D:Scribe Lets You Text By Hand(writing)

Cell-phone texting is all the rage these days.  Teens, tweens, and 20- and 30-somethings use texting like 40- and 50-somethings use e-mail.  Perhaps you want to take advantage of the technology, but have a problem getting your phone's number pad to type in all those letters and symbols.  Or maybe you're just more comfortable writing than typing.  If so, the D:Scribe may be for you.

Made by Yanko Design, the D:Scribe is a digital fountain pen that lets you write and send text and e-mail messages from paper.  (No ink cartridges to purchase; the data is stored in a device in the pen's body.)  Simply write your message and circle the name of the person to whom the message needs to be sent.  The message is transcribed into text and sent from the device through your Bluetooth-enabled phone.  An OLED screen built into the pen's body displays the status of messages being sent.  In addition, written text can be converted to digital media and saved to a computer.

There is a bit of a down side to the device.  The D:Scribe has to be taught to recognize the user's handwriting, so that can differentiate between, say, lowercase "a" and lowercase "o".  It also needs to be programmed with the cell phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses of those you'll be texting and e-mailing.  But that's little more than what's required to enter a person's address book into a new cell phone.  Additionally, the device is only a one-way point of contact; messages can be sent but cannot be received (they come in through the cell phone or computer as they normally would).  Still, for folks who are more comfortable wielding a pen than a keyboard, this could be the way to get over the hurdle of learning new technology and get a blast from the past at the same time.  Goodbye TMI (Text Message Injury) and CTS (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome); hello WC (Writer's Cramp)!