The Fly PenTop Computer: Leapfrog's Catastrophic Flop | Billiam

While the LeapPad was one of the most successful children's products ever launched, Leapfrog had a major stumble when they spent way too much trying to follow it up!
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Editing assistance by Nikko ► / nikkotaj​​

[@jazzification2652]

He was financially responsible for a public school system, she was a leap frog sales rep. Can I make it any more obvious?

[@BinglesP]

Technically, the school being an elementary school would make it more obvious, gotta get those demographic specifics

[@Jabberwockia]

He wanted her, she wanted 20k. What more can I say?

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

What I find amazing is that they ANTICIPATED kids writing swear words but instead of doing something like have the thing say 'Sorry, I can't say that word' they actually just said screw it and put in BLEEP, so it RECOGNIZES SWEARS! Ooooh, how I wish I knew how many kids took advantage of this.

[@eatatjoes6751]

I love that.

[@ScarletDestiney]

I was one of those kids that discovered this when I got mine back in high school. Literally wrote bitch on the special paper and it said "Bitch" and it blew my fucking mind. Blew all of my friends away with the little swearing pen at school too. 😂

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

​@@ScarletDestiney It truly was an invention ahead of its time...

[@ytk2508]

@@ScarletDestineyTHE BITCH PEN

[@bogboybogboybogboyb]

I absolutely did! My brother and I were constantly writing swears with it and laughing our evil little heads off at our grandparents wondering what we did to make it beep like that.

[@Magmafrost13]

Its pretty interesting to hear all these years later that the reason leapfrog products were so ludicrously expensive in stores was because they were ludicrously expensive to develop and maintain licenses for

[@planescaped]

I didn't even know these things were so popular, I don't get it. Crappy gimped pseudo-computerized workbooks for 6 year olds, who probably also have a computer and video game console.... Really feels like a being so wrapped of if they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should. :P

[@clintmcbride7830]

@@planescaped eh. Computers weren't as abundant then. Yeah it wasn't like the 90s but I knew plenty of other teens who did not have access to a computer at home. I'd say at least half of my friends. Games consoles were more prominent than pcs and most kids interested in gaming had at least one.

[@vanilla8956]

I think the ultimate missed potential of this is language learning. Imagine if this thing could help you learn to write non roman character languages like Japanese and Chinese

[@vanilla8956]

​@@samarnadra By "chides you" do you mean the voice of an angry Japanese man yelling so fast you can't tell what he's saying or an overly polite one saying 日本語上手 to make you feel better?

[@vanilla8956]

@@samarnadra Lmaooo. Like in that iCarly movie where Spenser gets a shock collar stuck on him that zaps him if he doesn't speak correct Japanese.

[@aceinspaces]

I remember one of the other kids in elementary school had a fly pen. We all thought it was super cool at first, but very quickly got annoyed at how much it talked

[@Francois_Dupont]

how young are you? i remember when the leapfrog book came out (first one) i was already too old to care. i always thought they were working with hidden carbon trace in the page to detect where the pen touched.

[@funlover163]

I had one! It was actually wild fun. But when I went to buy more fly pen top computer books to use with it... they weren't compatible because I had the original and they made a sequel pen.

[@astrowolvez]

There isn’t a way to mute it!?

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

i saw this guy in the new it remake

[@chelleshocked8666]

The first major design flaw right off the bat: the sound was through super low-quality speakers.

[@AvenRox]

I kinda miss the chunky colorful electronics of the early 00's, they were bold and had weird shapes and even interesting textures, oddly enough.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

The aesthetics of tech got a lot more boring when it was discovered that, instead of inventing a new gadget, you could keep the gadget roughly the same and just invent thousands of different apps that could be downloaded onto it.

[@freedustin]

@@PassTheMarmalade1957 ...because Apple said "Hey, you know how people drop smooth things all the time? Yeah, take those textured bits off now or you're fired."

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

And now everything is an iphone

[@DGTelevsionNetwork]

Electronics were better in ruby red and silver anyway.

[@vylbird8014]

I kind of liked the transparent era, when you could look into the colored plastic and see the innards. And if you knew what you were seeing, judge the quality of construction. Try that with modern tech though, and you'd mostly see empty space and a single tiny PCB with one chip on it that does everything. The limiting factor is the size of the buttons.

