[at-l] Interesting Journal Tool for Techies

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 01:09 PM 12/9/2004 -0500, Art Cloutman wrote:

>>No, I didn't see weight either but hey, it's a pen! How big and heavy can 
>>it be? Actually I doubt it would be practical on a thru because it's only 
>>good for about 3 hours of writing between charges. Former thrus would be 
>>a better judge than I, but I suspect that there are sections where one 
>>would write more than 3 hours of entries before reaching a place they 
>>could recharge it.
>
>I'm not sure where the 3 hour limit comes from that you mentioned.  I used 
>a Pocketmail Composer everyday for my 2004 AT Thru hike and only replaced 
>the two AA batteries 4 times in almost 7 months.  A digital device is very 
>workable.
>--
>
>Life is Good!!!
>Art Cloutman

That was in the specs they gave (below):
># Battery type: Rechargeable lithium ion battery
># Battery autonomy, continuous usage: 3 hrs
># Battery autonomy, standby mode: 20 hrs
># Battery autonomy, cap on: 280 days
># Memory data retention: 5-years/flash memory
># Pen weight, cap on: 37.4 g
And there's the weight! That's 1.32oz. Remember though, it only works (the 
transfer to computer part) if you use the special notebooks or pads of 
paper that contain the dot pattern which it uses to optically record the 
motions of the pen as you write. The battery is a rechargeable built-in. I 
can't see any reference to 'spare' batteries so you're limited to what you 
can do with one battery. Cool idea though and since it also writes an ink 
copy (there are refills for the ink) you'd have a backup hard copy (unlike 
electronic voting machines) even if the battery bailed on you. Now if 
they'd add 802.11 wireless transfer...  :D