate when the writer makes spelling and grammatical errors or exhibits poor penmanship."
Wait, are they trying to discourage bad spelling and grammar, or encourage it?
Ok, lets say this somehow actually works... you spell something wrong, while writing with a PEN... now what?
in my pocket, can't wait for that
Since when were affordable motion sensors anywhere near accurate enough to track the movements of the end of a pen well enough to determine what was written? And if they are, why the hell are you using them for such a dumb idea? If the sensors really are that accurate, that means they're accurate enough to do complete finger tracking in three dimensions. Can you say VR interface glove? That's exactly what we need to go with an Oculus Rift. Sensors as accurate as these would have to be to do what they're claiming built into gloves, together with a Rift, would enable the world's best 3D modeling interface. Sculpt your model with your hands. This idea has been around since VR was first conceived. Are we finally getting there?
Not only will it indicate poor penmanship, but it will exacerbate it as well! I guess it couldn't make my handwriting any worse.
Your handwriting is bad but not utterly incomprehensible. Not a point of pride, I might add - you may as well be illiterate if you can't write. You should learn to write a clear hand of some sort when dealing with others. I have been known to resort to block print occasionally in order to ensure that anything I write is comprehensible to all.
I can speak from experience as one who teaches on the university level: an increasing number of students already cannot write by hand. When they ask me at the beginning of the semester whether they can use laptops to take notes, I allow them with a caution. Since departmental standards require that they complete a written final, I encourage them to use note-taking as an opportunity to practice penmanship (more importantly it also helps them to learn how to think and summarize rather than attempting to take down a transcript of a lecture they won't read later). For so many, the only time they write is when they sit down for a final in which case, being out of practice, the speed of writing inhibits them from being able to write a complete essay response. After two hours, many turn in 3-4 pages (in a half letter sized blue book) of either illegible scrawl or blocky letters that clearly attempt to replicate print. That they did not receive instruction earlier in life on quick, efficient, and legible handwriting was a disservice to them.
You're quite right that we're moving away from handwriting, but we're not there yet. It remains a useful skill and offers a slight but real advantage over the run-of-the-mill, utilitarian job training one often receives in schools today.
Incidentally, I think the batteries must be dead in your vibrating keyboard. I read your sig and the spelling is a mess.
i'm skeptical about the spelling and grammar checker, but as for the pressure...
pens have already been developed which don't require noticeable pressure in the first place.
there are even some for children.
aren't they messy? not if you use cartridges. also, blue fountain pen ink is usually easily washable, unless you specifically get a variety which isn't.
won't the dumb kid lose his $20 fountain pen? well, i guess this might be a problem (although somehow we managed before), but i'm sure this accelerometer/vibrator pen would cost a lot more anyway.
the ergonomics are another advantage. making the pen easier to hold can only improve handwriting.
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
I hope is has a better dictionary selection and retention than Word. Being constantly reprimanded by squiggly red lines that I the software thinks that I should use -ize on words that should be -ise is enough to make me gouge out my eyes with a vibrating pen.
I love people like you...
Why thank you. People like me love people like you too.
I know others who did and still do this. I was never a fan personally. There's always a risk of zoning out since you know you can go listen again later, which means you've wasted the hour or so in lecture. But, to each his own. I recommend note-taking, and certainly not just the handwriting aspects of it, because its a useful skill whether in lecture, when reading, or when writing.
For the record, I actually mean it too when I say to each his own. I suggest handwritten notes; I do not require it. My students are welcome to bring their laptops and I know by allowing this half of the class will be tooling about on Facebook. They're doing themselves a disservice but they're adults and have to find their own way. The only time I come down on students for fooling about with their gadgets is when they're doing something that is distracting to other students. For much the same reason, I only require attendance in accordance with departmental requirements.
That's an assumption on your part, and a bad one at that.
Their classmates who have this skill have an advantage over them. How is it a bad assumption that their lack of instruction was a disservice? One might say that their time was betting spent learning something else, something more relevant to the modern age. Unfortunately, this often isn't the case. Primary and secondary schools receive instructions that computers ought to be a bigger part of the curriculum and the only practical consequence of this instruction seems to be that my freshmen cite Wikipedia and I still find myself having to explain what file types are. Such instruction only goes so far when the teachers themselves mostly think of computers as a messaging system.
The essays are timed and you expect good penmanship??
No. I said it's sad that their penmanship is an inhibition. I should much sooner they be able to write quickly and efficiently enough to get their ideas on paper. My penmanship sucks on a timed exam and, with a nod to the poster above, I'm quite familiar with a pen and ink well. Only in a few cases is the penmanship so bad that its a problem such that 'it doesn't meet my expectations.' Those instances are where I walk about the office, hand a test to colleagues, and have them hand the test back to me declaring that they, too, can't read the response. I don't require that they be able to write in Spencerian. I do wish that their primary and secondary school teachers had not allowed the ability to write words on paper to become an inhibition.
Thanks to people like you!
Did you miss the part where I said written exams were a departmental requirement? It has nothing to do with me. I suggest they take the opportunity in their notes to practice penmanship so they won't be struggling to write on the day of the exam. I teach other classes that aren't freshman general requirements courses and these do not require the written exams. In these classes, I only require typed assignments, chiefly essays.
Handwriting is still a practical and useful skill in this age, and it has little to do with me or my carefully watched lawn. I'm from a poorer area of the country, where so many are raised to believe education a means of meeting employment requirements. This mentality also makes its way, unfortunately, into the universities. What it often misses is that there is more to being free and finding success than having a degree. Students who speak and write like people do where I'm from will, unfortunately, be looked down upon when they go out into the real world. This is a disadvantage and it is a disservice to them if they're not at least made aware of it.
Woosh to you, ma'am
Um, yeah. I got it. People don't typically change their sigs just for one article though. So his generally amusing sig became particularly amusing in this c