[@Lily_of_the_valle]

Sir Quinton of house Reviews sends his regards

[@thisisafox1961]

The sponsor, Established Titles is a scam at worst or a "novelty" at best. The tree donation part seems to be legitimate enough but you don't actually become a lord/lady, even technically, by purchasing from the website.

[@BreMue]

The only thing we CAN confirm is they paid for this video to be made 😂

[@NegativeReferral]

Yep, reminds me of those scams that will let you name a star and register it at the US Copyright Office (which has no jurisdiction over star naming, unlike NASA and the IAU). Most newly-discovered stars are given numbers instead of names anyway.

[@chesterstevens8870]

It's not really a scam _per sé,_ I can't imagine anyone buying these things actually believes that buying a square foot of land in Scotland is going to get them into the House of Lords. It's just a silly gimmick that preys on people too stupid to realize they can print off a certificate giving themselves any title they want, or eco-posers who want to "plant a tree, save the world" and yet are too lazy to just go outside and kick an acorn into the dirt.

[@garyphisher7375]

@@chesterstevens8870 No need to kick an Acorn into the dirt - 2021 was a Mast Year - the Squirrels did it for us!

[@nicolaslugo9357]

It’s been 11 months but i hope you feel at least slightly vindicated after everything that happened with Established Titles

[@SirLightsOut99]

Hearing Billiam uncensored without having his swears covered up by the instant Messenger sound effect is one of the trippiest things I've experienced in a while. It's like when Scott the Waz aired on G4 a couple of months ago and he was uncensored. It just doesn't feel right, but I like it.

[@stinklinethegoblin5952]

Still so crazy he did that

[@Code7Unltd]

>when Scott the Waz aired on G4 a couple of months ago and he was uncensored That was an editing error by G4.

[@STICKOMEDIA]

Lmao

[@scarletcrusader5431]

Since when did G4 come back?

[@SirLightsOut99]

@@Code7Unltd editing error or not, it doesn't change the fact that he swore uncensored on g4.

[@QuintonReviews]

It's been driving me mad that I couldn't rewatch this video for the last few days

[@teogonzalez7957]

When Bigfoot?

[@Callmecapybara]

I watched it because of your post but I also didnt unfollow because of your community post I really appreciate how supportive you are of your fellow youtuber

[@ewe76070]

Thanks for the rec Quinton!

[@joelsytairo6338]

BOT

[@johngrace1312]

I remember as a kid, like 8-9 years old, my grandparents got me a fly pen and a bunch of stuff to go with it… I used it so much the camera could no longer read the baseball game sheet properly and the speaker had started to fail. Good times

[@Guitar-Dog]

Glad you enjoyed it. Seems stupid to make a 'toy' that doesn't last long though, or did you use it for many years?

[@johngrace1312]

@@Guitar-Dog it reached the end of its life, in I want to say like 2-3 years?

[@Revan058]

@@johngrace1312 That's a pretty respectable timeframe for that sort of tech back then.

[@googamp32]

When I saw the commercial for this thing, I actually thought that it was going to revolutionize the world of computers. I either had too much faith in commercials, or I was incredibly easy to impress.

[@twistedyogert]

It does seem useful but the necessity of special paper is what would kill it for me.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

I think everyone has that one obviously terrible product they think that with before never trying to make a leap like that again. Right now it is crypto currency. The only difference is it isn't kids buying into the scam that it will revolutionize the world as anything more than an alternative to gambling on an unregulated stock market.

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

It did though. You don't see nintendo holding onto 40 million in stocked produce, on the off-chance that once in a blue moon one of their devoted, disrespected fans ACTUALLY buys a copy of Earthbound. You see their fans screeching about lack of availability though, even when there's still copies on the market they will already cry that in 6 months there WON'T be.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@sboinkthelegday3892 You seemingly replied to the wrong comment.

[@TheBluestflamingos]

Tbf, those commercials were compelling. ADHD-coded boy with 2000's hair really sold the fun and utility of the thing. I totally would've bought one, if they were something a dumb 12 year old could've aquired on their own. I wonder if my parents would've bought one if I asked, or if they would've recognized it as a gimmick with no future.

