So far we’ve covered old technology repurposed to serve the modern writer. Now, it’s time to take a look at cutting-edge technology made with writing in mind.
reMarkable
reMarkable emerged from Norway a few years ago with the promise of writing on paper without using any paper. Billed as “the paper tablet,” reMarkable is the same size as a single sheet of paper and is as minimalist in function as it is in appearance. You can draw with it, and you can take notes. That’s about it.
But the reMarkable does these two things very well. The surface of the tablet isn’t glass, but what the company describes as “canvas,” slightly rough so that it feels like paper when you’re writing on it. The pen is calibrated to the tablet itself, so there’s no Bluetooth connectivity to keep up with. In fact, the tablet is so sensitive to the pen and nothing else that you can rest your hand on the screen without it disrupting your writing. With sync abilities across any and all devices, secure backups and cloud storage, the reMarkable is a solid option for someone looking to do away with paper in favor of a single device.
There is a kicker, however: the price. The reMarkable and the pen to go along with it are $600, pre-shipping. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t like it, so make sure you really do like it within the first month if you plan on not getting that money back.
Samsung Note 9
If you’re in the market for a new phone and want one optimized for a note-taking lifestyle, look no farther than Samsung’s Note 9. It’s got all of the standard features that make it a great mobile device, as well as some new additions that you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Every Note 9 comes with an S Pen that fits inside of the phone. This pen is connected to the phone via Bluetooth and serves a variety of purposes. You can write and draw as detailed as you want, use it to remotely trigger the shutter on your phone’s camera and even pause and play videos and music.
Note-taking has always been a strong point with the Note (hence the name), but the Note 9 takes it a step farther with the Screen-off Memo function. If your phone is turned off but you still want to write something, simply take out the S Pen and write on the dark screen. Your notes will show up and you can save them to the rest of your notes. For taking notes quickly, the Screen-off Memo saves you time by eliminating the need to open your phone and navigate to a notes app before you can write anything down.
Just like the reMarkable, this new tech comes at a high price. In this case, a new Note 9 runs about $999, which is pretty on-par—if not cheaper—than what a new iPhone will cost you. It’s definitely not ideal for someone on a budget, but if you’ve been meaning to upgrade your phone for a while, this is a good one to get.
Budget Options?
It’s hard to find quality options on the lower end of the price scale when it comes to items like the reMarkable and Note 9. There are plenty of “writing tablets” on Amazon for anywhere as cheap as ten bucks, but the reviews are about as low as the price. By way of phones, older models of the Samsung Note will offer note-taking abilities, but keep in mind that advanced features like the Screen-off Memo are only available on the new Note phones.
This post is one part of a blog written for Dr. Philip Patterson’s Feature Writing class. This is a series-style blog focusing on innovations in the writing industry, so each post will discuss technology which has helped authors succeed and shape the future of the writing industry, as well as new writing markets, such as e-books and online literary journals.
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