On Cross and IBM

On Cross and IBM. Regarding IBM's new TransNote -- combination notebook (computer)/notebook (paper) -- I linked to the other day, Jesse writes in with information about the link between TransNote and the Crosspad. Turns out, Cross licensed IBM's technology in the first place. (I was guessing it was the other way around -- but, duh. They make pens.) Which reminds me: I've been meaning to comment on the Crosspad since my friend Hook loaned me his back in October. When I read this on the Crosspad site: "Sorry, all Crosspads are no longer available," I thought, I'm not surprised. The product wasn't quite there and never seemed to take off. But, such a cool idea, it's unfortunate they didn't let it evolve beyond 1.0. Then, I read on: "Crosspad Version 2 now available, please refer to Official Cross Store," which made me think: Oh, cool.


You have to search for it in the store, but if you do, you can find the CrossPad2. Unfortunately, there is zero information about what is new in this new version. What I hope (but doubt) is different in this new version is the pen. Ironically, the thing I didn't like about the Crosspad -- given the company's main line of business -- was I didn't like how the pen wrote. I was excited about the product in the first place because, even though I'm a computer geek, I love to take notes and think with a pad and paper. I've been doing it for years and would kill to have digital copies of my hundreds of pages of scatter-brained ideas, and sketches, and mindmaps (though, at least, with paper I still have a lot of them). But I'm particular about the pen I use to do this. (Currently, I'm liking these -- not fancy, just smooth.) The Crosspad pen was unpleasant and clunky and clogged my thinking process, so I ended up not using it. Once again, subtle, user-interface things rule the day.