[@legendoffarts]

"BABY SHOES FOR SALE; NEVER USED" is such a valid argument to anything

[@ddjsoyenby]

it should end every debate.

[@tinacatchings5608]

BABY SALE; USED

[@ThaBotmon]

@@tinacatchings5608 *FBI OPEN UP!*

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

Imagine you thought you were prepared for motherhood, and the little bastard is born with giant feet. Hemingway really knew tragedy.

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

"Yeah, I'm calling about the baby shoes. Did your baby just not like them, or what? Hello?"

[@Vailskibum]

It's been too long since a classic Billiam tech video, this is awesome to see

[@recitationtohear]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJy3m2WQhL-VrdU Just Dont miss this }

[@EssexAggiegrad2011]

Cool to see you

[@DomtheDemonSlayer]

sup mah boi

[@blueditto]

i remember wanting this so badly, but my mom said it was too expensive. good thing she didn’t buy it because it would’ve been a waste of money lol.

[@kelbimckinley8042]

Something about it being an actual PEN hinders the replay value of this thing, and that feels like an oversight that no one thought about. Like the pen is $90 and you have to pay $10 for the activity books, but you write in the books so you can really only "play" them one time, like a coloring book. Vs the leap pad, where you aren't marking on a surface, and once you get done playing you can play again, and there's books made for kids of different ages so you can use the same system but graduate into other content. I just feel like there was an oversight here with the actual pen, but I don't know how they would overcome that.

[@ModernMedusa]

Invisible ink 😎 Lol jk

[@vullord666]

Arguably that's what they were going for. You would HAVE to keep buying new activity books. This is basically how printer companies make their money. You buy the printer at a one time price, but you have no choice but to keep buying the ink and paper.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

@@vullord666 That's 100% it. They had to make that 100mil back somehow right?!

[@Just.A.T-Rex]

@@vullord666 this is why you buy the refillable versions of printers eco tank or eco print I think is mine. Brothers makes the best! They allow generic refillable cartridges. No drm nonsense. Epson and hp are all a scam

[@Lethargy514]

I never thought I would hear anyone talk about the replay value of a PEN. With that said, I agree with you. You're cool.

[@Switchell2]

Billiam you have the weirdest knack for making videos exactly when I remember something from my childhood exists. Was legit just looking into seeing if this was still a thing and was maybe gonna buy one lol.

[@kryknigh2073]

Check your closet, he's totes living in it spying on what you do. He's that comited to catering to his audience.

[@GuitarOfTime0116]

Sorta related. My roommate manages to have the exact snack I was hungry for in his pantry

[@brucethecovidpoo1510]

Baki, have you heard of "synchronicity"

[@GuitarOfTime0116]

@@brucethecovidpoo1510 I may not be baki, but please teach me

[@Jaymic]

I wanted one of those for Christmas SO BAD in 2005. Glad it turned out not be as good as it looked (or as good as I thought it was as a dumb kid). There's no way my teachers would have allowed that in school.

[@KichiMiangra]

I was a smidge too old for the fly pen when it came out but i knew one classmate who had one and that's exactly what happenned. Teachers said nay nay too noisy

[@mickey3992]

I had a Fly pen and I never brought it to school cause I was afraid my teacher would take it up. My mom saw it as a educational toy however.

[@baananajam]

I feel like so many interactive toys, kits, and devices for kids (both modern and dated) sound so fun and interesting in concept, but the reality is that they don’t work well/don’t have much actual functionality - this talking pen would have been ultimately unhelpful if not actively annoying as shit for me as a child. It’s bizarre that often society expects kids to be interested in and engaged with learning and then turn around and present them this kind of silly garbage to use like it’s going to help them ~*have fun with learning*~ lol. Also, great video as always, Mr. Billman thank you for the luls

[@YokaiLover699]

It also doesn't help that they heavily market it as a toy. To a kid, it's a lame toy. To an adult (especially a teenager) it's a toy. I even tried the livescribe and it felt more like a novelty product, makes big promises, but fails to even meet them halfway.

[@ruminationstation4200]

His bit about being thrown expensive gadgets and tools because *God forbid* we medicate ADHD hit way too hard. As much as people rail on "big pharma", the anti-pharma crowd is filled with just as many predatory hucksters looking to make a quick buck.

