Over the past few decades, we have seen a significant growth in the area of digital handwriting and notetaking – several products were introduced in the attempt to replace physical pen and paper. Some of the popular technology available today in the market include LCD Writing Tablets/Boards, e-ink tablets, touchscreen laptops, and Android/iOS tablets – all of which offer the solution to our handwriting needs in various capacities. In this article, we compare the pros and cons of these different available options and discuss why LCD Writing Tablet is the right technology that has the best potential to change the course of the future of paperless digital handwriting.
LCD Writing Tablets for Paperless Writing / Notetaking
Since its introduction to the market in the early 2010’s, the LCD writing tablet has established itself as a household item, at least, as a popular children’s toy. There are several reasons why these boards broke through in the market in a short span of time. The first reason was their simplicity of design and the level of user friendliness – any adult or child can begin drawing on an LCD writing board right out of the box, there’s nothing to learn or figure out like when using a smartphone, a handheld tablet or a laptop computer. A second reason is its accessibility – the breakthrough LCD writing technology has made it possible to market them at a price that is highly affordable to people from all income brackets.
As a children’s toy, LCD writing boards are quite appealing to parents. LCD drawing boards provide countless supply of pages, saving parents significant amount of money that would have been spent otherwise on colouring pens, blank paper sheets or drawing books. It is also an added benefit when you don’t have paper laying around everywhere in the play areas.
It also offers many potential benefits as a notetaking device for adults. First of all, the screens on LCD writing tablets/boards are not backlit as found on the iPad or Android Tablets that are often associated with eye strain and fatigue from continuous use. Just like paper, a user can use/ stare at the screen of an LCD board for hours and experience no eye fatigue – a direct health benefit. In addition, the 21st century has seen significant growth in the consumer awareness of environmental hazards – people prefer eco-friendly products that are less harmful to the environment, and LCD screens have all the right ingredients to appeal to the environmentally conscious consumer. As a paper-alternative product or a notetaking device, LCD writing tablets can potentially save tons of paper at home, in the office or in school – saving lots of trees in the process.
However, until very recently, LCD writing tablets were still being used primarily as a children’s toy – something to doodle on. Without the options to save what’s being written on the screen, LCD writing tablets have struggled to establish as a more serious device that can be used for taking notes and communicating in the office or the classroom. In the late 2010’s, A new company called BeaverPad® Canada (www.beaverpad.ca) has introduced a breakthrough smart LCD writing tablet called The BeaverPad® LCD Writing Tablet. The BeaverPad® can do everything a regular LCD drawing board can – it comes with all the environmental and health benefits of an ordinary LCD writing tablet, but it is a more advanced device that offers many smart features missing in ordinary LCD tablets.
The BeaverPad® comes with its own internal memory which allows users to save their writings offline within the tablet without needing any connection to another device. This device is also packed with Bluetooth connectivity that connects to any iOS or Android device via Bluetooth. Once connected, users can easily transfer their saved files to other devices. In addition, users can write in direct synchronization from the BeaverPad® to their smartphones, tablet computers (Android and iOS), or desktop/Laptop computers (Windows and MacOS).
Tablet Computers as notetaking devices
The concept of using Android and iOS Tablets with a stylus pen as a notetaking device has existed since the beginning of handheld touchscreen tablet computers. Some of the popular tablet computers used for notetaking include Samsung Galaxy Tab and the iPad. Although it’s been many years since the first tablet computer was introduced to the market, handheld Android or iOS devices never gained popularity as a notetaking device or considered as a viable alternative to pen and paper. Along with numerous other drawbacks, these devices are significantly more expensive when compared to LCD writing tablets.
Android’s biggest shortcoming is its failure to create an authentic writing experience for the users that can mimic writing on a real piece of paper with a pen. Despite vast technological advancements, most Android tablets offer a less than perfect writing experience when used with a stylus pen – inconsistent responsiveness, high latency and recurrent lags seen on many models tell us that Android tablets are still a few good years away from becoming a suitable notetaking option to replace real pen and paper. iPads reportedly offer a better performance when it comes to handwriting with a stylus – but iPad’s price range is still out of the reach for the mass as they are priced significantly higher than LCD writing tablets.
Another notable disadvantage of using iPads or Android tablets is they both use backlit LED screens that are hazardous to the eyes. Continuous use of backlit screens can potentially harm one’s vision and cause other sleep related disorders – a problem users can avoid by switching to LCD writing boards.
e-ink Tablets/notetaking devices
Another technology that has grown popular in recent years as a digital notetaking solution is the e-ink tablet. The e-ink uses a display technology that is different from that of the Ipad or Samsung Galaxy tab. The e-ink screens are not backlit, and offer similar health benefits found on LCD Writing tablets. The writing performances are also considered to be better than iOS or Android tablets. But the biggest drawback with e-ink tablets is they are still far too expensive when compared to LCD writing tablets or handheld Tablet Computers making it very difficult to penetrate in the market. Some of the more familiar producers of e-ink tablets such as reMarkable or Onyx seem to have their own niche of loyal customers. These dedicated group of customers would support upcoming products on kickstarter, and they don’t mind paying for an item that offers very little functionality other than handwriting and notetaking but costs almost as much as an iPad. But the size of these loyal groups are still quite small, hence, e-ink notetaking devices are still trapped within the confines of their loyal fanbase.
Touchscreen Laptop Computers as Notetaking devices
Since the rise of widespread use of touchscreen displays on laptop computers, many manufacturers have attempted to offer the handwriting functionality by pairing their laptops with a stylus pen. Although a laptop with handwriting capacity may sound very tempting as an all-in-one device, touchscreen laptops have never been able to appeal to the end-users as a notetaking gadget for reasons similar to handheld Android/iOS tablets. Issues such as high latency, lags, and inconsistent responsiveness makes the writing experience inconvenient and unfit for professional use.
The Verdict
It seems that devices such as touchscreen laptops or handheld tablets are still a few years away from perfecting the craft of digital handwriting. E-Ink tablets offer relatively better experience but they are too expensive for the average consumer. When factors such as price, ease of use, and writing performance are considered, Smart LCD Writing Tablets have the best potential to breakthrough as the most widely-used notetaking device in the world. With it’s affordable price range, seamless writing performance, and ease of use, LCD writing tablets have already established several major competitive advantage points over the substitute products in the market. Some added smart features missing in the current generation will further differentiate the LCD Writing Tablet from its competitors and make it the go to notetaking gadget that changes the way we perceive and use digital handwriting devices.
