Nokia Digital Pen Review

I HAVE WATCHED the Nokia Digital Pen write 56 A5 pages and successfully transfer 42 of them through its cradle to my laptop.

Problems with data transfer trace back to failing to press either the start square or the send square at the bottoms of the Esselte pages. My problems were further compounded by using the pen to record dozens of samples of student work--six of 52 pages went missing because the pen didn't know it should record tracings made in the A5 copy book.

To ensure I have the best chance of pulling in all the data, I extract material off the pen frequently. I do not permit more than 10 pages of work to be done before bringing the data onto my laptop. I have discovered that it pays to "start new notepad" when facing the prospect of forgetting to press an icon at the bottom of the page. This helps ensure that the pen is keeping pages inside separate files. So when you forget to "send" a page, you don't affect the integrity of all the data penned for the day. You corrupt only the multi-page session data. If you repeatedly revise a page by tracing over its content, your nib might come off the page. When that happens, the pen will not record the data under the pen point. I will upload a page about "Unwrapping Nokia Pen Set" that shows how it looks on screen.

The Nokia Digital Pen does not instill confidence for the uninitiated. During the first few days, you don't know if you have a good "take" of your writing. I spent 22 pages before I could predict solid information gathering by the subtle vibrations emitted by the pen. The overall results bear noting.

• Passing the pen from person to person invites problems. People drop pens and when this one hits tiles, its onboard camera may die. People don't press down on the special start and send icons, so either their work goes unrecorded or they corrupt the work of others before them in ther book.
• Pen operators need to anticipate how the pen feels when it is set to retain strokes. You need to hold the barrel and try to sense the vibrations. If you fail to do this, you are using the digital pen on faith.
• Sync often. Don't record more than 10 pages without backing them up. Know that if they do not sync, you still have the original work rendered in pen and ink.
• Place the pen into its cradle, then gently press down on its top to ensure its gold ball connectors contact the sensors in the cradle. You can hear the connectors pop into place when the pen seats correctly.
• The Nokia Digital Pen has facilitated four classroom sessions for me. The pen shaved a minimum of 30 minutes off each classroom session as we created "Christmas Drawings in Ireland." You can view the results online.
• I will buy another Nokia Digital Pen for my briefcase since I want to have a replacement nearby when my original is damaged.
• I will test the pen over Bluetooth after Christmas.

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Ross Mayfield tried out the Logitech io pen. It's based on the same Anoto technology.
More comments about pen-based revision.
Sent mail2blog aboard Bus Eireann using Nokia Communicator O2 TypePad service.

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