[@NovusIgnis]

It's all just part and parcel of the BS that we out kids through to try and get them to behave like we think they should versus letting them develop on their own. Everything has to be guided and measured and precise. That's why boys don't do well in school unless they've been feminized. Schools aren't the place for young boys. They have too much energy and no practical or physical way to blow off that steam and learn. So they get punished or medicated when they start acting out. Some time decades ago, we stopped letting kids run outside and skin their knees and test their limits and just kept trying to keep them pacified, still, and quiet. And we're paying for it now, with all the cultural BS going on.

[@RadicalGarry]

@@NovusIgnis “Jesse wtf are you talking about”

[@baananajam]

@@NovusIgnis sir, whet. I think you’ve missed the point and also big YIKES

[@mstrkllr]

You know, I realize the Fly pen wasn't amazing. But I was fascinated with mine as a child, and still have it 15 years later and occasionally charge it up.

[@star7communicator434]

As a kid, I had really bad handwriting and my school gave me a really hard time about it. My mom bought me one of these for Christmas as a kind of study aide and I was really excited about it. We could never get it to work at all, but I still thought it was really cool. I hope I can dig it up out of storage and finally figure out what was wrong with it.

[@TheBluestflamingos]

Maybe it couldn't read your handwriting

[@JacobMRobinson]

Lol

[@annarrogance]

I actually had one of those LiveScribe pens when I was in law school. We had a couple of professors who didn’t allow any electronics in class, so had to take handwritten notes in those classes. But the way everyone studied was off of typed “outlines” we made for each class. I didn’t feel like having to waste time transcribing an entire semester’s worth of notes for those classes, so I tried one I and it actually worked pretty well! Had to make a few corrections here and there for words it didn’t transcribe properly and fix all the formatting, but it was still LOADS quicker than typing in all my handwritten notes. I think one class used about one and a half of those special notebooks for it, but it was worth it. 8/10 for the LiveScribe pen in that use case, would recommend. 2/10 for law school, would not recommend. 😂

[@TheRonnieaj]

I would have LOVED a LiveScribe when I was in law school. Also cosigning your law school review. 100% do not recommend 😂😂

[@AROAH]

I also used a LiveScribe in college, and for what it was, it was pretty impressive. Didn’t keep me from dropping out, but it’s a really cool product for people who prefer to write or who aren’t allowed to use a laptop in class.

[@Haedox]

hair looking distractingly immaculate today

[@TheAileZX2]

Established Titles is literal Colonization of Scotland.

[@TimReviewsEveryNAWiiGame]

Remember the school I attended in my tweens pushing this hard for students with learning or in my case physical disabilities inhibiting writing lol would not have worked well.

[@mikedrop4421]

I just love that you have to use "fly paper"

[@alexandrudorries3307]

“Don Quentin sends ‘is regards.”

[@TeruteruBozusama]

You look a lot happier and healthier, I'm so happy for you ^^ I also think something that cost Leap Frog a lot is that I can vaguely remember them, but as they had to translate the Pads into other languages, and... Didn't really make a good reading voice for all of them did they not really become popular other than playing with and laughing at in the toy store..!

[@inokainemis]

BILLIAM i genuinely watch every video you put out as soon as i see it. you are the "going over to a friends house who has the _____" for my adult life. i get to experience my childhood cravings through you.... including watching your "Lost" video over and over so i can enjoy a piece of the series i didnt watch when it existed. keep up the awesome work

[@EmpressKaga]

I remember being absolutely wowed by the commercials for this thing as a kid. I begged my mom to buy me one not as a study tool but just because I was BLOWN AWAY by the tech. you can just WRITE words and it READS them? or maybe even DOES THINGS with that information instead of just parroting it back? MIND BLOWING! It's a good thing my mom never bought me one because I would've been very disappointed. Clearly those commercials gave me unrealistic expectations of what the device could do. I guess my mom was right when she said a device that impressive was too good to be true.

[@KCgo2girl101]

My mom did buy me it, and I never ended up using it because I was too young to figure out how to use it.

[@ApoptosisNecrosis]

I had one of these as a kid! I think my grandparents bought it for me. I never really used it as intended. I somehow ended up figuring out how draw with it and digitize those drawings which was very good for a child with a deviantart account lol

[@windsroad-]

quinton was right... this is a good video. I like your angewomon desktop background! she's my favorite digimon...

