Computers may be where the office grunt work gets done, but deep-thought work and conceptualization can still benefit from a bit of scribbling on paper, if for no other reason than avoiding the distractions of notifications, sidebars, open apps and a multitude of open browser tabs. The newly-announced reMarkable "paper tablet" is designed to replace your ancillary papers – notes, sketches and documents included – with one device that offers a convincing real-paper look and feel.
As a digital device, reMarkable has a few advantages over paper: It reduces waste and clutter, syncs with all your devices via the cloud, and documents can easily be re-organized and shared.
Of course, there are plenty of other devices already on the market being touted for their note-taking abilities, but reMarkable stands apart because it is intended to be both an e-reader and an e-writer. Most devices are largely one or the other, or something entirely different.
However, there are a few options that occupy the space for which reMarkable is striving. For example, Noteslate has similar devices available for pre-order, and Sony's Digital Paper (which is at least twice the price) is already on the market. Still, reMarkable is poised to have a few advantages over these direct competitors.
For one, its 10.3-in "Canvas" digital paper display is without glass parts. That should mitigate the two largest challenges that tablets face when trying to duplicate the tactility of pen and paper: display glare/brightness, and an overly slippery feel. reMarkable's capacitive touch display also has an industry-low 55 ms latency. According to the manufacturer, this means it populates the e-ink onscreen at a rate that matches the natural speed of writing with a pen better than competing devices in this category.
Combined with a battery-free stylus rocking 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity with a high-friction nib, the reMarkable tablet stands to be a better-developed and more realistic replacement for yellow pads, sketchbooks and portfolios. Since it supports PDF and EPUB formats (and more to be announced), it could even be an ideal study tool as well – read the material, and highlight/annotate it onscreen as you go.
reMarkable goes up for preorder today for the current discounted price of US$379 (it will later ring up for a hefty $716) and includes tablet, stylus, case and shipping. The devices start shipping mid 2017. You can see it in action in the promo video below.
Product page: reMarkable
I wonder if they could create an app that does something like that for a tablet computer?
For very basic highlighting and selecting, a tablet might work, but fine detailing and writing requires something with a dedicated screen tech (WACOM). Further, something lighter is better. Tablets are multitasking devices that need several components on-board and a considerable battery, resulting in weight.
eInkers/ereaders aren't looking for another tablet to do searching on. What's needed is a lightweight device focused on inking/reading that only has enough radio functionality to get/send docs and notes.
They are companion devices. They are relatively small, but the market is relatively small - if we could get some of that engineering and manufacturing capacity dedicated to giving you a thinner/bigger/faster/prettier whateverPhone, maybe the price could come down.
My preference would be a similar device with just a BT/NFC radio and some kind of front lighting (although anything light begins to affect legibility).
The only remotely well-known version of this is the $800US model that is very proprietary, so the pricing is not out of line.
If Jim Bezos wanted to, he could easily corner this market. As it is the 9.7 inch Kindle DX that he stopped making YEARS ago will still sell for $200 on eBay used.
As it is, I just make do with a Surface Pro with a matte screen cover for critical reading and a Nook Simple Touch for pleasure reading.
But most folk will be happier with regular mobile device.