11–20 of 27 posts
Imagine a student with three tablets open side by side, one in a note app, one in a textbook app and a third one for other apps.
With tablet prices going down in prices, this isn't such an unbelievable scenario.
I haven't seen anyone using multiple tablets yet. Has anyone else witnessed it?
Imagine some kind of touch mirasol with a matte screen and very thin body. You have a mode available where you can write on it with a stylus and can easily erase using your finger.
As you write, you get instantaneous updates that simply show your handwriting, making it look very similar to if you had written it on paper.
Certain motions also exist, however, to "neaten" a region of your notes (change them into a form that, though not a font, is better aligned and more readable) or to convert it outright to computer readable characters. Other versions could add syntax highlighting or other use-specific features.
Options like automatic saving, simultaneous editing, or projecting your notes are available.
How difficult is this with current technology? Would current generation e-ink work?
Edited to add: folding is also key, though obviously not now ready for primetime.
paper is more basic. everyone can use a pen. you don't lose any time or effort.
What would solve a lot of my problems with paper and current electronic solutions: Imagine some kind of touch mirasol with a matte screen and very thin body. You have a mode available where you can write on it with a stylus and can easily erase using your finger. As you write, you get instantaneous updates that simply show your handwriting, making it look very similar to if you had written it on paper. Certain motion…
By folding, do you mean you want to be able to fold up the device?
For instance: when giving certain sorts of exams (or other assignments), you want the students to be able to have a reference sheet (for notation, formulas, vocabulary, whatever) plus the sheet with the question/problem/assignment on it, plus the sheet they're actually writing their answer on. The same thing on even a large desktop screen will involve a moderate amount of window swapping (and, as a result, cognitive context-switching).
Even just for reading textbooks and technical material, only the larger desktop monitors come close to replicating the amount of real estate available in a two-page spread.
I think a lot of the technical issues are likely to be solved in a relatively short time, as the author suggests. But I'm pretty sure the incredible cheapness of paper (compared to anything electronic) will keep it in business for many years to come.
What would solve a lot of my problems with paper and current electronic solutions: Imagine some kind of touch mirasol with a matte screen and very thin body. You have a mode available where you can write on it with a stylus and can easily erase using your finger. As you write, you get instantaneous updates that simply show your handwriting, making it look very similar to if you had written it on paper. Certain motion…
I'm sure if someone started working on it now, the technology would be ready in time, if it isn't already. It seems to me like the hardest part is getting the body thin enough (though Kindles are pretty thin now), and maybe refreshing fast enough that writing doesn't feel weird. By folding, do you mean you want to be able to fold up the device?
Sure, with tree paper it's annoying to have a fold in the paper, but even that problem is solved when you use the kind of e-paper I'm imagining. Not an absolute necessity, but something about having the ability to physically manipulate the dimensions of what you're using is just so useful. Don't need to use the entire screen? Fold it in half, and you're set.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sure if someone started working on it now, the technology would be ready in time, if it isn't already. It seems to me like the hardest part is getting the body thin enough (though Kindles are pretty thin now), and maybe refreshing fast enough that writing doesn't feel weird. By folding, do you mean you want to be able to fold up the device?
Yeah. One of the great advantages of tree paper is flexibility and durability. I don't need to carry around a case to have a piece of paper to write on. Sure, with tree paper it's annoying to have a fold in the paper, but even that problem is solved when you use the kind of e-paper I'm imagining. Not an absolute necessity, but something about having the ability to physically manipulate the dimensions of what you're u…
Meaning it resists permanent creases, or has actual hinges?
Anyway, I'm totally with you. I'm still waiting for flexible computers. For some reason I keep seeing a pot-holder form factor; I must have been messing with one when I was thinking about this a while ago.
I wonder if having multiple tablets so that we didn't have to switch apps so much to take notes would render paper obsolete. Imagine a student with three tablets open side by side, one in a note app, one in a textbook app and a third one for other apps. With tablet prices going down in prices, this isn't such an unbelievable scenario. I haven't seen anyone using multiple tablets yet. Has anyone else witnessed it?