Get Your Brain Back: Writing And Drawing On A Digital Paper Tablet - Forbes

In this relatively new era, perhaps a complete minority people are actually simplifying, deleting apps, and striving to get rid of social media addictions, enter the reMarkable paper tablet. But even if it is a minority, it is still a big enough group to generate healthy sales for this unique and functional tablet maker.

ReMarkable Digital Paper Tablet Sketch by Murry Rexin

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ReMarkable Digital Paper Tablet Photo by TJ McCue ForbesThere is no shortage of data that shows how screen usage has increased to the point of addiction and distraction. Studies posit that many of us are overwhelmed, anxiety-ridden, stressed, pick your term. It is a fast-paced life and although building a simpler device, a digital device, seems counter-intuitive, it works actually.

The company sent me a media loaner unit and I have been testing it, sharing it with friends while sitting in a café, and seeing that it does what it says – it increases your level of focus while reducing distraction. There is no browser – just the option to add a notebook page, like paper. I found myself steadily getting my thoughts down on “paper” with the ReMarkable digital paper tablet. Some have argued that this device will never replace paper and I do not believe that the company is aiming to do that. I mean, why?

Paper still has a place, at least for now, and probably always will. ReMarkable seems to me, to be hitting an interesting inflection point, or tipping point, however long or short-lived it might be. They shared this interesting trend story which communicates how they think of the future of how people relate to technology.

My last anecdotal bit of evidence – for almost every person I shared the tablet with, I found they got focused on creating something, a drawing or writing down thoughts or ideas. They never looked up to say, “Oh, let me show you this funny cat video I just found.” They were not distracted and it was not the novelty of the device. It is a starkly simple device and interface, elegant, but devoid of distraction.

ReMarkable Digital Paper TabletImage Courtesy of ReMarkable

Some of the features of the ReMarkable tablet (potential for layering seen in above image):

10.3” E Ink display (about the size of a regular iPad)
Approximately 350 grams or .77 pounds (less than one pound). Feels so light after handling traditional tablets.
8 Gig of internal storage
Long battery life (I didn’t test extensively on this, but 3-5 days went by between charging)
True feeling of writing on paper – far different than a stylus with an app on other tablets.
Variety of pen sizes and brush sizes making it possible to really draw, plus layering technology that allows you to create complex drawings. Here is a Tools Overview that might help.
Offers a cloud service for easy sharing of documents and e-books. It is a mostly closed eco-system, however. You can save your work as a PDF and share it.
Comes with an elegant leather folio to hold and protect it and the pen (which comes with extra tips). I would like to see a way to magnetically connect the pen to the tablet for when I do not have it in the folio.

I will close this post with their provocative video campaign, Get Your Brain Back, which has been viewed 17 million times across a range of social platforms (with 2.6 million on just YouTube alone). ReMarkable is an interesting company with a unique product. Although the approximately $600 price point will scare some away, with over 50,000 units sold and $22 Million in sales in 2018, the company is doing many things right and is off to a great start.

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