The notion of being able to turn handwriting into editable
text has been perplexing. The biggest
obstacle to being able to making handwritten notes word processor friendly has
been the technology. The caveats have
been limiting, and the primary one has been paper.
There
have been on the market a number of devices that offer the capability of making
handwriting transferrable to the digital divide. They have usually involved using some form of
dotted paper. The problems become truly
problematic when you factor cost and convenience. When most people write notes, they are not
concerned with locating special papers that are not that easy to find, or with
decent price points.
If that
problem was not a deterrent, some of the pens were huge and rather cumbersome
to use and carry. Then, if this was not
enough already, accuracy was a problem
as well.
Where
IRIS notes enters the arena of note taking pens is that the Executive Two works
on any paper. The need for specialty papers has vanished.
Another
area that IRIS has address is the pen itself.
Roughly about the size of a high end fountain pen, the IRIS note pen is neither
awkward to handle, or unusually shaped.
In terms of convenience, IRIS has addressed the huge hurdle of requiring
special paper and large unwieldy pens.
But the
big obstacle to making notes easy to work with is accuracy. To help improve in this department, the pen
comes with training software that allows the program to attempt to “understand”
the way an individual writes.
Requiring
roughly an hour time, one is required to write a few sentences and symbols that
are saved as profiles that are intended to improve the ability of the software
to recognize your handwriting so that it can be turned into text that word
processors can process.
As long
as your writing is neat and legible, you may see a rather high degree of
accuracy. However, if your handwriting
resembles scrawled text, you may be in for a less that ideal experience.
The
problem of accuracy and ease of use has plagued digital pens since the concept was
made consumer friendly. Even if one is
careful, there are moments where you will have to go back to the wordprorcessor
to do a little clean up on the occasional missed word.
The big
thing is that if you can accept some limitations, write well and have some
patience, the program is the best of its kind on the market. Removing the need
for special paper and having a pen that actually feels higher end are two major problems that IRIS
has produced a reasonable solution.
As far
as the software enclosed, it does install well, but may require a more astute
user to use. I would not say it is bad,
but it could stand to be a bit more user friendly, particularly when it comes
to downloading and loading from the base station to the p.c.
Regarding
actual use and set up, the pen size and convenience are decent. In actual use, the pen does not demand any
odd or strange procedures. Simply write
and the information is recorded. Again,
the big point to keep in mind is that the neater your notes, the more likely
your results will be better. While it is
not perfect, IRIS has produced a device that is much more practicle than what
anyone else has produced thus far.
For
those using iphones, windows desktops, laptops, and ipads, the IRIS pen is cross
platform friendly.
Should
note taking be your focus, and you need to digitize and record those notes,
IRIS has offered what is easily the best of the breed. One simply has to be reasonable regarding
expectations.
Compatible with Windows® 8, Windows® 7, Windows® Vista®,
Windows® XP Yes Yes Yes
Compatible with Mac OS®X Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion or
Mountain Lion (earlier versions not supported!).
Product name IRISNotes™ Executive 2
Box size (H x L x D) 20 x 15 x 3,5 cm (7.87 x 5.90 x 1.37 in
Box weight 320g (0.70 lbs
Pen weight 16g (0.035
lbs
Receiver weight 26g
(0.057 lbs
Box languages Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German,
Italian
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
®Box content Digital pen and USB receiver • USB cable •
Apple
30-pin connector • Ink refill • Software and drivers for
Windows® and Mac® on CD-ROM • P&T
• catalogue • Discount
voucher for next purchase
Quick user guide
