After conducting hundreds of interviews on the note-taking habits of fellow MIT alumni, Joe Lemay had what he calls an “aha moment,” realizing that people at the forefront of innovation still prefer to jot down ideas the old-fashioned way. So he developed a product that combines the best of both worlds, the Rocketbook Wave, which allows users to put pen to paper, digitally archive their notes and wipe pages clean using some very familiar technology: an everyday kitchen microwave.
Made of cellulose paper, the $27 notebook is compatible with Pilot FriXion pens, whose ink disappears when it shares the microwave with a mug of water for a few minutes. The notebook’s 80 pages can be used up to 10 times, and the bottom of each bears seven little symbols that correspond to different storage options personalized by the user. For example, when Lemay checks the star symbol and takes a picture of the page with his smartphone, the Rocketbook Wave app automatically sends the image to his meeting notes file on Dropbox. Another note taker uses the horseshoe to send to-do lists straight to her husband’s email address, and users can devote a symbol to a program like Evernote to turn handwritten notes into searchable text. “We realized that people didn’t want yet another system to log into,” Lemay says. “That’s why people find it super useful. … We’re just bringing this paper into the existing work flow.”
After successful crowdfunding campaigns, customers are already using—and reordering—their Rocketbooks. Lemay says he enjoys seeing the unexpected ways the technology is being used. (His 7-year-old daughter archives artwork to the family cloud.) And the Boston-based company hopes to expand functionality further, incorporating Slack compatibility and perhaps even a calendar function. “Notebooks are a place where we capture our ideas, where we’re most creative, and the item itself should be creative as well,” Lemay says. “I think this has been a long-neglected industry in terms of innovation, and there’s a ton of room to capture people’s imaginations and change the way they take notes forever.”
Imagine That
By Meghan Kavanaugh & Improper Staff April 22, 2016
Cooking the Books
After conducting hundreds of interviews on the note-taking habits of fellow MIT alumni, Joe Lemay had what he calls an “aha moment,” realizing that people at the forefront of innovation still prefer to jot down ideas the old-fashioned way. So he developed a product that combines the best of both worlds, the Rocketbook Wave, which allows users to put pen to paper, digitally archive their notes and wipe pages clean using some very familiar technology: an everyday kitchen microwave.
Made of cellulose paper, the $27 notebook is compatible with Pilot FriXion pens, whose ink disappears when it shares the microwave with a mug of water for a few minutes. The notebook’s 80 pages can be used up to 10 times, and the bottom of each bears seven little symbols that correspond to different storage options personalized by the user. For example, when Lemay checks the star symbol and takes a picture of the page with his smartphone, the Rocketbook Wave app automatically sends the image to his meeting notes file on Dropbox. Another note taker uses the horseshoe to send to-do lists straight to her husband’s email address, and users can devote a symbol to a program like Evernote to turn handwritten notes into searchable text. “We realized that people didn’t want yet another system to log into,” Lemay says. “That’s why people find it super useful. … We’re just bringing this paper into the existing work flow.”
After successful crowdfunding campaigns, customers are already using—and reordering—their Rocketbooks. Lemay says he enjoys seeing the unexpected ways the technology is being used. (His 7-year-old daughter archives artwork to the family cloud.) And the Boston-based company hopes to expand functionality further, incorporating Slack compatibility and perhaps even a calendar function. “Notebooks are a place where we capture our ideas, where we’re most creative, and the item itself should be creative as well,” Lemay says. “I think this has been a long-neglected industry in terms of innovation, and there’s a ton of room to capture people’s imaginations and change the way they take notes forever.”
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