Pentop Computing Is More Than A Kids' Toy

When I first heard about LeapFrog's Fly Pentop Computer it seemed like a perfect product for a half-serious half-humorous review. After all it is marketed as a toy for 'tweens (ages 8-13) and you conjure up one sort of functionality or another by writing with the pen on a piece of paper. I mean, how much could such a device actually do?

Once I got my hands on the Fly and did a little research, I discovered that this pen's no joke; it's not even half a joke. Not only is the pen pretty impressive in itself, but it's based on some very innovative technology from Sweden that is finding its way into a number of other products designed to support applications from note taking to medical prescription writing to inventorying to SMS message composition and transmission.

The Fly has this remarkable ability to morph into a number of forms including a calculator, notepad, scheduler, keyboard and drums, journal, math and social studies teacher and Spanish dictionary. You tell it what to do by drawing or writing on a piece of special paper called "Fly Paper." For example, you create a calculator by first drawing a letter C with a circle around it. Then you draw a rectangle to contain the calculator, add the numbers 0 through 9 and period for decimals, symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication, subtraction and equals. A voice intelligently guides you through this process and provides feedback as you use the pen to do anything you can do on a simple calculator.

In case you think this is pretty basic stuff to pull off in a computer, let me point out that you can put each number and symbol anywhere you wish within the calculator rectangle. Your paper calculator doesn't have to look like real one. You can also change from one application to another just by moving to the piece of paper or section of a piece of paper where you have drawn the application. You can even switch between applications in the middle of a particular step. I love demonstrating this capability by penning two numbers to be added together into the calculator, but not touching the equal sign. Next I go over to the keyboard and play some notes, rhythms and drums. Finally I return to the calculator and touch equals. The voice reads the result. I'll show you how this works later on.

Because of its uniqueness and the innovation behind it, MobilityGuru presents its Editors Choice Award to LeapFrog, manufacturer of the Fly Pentop Computer. A second Editors Choice Award goes to the Anoto Group of Sweden for its pattern recognition paper and software that makes modern pen-based computing possible.