Java Pen
I got the very latest Java pen from Livescribe
at JavaONE 2008. It has a nice aluminium finish. The
responsiveness is really fast—the pen reacts to the user's actions
immediately.
It comes with a 6 page manual, which is amazing. From the first attempt, I simply ignored the hints, such as "Tap here", and wondered about the nice looking icons. Tapping the icons, you are able to set the date and time and hear additional information, because the pen comes with speakers.
I'm already curious about the related Java SDK—it should come out in June/July. The installation of the desktop was easy and fast as well—however it seems to be developed with .NET, which would explain the exclusive Windows availability:
It is really interesting how user interfaces have been evolving recently: iPhone, Livescribe and Nike+. Cool fresh new ideas!
From http://blog.adam-bien.com/
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| livescribe.png | 52.68 KB |
| lp-sys.png | 15.28 KB |
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Comments
Ewald Dieser replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 6:28am
Tunde Adeyemi replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 7:12am
Rick Ross replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 7:33am
in response to: slomo
Geertjan Wielenga replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 7:39am
Dan Dyer replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 8:43am
This write-up is confusing. How is this a Java pen if it requires .Net, there is no Java SDK and it only works with Windows?
And what does it actually do?
Bjoern Erik Abt replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 9:52am
in response to: dwdyer
Hi Dan,
Have a look at the presentation of the pen from the JavaOne Conference (starts at about minute 20, so you need to forward the video). Some of the functionality is explained there. After that speech probably hundreds of people left the hall at the Moscone Center and went upstairs to buy one.
I think that the software on the pen is written in Java and the software on the Desktop is (unfortunately for non Windows-Users) written in .Net.
Greetings Björn
Paedagogus replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 10:27am
It was pretty short sighted of them to do a .NET based desktop instead of Java, but it sounds like they have recognized the error of their ways. They would've been much quicker to market on platforms like Mac OS and Linux had they stayed away from .NET. Heck, GNU C would've been better for them.
I'm holding out for a Mac version. I don't care if it does end up running in VMWare, Parallels or VirtualBox -- I shouldn't have to fire up an entire OS just to use a ball point pen. :-)
Jason Kratz replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 12:57pm
in response to: Paedagogus
Yes clearly it was shortsighted of them to serve the OS platform with the biggest marketshare. They're in business to make money and I suspect at this point worrying about the miniscule Mac market (and even smaller Linux market) wasn't at the top of the priority list.
I agree that they could have used Java but we don't know any of the particulars behind their decision to use .NET.
And there is no way that using GNU C would have been faster for anything. Have you written a full Windows application in C and .NET to make a comparison?
dustmachine replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 1:01pm
WANT.
I clicked over and watched a few of the demos. Way cool. I take plenty of notes during meetings and spend too much time copying out the stuff I need or hanging onto notebooks full of stuff. The pile of used notebooks just gets higher and the usefulness of that pile decreases the bigger it gets. I can't wait to get one.
Tunde Adeyemi replied on Fri, 2008/06/06 - 1:11pm
I'm still looking forward to the day when developers wil come to accept things the way they are rather than complaining. Even though I'm not also a fan os MSft all, the fact still remains that their OS currently dominates the market, so building a successful SDK or application on it shouldn't deter people from patronizing such products. It might have been that the developers at LiveScribe found it easier to develop on, which is usually the case with anyone who has spent so much time with the Windows OS. Is it the OS stack that we're building on that really matters, or what amazing things we can do with the SDK. Lets not just start flame wars Java vs .NET, or Mac vs Windows or Linux vs Windows.
Personally, I think that if Windows will be a starting point for them, yes, its good, so far they have plans to create support for other osES. If creating a visual tool for JavaFX can be done in .NET such that it will run faster on our computers than if done with Java, fine (though this is not the case, but I need to make us realize this. Let's just not criticize the other technologies because we are evangelizing our platform.
Rommel Feria replied on Sat, 2008/06/07 - 5:55am
in response to: rick
zhangmm replied on Fri, 2009/07/10 - 9:20am