Paper based computing is one of the ideas that is challenging the tablet computing by using an intelligent stylus rather than an intelligent writing surface. The latest of these ideas to float across my inbox is from Livescribe. Using a pen that records the sound in the room as well as the position of the pen, it creates a document that can then be used on a computer and “Web2.0ed” to the content of the user.
The company seems to be targeting undergrads, but I think it’s going to be far more useful as a bridging technology for those instructors that are bound to paper and will never move off. If you can get them to “lecture to their notes” and then take those notes and send the resulting file out to the students, this will be an amazing device. But it doesn’t have to be limited to profs that are not willing to change, it can also be used (I think) quite effectively by those who are dealing with characters that do not represent well on the screen – math, physics and chemistry come to mind.
When it ships next year, it might be something to try out.
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