Rocketbook - A Cloud-Integrated Microwavable Notebook

[zuperbri]

I just came across this start up campaign for what is essentially a microwavable book with a phone app. 

What you do is you hand-write into the book as if you were taking regular notes using a Frixion pilot pen, image the pages with the phone app that uploads them to cloud storage and then when your book is full with writing, you can microwave it to clear the ink from the pages as the pens are heat-sensitive.

 

As the title suggests, it's called Rocketbook and there's currently a start-up campain on the Indiegogo site HERE.

It seems like it *could* be pretty cool but it looks like it's mostly recycling old ideas and not particularly well. There are already apps that you can scan in hand-written notes, and apps that you can use a stylus for, both of which have options for converting the hand writing to text so you could ultimately use ctrl+F functions. As far as I could tell, this scans them in as images without the option to convert to text, which I'm sure you could do as a secondary but it would be painful.

I currently have a Note 4 and have used the stylus for taking down notes but even with the phone being so large, it really doesn't have the same working space as a regular notepad.

What do you guys think? Are the alternatives better? Would this be worthwhile giving it a go?

[iruixos]

I had to do a double-take when reading the article headline. Cool... I guess? No practical application in my life TBH

[zuperbri]

I had to do a double-take when reading the article headline. Cool... I guess? No practical application in my life TBH

What did you think it said  <_<?

I tend to take a lot of notes down at work still, using a regular notepad then proceed to rip the paper out, throw it in the bin and go "damn, I needed that" a week later...

I feel like the microwave thing is very gimmicky and is the only thing that really sets it apart from other apps.

[iruixos]

What did you think it said  <_<?

I tend to take a lot of notes down at work still, using a regular notepad then proceed to rip the paper out, throw it in the bin and go "damn, I needed that" a week later...

I feel like the microwave thing is very gimmicky and is the only thing that really sets it apart from other apps.

 

Well I'm sorry but I don't generally see 'microwave' and 'notebook' in the same sentence

[marioo1182]

Not practicle because it needs a microwave.

As well...

1. Use onenote

2. Paper will be expensive

3. Unreliable

[KemoKa]

Name a practical application for this, if you would be so kind. If I need to erase a Frixion pen, I will simply microwave my book regardless of how Internet-of-thingsy it is. If I need to take notes down in a digital format, I will type it out on my tablet. It is as simple as that. I am faster at typing than I am at writing.

Now, if this had been a laptop that can withstand being microwaved, that would interest me far more.

[zuperbri]

Not practicle because it needs a microwave.

As well...

1. Use onenote

2. Paper will be expensive

3. Unreliable

The point is that you buy one book and re-use it indefinitely but I can definitely see it being unreliable.

 

 

Name a practical application for this, if you would be so kind. If I need to erase a Frixion pen, I will simply microwave my book regardless of how Internet-of-thingsy it is. If I need to take notes down in a digital format, I will type it out on my tablet. It is as simple as that. I am faster at typing than I am at writing.

Now, if this had been a laptop that can withstand being microwaved, that would interest me far more.

 

I'm not sure regular paper can withstand being microwaved over and over. 

 

That's fair enough. I have practical uses of a notepad and pen still and have never found a laptop to be useful especially when having to make sketches alongside of writing. I have a desktop at work, at uni and at home and always hand wrote lecture notes at uni where necessary but if I were to put equal effort into using a laptop/tablet or this microwavable book thing, I could imagine a laptop or tablet would end up being more useful than this.

I was mostly seeing if anyone could convince me that it could be more useful, so far you have been successful at not doing so!

[DigitalHermit]

tl;dr It's another cloud sync app

 

Edit: also Pilot better be getting something from this... This thing hinges on their Frixion pens...

[KemoKa]

The point is that you buy one book and re-use it indefinitely but I can definitely see it being unreliable.

 

 

 

I'm not sure regular paper can withstand being microwaved over and over. 

 

That's fair enough. I have practical uses of a notepad and pen still and have never found a laptop to be useful especially when having to make sketches alongside of writing. I have a desktop at work, at uni and at home and always hand wrote lecture notes at uni where necessary but if I were to put equal effort into using a laptop/tablet or this microwavable book thing, I could imagine a laptop or tablet would end up being more useful than this.

I was mostly seeing if anyone could convince me that it could be more useful, so far you have been successful at not doing so!

Microwave ovens work best on metal and water, as those are readily conductive of heat, though you probably knew that already. In any case that's why you can just microwave paper as much as you want and pick it up straight afterwards. It has neither in it, so it's not going to heat up that much. In any case, a regular microwave does not generate enough heat to set paper on fire or gradually disintegrate. it takes enough energy to reheat your food, let alone ignite paper.

 

A tablet with a wacom digitizer embedded into the screen would be best for this situation. Pressure sensitivity and everything.

 

This microwavable notebook is useless simply because you can do the same thing with a regular notepad, a pen and a text recognition app. They're selling you something you can already do. It's like NASA making a pen that can write upside down, in zero gravity and at -60 degrees, when you can just buy a regular pencil which will do the same exact thing more effectively. That's why we successfully didn't convince you that it could be more useful, because it's not.

[zuperbri]

Microwave ovens work best on metal and water, as those are readily conductive of heat, though you probably knew that already. In any case that's why you can just microwave paper as much as you want and pick it up straight afterwards. It has neither in it, so it's not going to heat up that much. In any case, a regular microwave does not generate enough heat to set paper on fire or gradually disintegrate. it takes enough energy to reheat your food, let alone ignite paper.

 

A tablet with a wacom digitizer embedded into the screen would be best for this situation. Pressure sensitivity and everything.

 

This microwavable notebook is useless simply because you can do the same thing with a regular notepad, a pen and a text recognition app. They're selling you something you can already do. It's like NASA making a pen that can write upside down, in zero gravity and at -60 degrees, when you can just buy a regular pencil which will do the same exact thing more effectively. That's why we successfully didn't convince you that it could be more useful, because it's not.

Hey, the pen was important, the reason they made it was because the graphite dust from led pencils posed potential problems with the electronics in zero gravity   

But yes, I completely agree that it doesn't seem very useful. I thought maybe someone could see a more practical use than I could. I was wondering how it has done so well on Indiegogo but then people buy all kinds of useless crap all the time!

[twixandoreo1]

So are we supposed to carry a microwave with us now lol

[NL_300]

"Inspired by the new Wave feature in IOS 8".

[Williamchan87]

I still use a pencil and paper notebook sometimes, but the whole thing still seems skeptical, first this one uses a pen and I only like using a pencil, second I rather the notes etc still stay in the book and never vanish due to heat, third its too big of a note book for my liking, so initially only thing I like about the whole thing is that they have a app to perfectly  capture the notes.

 

To put it into computer terms I would like to have the original with me, and a copy on cloud (aka backup). but this one the ink vanishes in seconds means I loose the original :\