[@Guimhj]

Back 'cause of Quinton. Love your work, Billiam

[@davidgrunga]

Seeing these Established Titles ads after them being debunked hurts so much now lol

[@MelanieBush1989]

So, this is Quinton's favorite video of yours. Mine are the Lost ones for obvious reasons. :)

[@mickey3992]

I remember having a Fly pen as a kid! It was fun writing in my W.I.T.C.H. Diary as it was one of my favorite Disney show and comic book at the time. I love your videos and I have to thank you for covering these cool tech toys from the 2000s.

[@GothVibeWars]

Omg I had the W.I.T.C.H. diary too!

[@izzysauls7737]

The w.i.t.c.h. Diary is a HUUUGE throwback

[@gloomyxbabee]

Billiam seems exponentially more unhinged. I think the lost video broke him.

[@karicherrycola]

I agree and I love it tbh

[@BirthQuakeRecords]

Happy to see a new upload from you! Also we’re a part of the same “the adults in our childhood failed to diagnose, address, accommodate, and treat our very obvious ADHD” club. It was fun, wasn’t it? /s

[@eatatjoes6751]

So much fun.

[@smelly2897]

so very fun

[@stoutyyyy]

Gang gang, I’m failing college rn

[@GothVibeWars]

At least you guys weren't medicated as children

[@stoutyyyy]

@@GothVibeWars bruh the fact that I wasn’t medicated as a kid is what’s fucking me up now

[@EinDose]

As someone who needed some amount of disability assistance when I was growing up, who also happens to be left-handed, I'm wondering: How bad does this thing handle someone who writes left-handed? Because I remember seeing that design pitfall a lot growing up, and this thing is ENTIRELY focused on trying to read writing.

[@marymurphy1429]

I don't know about the fly pen, but a similar product I used called the echo livescribe had a left handed mode that changed the display on the pen and some other stuff. I'm right handed so I don't know how well it worked, but they did consider handedness at least somewhat in the design which I think is neat

[@luxthesarcastic1027]

A friend had one. I think it worked fine when I tried it and I'm leftie.

[@BensOnTheRadio]

I remember seeing this on TV back in elementary school and it seemed like straight magic. It’s amazing how effective a solid commercial was in making these things desirable.

[@eatatjoes6751]

I fucking liked this thing as a kid and genuinely believed for a bit that it'd help with math.

[@offbeatkiki]

I love the unhinged energy in this video 😂 like a lot of these toys you cover, I always wanted one as a kid but didn't get one and now I'm kinda glad my parents didn't spend the money.

[@iantaran2843]

Hmmm .. A D&D pen that does the mechanics and explains rules 🤷 maybe not the worst idea, they already threw plenty of money at the idea.

[@stevenyoung9738]

Sir. We have computers with displays now.

[@TopFurret]

This unlocked a hidden memory. I remember really wanting that pen

[@ddjsoyenby]

the flypen saying bleep was hilarious.

[@Jona-vt3vd]

Oh thank God, I don't have to be alone this Valentine's day, I can just watch this on repeat for the next two days

[@intelligenceparadigm4931]

I'm confident billiam worked *just the tip* into the script multiple times because he thought it would be funny. He was right.

[@kbbrown8154]

Who the hell wants just the tip? Sex is disappointing enough without being mocked.

[@relo999]

"The paper internet" Couldn't be a more 21th century zoomer name for a library.

[@thawhiteazn]

Twenty-oneth?

[@relo999]

@@thawhiteazn twenty-first, as 2022 is in the 21th century.

[@thawhiteazn]

@@relo999 right, the **21st** century

[@relo999]

@@thawhiteazn ahhh, I get it now. In my language it's always "19e, 20e, 21e", always ending in the same language, kinda assumed it was the same for English.

[@thawhiteazn]

@@relo999 haha yep, English is pretty much just intentionally confusing.

[@Jello.jessoo]

Thankful Quinton showed me this channel ❤

[@BlueScreenCorp]

I used to work on applications that use the Anoto pen and Grid 7 years ago for blueprinting activities, seeing one being talked about anywhere is bizarre...

[@peterg1664]

I had one of these! My mom bought it for me for Christmas after I begged for it, and I used it once!

