DocAndersen
I surf crowdfunding sites often. For me, I love seeing the creativity that project creators have and share. One of the companies that I am a huge fan of is the Rocketbook products. Rocketbook was originally a reusable notebook company. They added software that lets you convert your handwriting into text. The company has launched four campaigns that I have backed. I suspect there are others that I have missed; The picture is of their last product, the Rocketboard. A whiteboard you can quickly convert into text using their software on your phone. Simply point the application (and your camera) at the whiteboard, snap and convert. It works very well.
There are several products in the space that Rocketbook is in. What I like is the company is an agile crowdfunding success story. There is the concept of building a better mousetrap. That is a real market to start in, but the reality of the mousetrap is its function. Building better functionality is important, but sometimes you have to consider what the mousetrap has to deliver. For those who don’t like injuring animals, the mice have to be safely trapped so that they can be emptied somewhere not inside your house. Rocketbook has done that, by moving from paper notebooks that you write on to whiteboards you can write on, in both cases taking the physical notes and making them digital.
Their newest product is an adapter that allows you to convert any whiteboard into a digital workspace. I can’t wait to see how they deal with that issue. I have, over the years, played with several whiteboard digital conversion tools. eBeam has long been my go-to device. I have also looked at the smart boards from Kapp. In those cases, the products work very well but like anything you have to consider setup. With the Rocketbook products, having a frame using the software that lets you capture whiteboards and convert them to text, on your phone, is very interesting. I am impressed with the company, and I am impressed by the products they produce. There are many companies that do not make it out of the crowdfunding swamp. Rocketbook is a success, and the products are wonderful!
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Question of
Do you like whiteboards?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you take notes on paper?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you sometimes have to share the notes you’ve taken?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Would you use a reuseable whiteboard (one that you can put up and take down)?
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Yes
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No
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Is this actually on sale at Amazon?
in fact it is, simply search Rocketbook and you will see their everlast notebook. I think the Thinkboards are there as well!
Sounds like a useful tool to have
it actually is used heavily by art students in San Francisco! Lets you convert pen and pencil drawings to digital quickly!
During meetings I took notes and I wrote the minutes to make certain everyone is on the same page ?
so do I, mostly on my iPad but sometimes I use the Rocketboard!
I prefer light text on dark backgrounds (easier on the eyes)
hey to each their own! I love whiteboards!!!!
with dry erase, it has to be dark on light. high contrast is essential for what you want
with the rocketbook software that makes it ten times more likely to work!!!
high contrast is the best thing you can do for OCR software
it is, OCR packages are interesting.
I’ve used Omnipage and Aabby for years.
they both have strong points and weak points.
I wonder if some sort of fuzzy logic or ML would work better for OCR…
Having played around with voice conversion and text conversion for the last 20 years I have learned two things.
1. quality of the microphone for voice is critical
2. quality of the scanning device for OCR is critical
The hilarious thing for both of those, is they are EXPENSIVE!
you want premium quality, you should be prepared to pay a premium price
I agree!
CZUR ( a Chinese company) has invented the best scanners I’ve ever used for books and papers.
I have to say Dragon Go, taken back to Dragon Naturally speaking works pretty well on transcribing voice.
But both are expensive.
I haven’t heard of either…
They are both companies that are new (Czur) and old (Dragon). Back when there was four distinct speech to text systems Dragon was the best. Now, they are the only independent one left.
so the dragon came out on top?
The others got consumed (Microsoft and IBM) and became parts of other products (Office and Watson). Not sure Dragon one, they are just the only one standing in the conversion space now.
the last dragon standing
Dragon that was eaten, part of the Nuance Family now!
(PaperPort, Omnipage, Dragon Naturally Speaking)
I wonder if there will be anything left of the small tech company eventually.
unless governments protect small businesses from corporations, the small tech company will always exist, but they will always get gobbled up before they can become bigger
in the past there was the concept of R&D, a big company could afford to lose money for 10 years, knowing they would make it up on the back end.
Now R&D is at risk. Crowdfunding causes as many issues as solutions sometimes.
seen in the context of research not being done at all, crowdfunding or a traditional investor is really the only way it gets done anymore outside of a university
not a whole lot of wealthy scientists, and some inventions can’t be developed in the garage…
that is why the failure rate continues to rise.
Plus, the R&D group in a big company, can go reach to out to manufacturing, pricing, marketing etc.
Crowdfunding has to do it all themselves.
the independent developer just invents, whereas a corporation already has lawyers, marketing and everything else. and they can be involved in development process as well…
where crowdfunding projects get stuck is the reality of manufacturing. I cannot tell you how many campaign owners have told me “yeah I got manufacturing.” Only to come back later and say we got delayed.
Why?
Because the manufacturer would make more money on a million things for Samsung.
Big company, big pockets, buy a lot!
Crowdfunding buys smaller custom and likely to get bumped.
sure, and the big boys can run you out of business that way alone…
i would agree larger companies use that leverage sometimes. Sometimes they just buy the little company.
Sometimes they are caught sleeping and don’t realize it is two late.
The fortune 500 is littered with things that used to be big products!
lots and lots of possibilities
I like the concept so I will try it soon.
it really works very well overall!
Yes , white board is still in my use ,
The Rocketbook, Thinkboard is inexpensive – something to think about!
I love how my college campus had whiteboards in each of the classrooms, allowing the professor to write out notes on what looked like a wall versus the old school chalk boards.
I miss chalkboards, but that is the future so I am glad your college has invested!
I’m curious if my old high school has upgraded to the white boards.
I suspect many have, whiteboards are actually more expensive over time than a chalk board is.
I would imagine. My professor used to quickly remind us not to use the permanent marker on that white board.
Sadly, dry erase marker left for a long time become permanent. You have to resurface the whiteboard.
To be honest, I still use conventional whiteboards, whether it’s a real whiteboard or glass, and also a record on paper for a while. I’m still old-fashioned, right?
Not old fashioned, just you!
I suspect lots of people are in the same mode as you.
That must be great for people like you. You’re using it.
I use it every single day! I love whiteboards.
This reminds me of what happened to me a few days ago. I called an imaging center for a copy of a report. They emailed a consent, which I had to complete online and email a signature, which was done by signing a piece of white paper and holding it up to my computer camera. Then inserted onto the consent. Then, tah-dah I got my report.
Sounds like much better than you having to go to the office, sign just to sign!
Great post ….. I do not use any of these things … you know my friend that this is all too much for me … I like to read
I suspect, they are more work focused than retired focused. I can understand your not using them!!!
I agree … my pensioners do not really need such things … because I do not … it’s still very interesting to read
well thank you for reading! I suspect, in the not to far distant future, when I retire, I am going to sit on my boat and fish!
This is going to be a great job, my friend … I want you to do it soon
It will have to be a few more years. only 12 or so
This is a long time, my friend
When I started as a school teacher I had more than 40 years to go. Most of the 40 is gone now
This is true, my friend