The Digital Reader

At first I was thrilled to see this product. It has a revolutionary low power screen technology that could potentially replace paper. But then I realized how much you can’t do with the Boogie Board. From the press release:

Kent Displays announced today the forming of Improv Electronics, a new business unit focused on development and sales of consumer electronic products. The products will utilize Kent Displays revolutionary Reflex™ no power LCD technology.The first product sold under the Improv Electronics name, the Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet, is now available. This product is the first paperless writing tablet to utilize a pressure-sensitive Reflex LCD for the writing surface. While most other LCDs are made on glass, the Reflex LCDs used in Boogie Board tablets are made of impact-resistant, flexible plastic. They are mass produced exclusively in the U.S. on the world’s first roll-to-roll line for fabrication of flexible LCDs.

Because all Reflex LCDs are reflective and bi-stable, the Boogie Board tablet requires no power to generate or retain an image, and only a small amount to erase (supplied by a small watch battery, which will execute over 50,000 erase cycles).  At a retail price of $29.97 USD, the Boogie Board tablet’s cost per erase is 15 times less than the per sheet cost of paper in a comparable  steno notepad.

I’ve looked at the promotional material, and I couldn’t find any indication that you can save the current screen contents. All you can do is erase them. The Boogie Board is not a replacement for a steno  pad because a steno pad remembers what you wrote. Basically the Boogie Board is a $30 etch-a-sketch. How disappointing.