[@KCgo2girl101]

Lol same. My mom later on said she knew it was a scam, but she still bought it for me because she loved me and apparently I begged her for it a lot. I remember, I was actually too young to like really read the instructions and really figure out the pen. Man, parents are great!

[@endurancegal93]

I actually had a fly pen, and I thought it was a ton of fun! Listening to all the noises coming out of that thing brought back memories! Especially the repeated and continuingly frustrated repeating of "Try again!" while you're trying to get it to do anything!

[@ChrisPBacon-jl7oc]

I remember seeing the commercials played endlessly as a kid. One day i saw it in the store and checked it out, they had it set up to a theft tether and some note pad paper on display. I thought basically it was just a useless "big money toy" and on top of that as a young kid with chicken scratch for words there was like no point to it because it couldn't recognize it. "Batteries sold separately" and "ink and paper sold separately" were big no no toys for me because of how much money that actually meant over the toy's life.

[@AlexStrife89]

It's so weird hearing Billiam drop the F-Bomb without the bleeps. But it brings me back, kinda.

[@BugsyFoga]

“Why Medicate a kid when you can help them get better grades with a student planner” - Billiam

[@brenster21]

Jokes on them, my handwriting was so bad that I couldn't read my planner

[@icemoon4]

this is THE greatest video ive ever watched

[@Faerygism]

I had a livescribe pen. I couldn't get used to holding the pen correctly (I had already destroyed my wrists by writing by the time I got it) but... I really enjoy writing in the notebooks. I dunno what it is about them. Is it because the pages aren't as painfully white due to the little dots? Are the pages just well proportioned? Is it that everything is numbered so I can jump around in my plot and still find my place easily? I dunno. But if I ever get back into writing by hand again, I'd probably look into getting more of their notebooks... even if I don't use the pen.

[@BenPanced]

I had one, as well, and while I appreciated the image capture that would send documents to my Evernote account, the OCR capability absolutely sucked. I still wound up transcribing everything into Microsoft Word manually because no matter if I printed or used cursive, it just couldn't read my writing correctly. I eventually gave up on it and used the notebooks with a "regular" pen.

[@Faerygism]

@@BenPanced It would have been fun had the pens been easier to hold, and if the software had been just a teeny bit better... but those notebooks are a dream, man.

[@Revan058]

Huh! Intresting. I'd never given thought to a notebook's quality like that before...I'm glad you like it so much, even if the pen doesn't help much.

[@Faerygism]

@@Revan058 I highly recommend them for all your notebook needs.

[@Revan058]

@@Faerygism I'm a laptop kinda person, but if I ever feel the need or need a gift for a writer, I'll keep this firmly in mind! Rare to see someone praise something like this, so it really must be something.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

The drawing of the GUI is pretty brilliant idea! Seems really ahead of it's time, I'm sure the tech to correctly implement that just didn't exist yet. But in 2022? Very doable! Seems like the idea could definitely be incorporated into some other product in the next few years.. I'm imagining that if they de-clunkified it (not a word), something similar could be super cool. And think of everything else you could do with this kind of thing now! You wouldn't even need a special notebook (depending on design choices).. you could just pair it with augmented reality glasses instead! Imagine Wolfram Alpha in your pen, writing a tricky integral that'd be a huge pain to solve manually, and the answer just materializes in your notebook! How neat is that! (That's pretty neat!) Is anyone already working on this? One of the big companies _must_ be working on some sort of AR educational notebook/pen, right? If not I think I need to get a start-up goin... - - - - - - - Edit: dude, you look super snazzy in a suit! Can I give you some unsolicited advice? Well too bad, it's happening (it wouldn't be unsolicited otherwise, would it?): Get some lighter color shirts/ties, something like a pastel blue/green would go way better with your hair + skin tone. And maybe a stick to bat the ladies away ;) EDIT2: HOLY CRAP HE KNOWS ABOUT HUCKLE CAT AND LOWLY WORM! DO YOU ALSO REMEMBER BANANAS GORILLA (YES THAT WAS HIS REAL NAME)

[@googaboogaloo]

Imagine decoding the zodiac killers notes with this thing. Also I’m glad I’m not the only one who MISSES THE DAMN ENROLLMENT DATE.

