What the Tech vlog #5 – Get it Write

Writing has been proven to be a much more effective way take in information than simply typing. However, we’ve usually been limited by the fidelity of using touch screens with our fingers. Until now.

Now we have access to specialised “digital” pens that are made to write on touch screens. And whilst the device-specific pens (like Apple Pen or Microsoft Surface Pen) have incredible capabilities, they often cost a lot and can’t be used on multiple devices.

However I found a great mid-way digital stylus on Amazon which is great functionality for a very reasonable price, and can be used on any device with a touch screen!

Get it here: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007PRP57Y/

Read the transcript below:

Welcome to our Ignite What The Tech vlogs, where we experiment with apps, services, and other tech
so that you can learn from our experiences.
So you might be wondering why I’m wearing this strange glove. Recently I’ve been actually experimenting with digital pens.
Now you might have seen this in the form of a pen like this which is actually a normal pen at the bottom and at the top it’s got a bit of a digital tip (as I call it) where you can use this to actually interact with a phone or a tablet – any sort of touchscreen really.
I’ve used this kind of thing before but actually I don’t really enjoy it. It’s a bit too clunky to actually use it for anything more than just tapping the screen, and I’d really love to be able to write on a touchscreen as well.
I never really got an Apple Pen with my iPad and recently I found one of my friends using one to make some notes at a workshop that we were at. I found that actually it was pretty cool. It could do a lot more than I thought it could and I thought I’d actually try it out myself.
When I went on Amazon to buy an Apple Pen, I found that they were actually loads of alternatives, and since the Apple Pen is obviously only compatible with Apple devices, you know, I thought let me try out an alternative
because at Ignite we’re all about digital literacy.
Which means anyone should be able to use technology. So I thought I’d get a pen that anyone could use.
So that’s this one.
Now this pen here, you can see it’s not just a normal pen. It’s actually got a bit of a metallic tip that you can use to write on the touch screen
and it’s much finer… let me put them side-by-side.
It’s much finer than the other black tip.
Now this pen is really good for writing on your screen because it’s a lot more precise and a lot finer to use which means that you can actually write letters and words and sentences.
Now, it’s quite different from actually writing on pen and paper, of coursey, you know, writing on glass you don’t get quite the same sort of haptic feedback that you would.
Actually you know, you might wonder why would you choose to actually write rather than to type?
It does take a bit of getting used to, to actually be able to
be quick enough with writing words on the screen as well as actually writing something that’s readable and neat.
But actually when you get a chance to play around with some of the colours, the different types of pens, and the different sizes, you find that actually it let’s you have a lot more fun with your creativity and bring more creativity into whatever notes you might be taking.
Actually I enjoy using this pen a lot more than I do enjoy typing even though I can type a lot quicker.
You use apps and services like Microsoft OneNote and Google Keep
They can take all of the stuff you’ve written or drawn
and use something called ‘ink to text.’
So they transform all of your digital ink into text that you can then edit and do whatever you want with.
I now use this when I’m making notes at a workshop,
for example, or even writing the script for this video
I actually wrote it out with this pen instead of using a normal pen and paper and that made it a lot easier for me to then,
you know, then convert that into text, edit it, make it bigger
for example, if I wanted to read it while I was practicing.
So I wanted to tell you a little bit about this digital pen.
Now to answer the question about this glove.
This glove is actually that you can wear while you’re using the pen on your touch screen
for example to help make sure that the hand doesn’t interfere with the pen.
I’ve actually found that you don’t need to use the glove it works perfectly fine without it.
But I thought you might appreciate that little story about the pen.
So I hope that was useful and see you in the next video.