So anyway back to keeping things simple.  Is it just me, or does it seem that pulling out a tablet or even a small laptop in a meeting and starting to type on the keyboard can be more than a little distracting?  I admit I do it all the time and so do many of my colleagues but that doesn't make it "smart". As many of you know, I'm using the Microsoft Surface Pro Slate which comes with a digital pen. I like it. I don't love it. Mostly because I haven't given it a chance. I find the best use of the pen is for marking up existing documents and making notations and I'm starting to use it for other things. Ultimately, it's much faster to write with a stylus than typing on the keyboard and I admit I'm shocked with how well it reads my scrawl. I can leave the notes in script or use the "convert to text mode".  It's pretty cool, but definitely took me some time to decide to try it.

Would I like a different digital pen better? Maybe.  Electronic or digital pens have only been around a little over five years in any sort of practical sense. Most require the use of special paper and the accompanying software seems to be one of the big differentiators in whether people like the pen or not. And for the most part they haven't gone mainstream. The issue as I see it is that digital or electronic pens are really just modifying a rather rudimentary human skill that many of us take for granted. So the pens have to really add value in a practical and easy way to get traction. It sure makes sense that these pens would be held in higher esteem than bringing laptops and tablets into meetings, but that hasn't happened and I think it's the learning curve of the software. You need to learn it a little to be able to feel more comfortable than holding a pen and writing to paper. 

So if I was to try a different digital pen than the one that I'm using with my Surface Pro, what might I use? Probably the Echo Smartpen, but take a look here for a pretty good review of your digital pen options. I also like IOGEAR's Mobile Digital Scribe, which is one of the few pens that allows you to write on any surface. It does so by having a sensor device that mounts to the page you are writing on. It's also less expensive than the Echo Smartpen and has fewer bells and whistles. That said, I think as digital pens continue to improve they will have a place in everyday business life for me. They certainly invoke a friendlier style that is both silent and unobtrusive. Plus there's something really nice about writing in a business meeting rather than typing. Maybe it's because studies continue to show we comprehend what we write more than what we type. I don't know, but for me writing with an electronic pen is smart, I feel more connected the people in the room when I don't have to think about my fingers on a keyboard and certainly combining the electronic medium with the "quill" is becoming simpler. So smart and simple? Getting there. And I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before digital pens become mainstream.  How about you?