[@wormheart238]

I had both the interactive globe and the fly pen as a kid. Loved both of these toys, it’s fun to look back with your video. Thanks Billiam :)

[@HaydenNumbaWun]

Billiam, I've just recently found your content but I've been checking so often to see if you've uploaded because I enjoy hearing you talk so passionately about everything. Thank you for making videos.

[@josuesantana2132]

Quinton reviews sent me here!

[@velvetsno]

Anyone here from the Quinton Reviews Sam & Cat video?🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@eveisuponus]

I love the energy and the style and the editing in this video! I can tell I'm going to replay this one a lot, very entertaining and informative!

[@Gravel_TheCart]

I came here from Quinton's vid :D glad your channel is back

[@marybibik]

This video made me think of how much the quality of your videos have gone up since I first subscribed, nice job! The humor and storytelling in this video we're great!

[@myfamilyiscrazy]

I had one of these as a kid! I think a grandparent bought it or something. I remember it being kind of interesting (in a new toy kind of way) for a little while, but not something that ever benefited me educationally. Pretty sure it got donated at some point as me and my siblings grew out of our toys.

[@teearhbee2]

Thank God someone else remembers these things with me! Childhood was lonely but being able to share nostalgia with others my age here with these various toys like pixter, the FIREFLY!? I COULDN'T believe someone else knew this existed besides me, all my friends had cell phones and I wanted even just an excuse of a phone 😂 fast forward to leaving my sprint razr at a McDonald's a year later! We got our $400 bill, they had BOUGHT RINGTONES back when they were like 4 bucks each, plus you had to pay for text messaging back then!? Sprint was the last company to get the razr! They had this wannabe razr called the Sanyo KATANA! That was good in its own way! I'd love to see you get a couple of the early cell phones to play with, have you seen the makeup compact phones!? There was so much tech growing up that became obsolete so fast! Thank you for being here to remember these moments, we bring them back to life through our love of nostalgia ❤ 🙏

[@mindypatterson7302]

Popped in from Quinton's video, subscribed! Excited to check out your videos!

[@bircharbor9042]

I had a therapist as a kid who wowed me with his like, fly pen. It was cool. And this is really a great idea, people should be able to hear their own writing. Gilliam, ur absolutely killing it. Total cringelord ur videos are always fun! People think I know stuff about stuff partially thanks to u.

[@Fluorite-Fox]

It reminds me of those educative toy animals that have sensor stickers that you scan with a special pen and learn stuff. Tipitoys it was called...? Edit: no it's called Tiptoi

[@dsalucas]

I had a fly fusion and I only remember using it in class as an MP3 player after all was said and done. Best part of that was that I could pretend that I was actually using it for notes when instead I was listening to AC/DC because I was in 7th grade.

[@TheElectronicToyArchive]

This was really interesting. Someone in our group definitely needs to get one of these. I like the concept, but me and most of us that run this channel are blind, so it would probably be hard to use. I would still like to get one to play around with it. And it would probably be funny watching a blind guy try to use a toy for sighted people.

[@Saibellus]

It's interesting because a text-to-speech learning toy seems almost meant for blind children. Shame the novelty of writing/drawing the command buttons created an impassé. I don't think it would have been difficult to print braille friendly paper and include such functionality. If anything, the camera was better designed to read dots than handwriting anyway.

[@CorvodaPop]

I had one of these! I did use it a few times to cheat on my math homework at home, but i mostly used it to draw pianos.

[@22kaybee22]

I remember the ads for that second version when I was in highschool and was legitimately interested in its notetaking abilities. But then I realized that there was no need to have both a paper and a digital version of my notes. Also you had to use their paper. And it was expensive.

[@dragonmarnix]

FINALLY someone talks about this thing. I had one as a kid, and it was the coolest thing and completely useless. Those swipe things for activities may seem awful, but they're even worse than you think: over time, the ink covers the dots (because it's, y'know, a PEN) and makes it unreadable. But that said, hearing that pen's voice again brought back so many memories. Thank you so much for covering this bizzare piece of tech history, because it deserves to be remembered as the utterly bizzare choice it was.

