Benefits of Using a Smartpen (a.k.a. Why I Use a Smart Pen)

Still undecided whether it would be a good idea to use a smart pen? If so, this post if for you.

You see, away from my digital career, I am also interested in electric unicycles. So, what do I do when I need information on the best models available on the market? I simply head to a reputable website for a
comprehensive overview of what’s on the market.

My goal for this website is to make it the go-to resource for everything you need to know about smart pens and other digital art tools and accessories.  So, before we get into the benefits of using a smart pen, let’s get into a little bit of my history.

Why Do I Use A Smartpen? A Little History Lesson

smartpenI went through school without any computer classes – not because I elected not to take them, but because computers were rare back in those days.  Writing papers for school and taking notes for class was a pain. Not only did you have to take the notes, but also had to make notes on what you were thinking at the time to help you remember when it came to doing homework or to use for revision before tests.

After I left school and had been working for a few years, I got interested in computers.  They weren’t anything fancy back then. The personal PC was the new thing (my first home PC cost me over $4,000…ouch!).

Voice Recognition

Sometime around the same time, voice recognition software was beginning to come out. I think there were only two ‘decent’ commercial offerings back then.  I had the ‘joy’ of working with ‘Dragon Naturally Speaking’.

At the time, you had to sit and train the software to understand your particular voice. You had to do this by reading set texts containing the most common words, and correcting any mistakes the computer had made.

Not only did this take hours to begin with, but if you wanted to use the software in different environments (such as a quiet room, an office environment, outdoors) you had to train a profile for each different one… How many hours did you think I worked on that?!

Workplace Note-taking

Fast forward a few decades later, and yes speech recognition has gotten a lot better. However,  I still don’t find it too effective for my current work environment.  I am involved in a lot of meetings, brainstorming sessions, negotiation talks and so on. Most of the time, there are several to many people involved. Therefore, it becomes essential to take notes to review after.

We’ve tried:

  • Regular note taking – even with a designated note taker with no other responsibilities in the meeting.
  • Video recording the sessions.
  • Using voice recorders like the Sony ICD ux560
  • Each person taking their own notes.
  • Just trying to remember from the tops of our heads (sometimes taking notes distracts from the creativity of a meeting).
  • Using tablet PCs and laptops to type notes and record audio.

And, more recently, we’ve tried using the Smartpens, by far my favorite solution of all.

Benefits of Using a Smart Pen 

best smartpens

Some of the Best Smartpens on the Market

Every method mentioned above is good at certain times, and conversely, not good at other times.  The smartpen brings the flexibility we needed for almost every situation.  We can write notes, record audio, record the notes, upload them to our network for everyone to access.  We can also go back to the notes and listen to the audio that was being said while the notes were actually being taken.

Hate having to type up your notes or meeting minutes to distribute to the team?  With a smartpen, when you write, they get saved ready to upload and send out.  No wasted time writing or typing up your notes again.

Ever get interrupted and lose your train of thought?  Spend several minutes or more trying to remember exactly what you were thinking when you took those notes?  With a good smartpen like LiveScribe Pulse Echo, you can go back and listen to the very conversation and read the notes at the same time.

Think about that for a minute – how useful would that be in class, or in a lecture?  If you geet a good seat at the front,  you can even record the speaker talking while you make notes.  It’s an amazing aid.

My experience using Smartpens has obviously been a good one, that’s why I’m dedicated to writing smartpen reviews on this website.  Smartpens have saved me countless hours of time and tons of effort.  I hope you find my reviews useful.

3 comments on “Benefits of Using a Smartpen (a.k.a. Why I Use a Smart Pen)

  1. Pingback: Smart Pens for Students With Disabilities (2020)

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