New Kind of Paper, Part Five
In the previous parts (1, 2, 3, 4) written in 2021, I described New Kind of Paper – an app that enhances paper & pencil, the best medium for thinking, with the capabilities of a crazy advanced calculator.
In 2024, Apple introduced their spin on this topic under the name Math Notes. In this article, I will provide my deep praise (and even deeper hate) for their attempt to bring a bit of innovation into the UX of math.
At first glance, it may not seem like much, but in this brief example, a lot has happened. First, the handwriting recognition worked flawlessly, despite my awful handwriting. It perfectly recognized what I meant by those scratch marks. Second, after I wrote the trigger symbol, = (the equal sign), the expression was evaluated, and the result was inserted inline, mimicking my handwriting style. The inline insertion could be improved to better match the handwriting style, but overall, this is basically magic. With my writing magic wand, I have conjured up a little computational spell. 🪄
The fact that millions of people have this technology at their fingertips and pencil tips (works both on iPads & iPhones too), is a major miracle. The democratization of this technology is the hardest part, and it is in the hands of the people who know how to get shit done. Maybe not on the first try, but the third iteration... *chef's kiss*