[@shadowhawk3933]

My dude you’re content unlocks so many memories thank you for all you’re hard work mad respect for everything you do

[@shadowhawk3933]

I spent weeks back in middle school playing with this pen it was super fun and funny to make it say what ever you wrote down

[@Ramdomtwixy33]

I feel like there was a toy similar to the fly pen that could like identify substances. I remember a commercial where they are pointing the device at some salt and the word salt shows up on the TV.

[@crossflux971]

I remember seeing this as a kid but never had anything like it. Looking back, it does seem to be ahead of its time, but it's a shame about what it did to Leapfrog.

[@bentleycomputer2324]

Really enjoying your recent videos. Love these deep dives. Take your time and keep it up

[@carmineknight9123]

It's so nice to hear from you Billiam. Always love listening to whatever you wanna talk about.

[@chibi013]

It took me 6½ years to finish a 4 year degree so feel you man. Keep up the good work

[@GianfrancoLaRotta]

Thank you Billy. I was wondering where this episode was but now we have it. I know this product because I had one as a kid. I remember that in some Magazines they had some fly paper to try out too like Disney Adventures.

[@tracemaddox6669]

There’s always this cute purple toy with two green buttons on it that I remember. It had a flexible rubber stick attached to it and a poi ball looking ball that lights up attached to the end of it and I can never find it. And I can vaguely remember the commercial but that’s all

[@tjzero0008]

I love these videos, and the ads 😂 the presentation makes a boring ad so much fun. Im always happy to see more Billiam

[@MikeyJMJ]

Only found your channel yesterday and I just finished binge wanting your videos a couple hours ago. Then your first video of the year pops up in my subscriptions 😂 👌

[@dreww8941]

All the kids in my head-start class got a free Leap Pad. I used that shit a lot.

[@theVoxvirus]

Always glad to see a new video from you!

[@TheMENTALproductionz]

Your 90s early 2000s videos have brought back so many great memories! Keep up the nostalgia blasts❤

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

This seems like the sort of cutting-edge kid tech that I would have BEGGED my parents for, thinking it would make me so cool, only to get frustrated figuring out how to use it.

[@TheUndeadFireNinja]

It's so interesting to see just how close they were to the winning idea. They saw space to innovate and make pen and paper interactive. The only thing is that the path they took was to make the pen interactive, while it was the paper going interactive as tablets, that ended up taking over schools.

[@DreamD0g]

My math teacher in middle school actually used a fly fusion for writing out her in class notes and then would upload the scans it took to her school web page so kids could read her notes later if they were stuck on something

[@weewoo8108]

I can't even remember how I stumbled on your videos, KZbin doing one of the rare gold algorithm suggestions I think. But I've been loving them since, so entertaining and nostalgic, cool vibes to boot. 11/10.

[@dustyyshellz1320]

Guys I bet he knows now, and no one did at the time. He’s recently denounced them. So chill haha

[@grodon909]

I remember having things like this. IIRC, I liked it, but it ended up being an expensive (and not super useful) toy. I think it eventually evolved into the livescribe pens, which I used in high school and was a lot more effective-- I remember using it to take notes in class, and share the audio and notes with the class before exams.

[@basilelrobeh946]

I love coming to this channel. Always something fun goin on.

[@BlueYup]

My brother had a Fly Pen around 2007, and it only worked for maybe a year or so. We both thought it was a pretty cool idea and screwed around with it regularly, but it started to play that error jingle at 7:40 before dying every time either of us tried turning it on (it wasn't the batteries, as he had the rechargeable dock). One day I held the power button just to see what would happen, and the little speaker blasted this ungodly loud, earrape sound of someone dialing a single number on a phone. Neither of us ever used it again after that.

[@flynntaggart8549]

you know, there's nothing wrong with trying non-medical methods to lessen the symptoms of adhd, or just for attention problems in general. jumping straight to medication (especially stimulants) can REALLY fuck kids up, and that happened a lot when diagnosing children with adhd for being disruptive in class was the popular thing to do. as someone who wasn't diagnosed until their early twenties, i am thankful that at least i didn't have stimulants thrown at me when i was a kid, since they don't actually help me focus on my work but keep me still, which would have been problem solved for everyone else!

[@ransomnotes666]

That established titles sponsorship 😬

[@sarahrichardson3692]

Good to see you back, I love this content of yours :-)

[@Cookies1o1]

I hope you never stop making videos Your channel is one of my top 3