The RocketBook Everlast is one of the best examples of simple tech I’ve seen. It’s a reusable notebook, or pad if you get the smaller one, which uses the Pilot Frixion pen on waterproof pages that you wipe or erase clean. There’s an app that works with it to send pages to your phone, tablet, or cloud accounts, but I used it for weeks before even downloading the app.
They had me at erasable ink pad with a Pilot gel pen.
I like writing notes, but not on screens with a stylus. It’s not just an old-school thing, because glass screens are notoriously hard to write on, as you know from trying to sign your credit card charges at the supermarket. The problem is that glass doesn’t provide any drag on the stylus, so it’s hard to control. Paper has texture, which paper mavens know as “tooth”, and it works with the friction in a pen or pencil tip to give you control over where you go.
Not that it makes bad writing good, just that it doesn’t make it worse.
RocketBook’s surface is has enough drag so that writing feels natural, and the Pilot Frixion Erasable pen works perfectly with it. Pilot Gel Pens are my go-to for writing, and the Frixion version works just as well. You don’t actually need a RocketBook to use a Frixion pen because it comes with a hard rubber eraser that a) easily erases its ink and b) doesn’t leave much if any residue on the page. What the RocketBook adds is a nearly indestructible page that you can wipe clean with a damp cloth and use over and over, as well as support for its scanning app. It’s an unbeatable combination.
The app is easy to use and lets you send to a wide range of cloud or email services, selecting your preference after you preview the scan. If you like, the app will OCR your handwriting and attach a transcript to the scan, wherever you send it. Like similar services for voicemail, it does an impressive job, even with my printing, but there are limits to what it can accomplish.
RocketBook comes” four sizes and each comes with a Frixion pen and microfiber towel (prices are from Amazon Prime 10/2018). The pens aren’t that expensive, and you can get a pair of black 0.7 mm ones for $7.18. The pens come in a wide range of colors and various widths too, so you can be as creative as you like. Over and over again.
- Letter: 8.5 x 0.5 x 11 in ($31.99)
- Standard: 9.5 x 8.5 x 0.55 in ($24.87)
- Executive: 6.25 x 0.5 x 8.88 in ($29.97)
- Mini: 5.75 x 0.25 x 3.56 in ($16.00)
There are other reusable notebooks that work with Frixion pens and work with apps, including ZOHULU, ELFINBOOK, and VELEE, but RocketBook seems to have the most market share.
The only things I’m less than thrilled with is the lack of a pen holder, though it does clip into the spiral binding, and an optional holder is available, and that the only size that slips in a pocket is the Mini. I’d like to see one that matches the classic Moleskin 5.5 in x 3.5 in or better yet the journalist’s trusty companion the Reporter’s 4 in x 8 in pad.
