Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/15/this-smart-notebook-saves-your.html
…
Or you could, y’know, write it on regular paper and take a picture.
5 Likes
So not available outside the US? Bummer.
synthetic paper
Does paper occur naturally? I’d been buying that wood-pulp synthetic paper, but can I just cut out the middle man and grow a paper bush?
3 Likes
If the pics ran thru OCR and could be grouped together as an ever expanding pdf - or routed to various digital sketchbooks - I’d be interested. (Though it’s not terribly difficult to do those things manually- just kinda time consuming). I’d imagine those things would be on their roadmap. My wife was gonna get me the ReMarkable tablet but v1 isn’t quite there yet. Still love to draw and jot and chart and Take notes by hand so always looking for things like this.
That’s all stuff that could be done with an app on your phone.
I’ve used these rocket books. I kinda wish I had them back when I was taking notes for school.
The ones I tried are full-sized notebooks. About 10 full-sized pages that are washable. At the bottom of each page is an icon, and you x out whichever one that matches the category of the notes, and when you scan the page in with your cellphone, it automatically classifies it according the the icon you x’ed out.
And even though I couldn’t get it to display the ocr content (which just shows that I may not have used the app enough), it does let you search for words written in the notes.
Once you scan in the pages, you can wipe the ink off of the slick paper, and re-use again and again.
Like I said, if I were taking notes in school, I think this would have been a godsend. I say buy it for your kids, your nieces and nephews, and any other kid in your life.
full disclosure, the ones I have were given to me free from the Amazon Vine program, in return for posting a review there.
I’m sorry, but a “smart notebook” would digitize your notes to a pdf file by itself as you write them. I can cam-scan any notebook page after the fact with my phone. Reusable notebook, ok, but not smart.
3 Likes
I don’t get it. Why do I want to erase my notes? I like a paper copy. If I want to scan that’s fine too. What is the benefit? Also, if I can’t erase a whiteboard I am shit sure this won’t erase either.
Most of the stuff boingboing promotes is overpriced novelty garbage, but this thing really is great. BB buries the lede here- this is an infinitely reusable notebook that happens to have a QR code on each page allowing you to save and route your notes- either as individual JPG’s or OCR’ed PDF’s- to any of 5-ish preset destinations. I take a lot of notes and have saved significant money over purchasing paper notebooks. I’m not sure about the carbon balance vs. composting my used paper, but it’s certainly not worse. I carry a Mini with me everywhere, and use the larger (but fits in the side pocket of my laptop case) Executive for client meetings and presentations. That one has checkboxes on each page that make the routing totally automatic (rather than clicking a button).
Typically I’ll end my day by writing out goals for the next. That doesn’t get saved. Sketches for new project ideas or designs go to personal folders or email, client notes go to my case management system, general research notes go to work folders, and I’ve done some hacky things to allow handwritten notes to get attached to task lists and calendar items… meanwhile I’m never without a quick way to measure and denote dimensions before a trip to the hardware store- never got the hang of drawing with my fingertip, but the Pilot Frixion ink refills are the same size as Pilot G2, and fit within a host of pen bodies.
@Archisonic, the PDF’s aren’t “ever-expanding” and the OCR could use improvement, but this functionality exists, as long as your digital sketchbooks are in Evernote, OneNote, or have an email gateway.
@yoyodyne semantics aside, you might be interested in their whiteboard product, Rocketbook Beacons, which does what you describe on any white board by sticking on some triangles.
@ycleptShawn A spritz of water on each page and a quick wipe returns the notebook to a blank page. For me, there are lots of notes I’m required to keep as work product, but I’d much rather be able to route them to the appropriate client folder rather than trying to keep track of paper everywhere. For home projects I also can keep a digital notebook of ideas but have literally never successfully flipped back through old notebooks and actually found that old garden irrigation design or shed idea my spouse liked when I wanted to refer back to it.
Additionally there are lots of thoughts and notes I jot down over the course of the day that aren’t worthy of saving, and I’m using/wasting far less paper with this system.
Not in any way affiliated with this company, I just bought the thing as a novelty and was astounded at how well it met my needs. I really want them to succeed in the long run.
2 Likes
Thank you so much for the explanation. I use Evernote heavily and this could be interesting for me. Though I feel I could also just scan pages of my notes and send them there. I tried using my iPad and pencil to take notes and have them recognized as handwriting but I end up never converting to text because then I have to edit them to make sense. Plus I lose all my graphics. Maybe I will try this for fun.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
