LGR Oddware: The $400 CrossPad Tablet from 1998

[@thescottishaccent]

I feel a bit sorry for them in the sense that this was clearly a pretty good idea, but probably just too early (and too expensive by far) to really take off. It was a surprisingly forward-thinking product for a company like that to come out with.

[@rommix0]

Either that or too late as Wacom tablets and flatbed scanners were already around back then.

[@billschannel1116]

Was it expensive though? At the time office was $300+. I remember buying a cd burner for $700 around that time. Blank cds were $7. If I think back to earlier in the decade I bought a $250-$300 hand scanner. $120 keyboard, etc, etc. People were willing to spend money. And for such a non commodity item like this I could see people buying it. It was lost in the marketing. I never heard of it myself.

[@lilac2238]

Some people did the idea because I knew this existed and was surprised the concept was this old

[@vodkahamburger2203]

@@rommix0 the wacom tablets and the scanners aren't really the same thing tho.

[@PolyPixxel]

@@vodkahamburger2203 they arent now but back then they were the same

[@ChrisParrishOutdoors]

I'm Chris and Liz is my wife(she's in the comments as well). We're so thrilled you got it working! I'm sorry it was corroded, as the note mentioned it was rescued from my office disposal so who knows how long it had been sitting before I found. We're so glad you gave it new life and that's pretty cool 😎

[@LGR]

Thanks to y’all again for sending it over!

[@coreybabcock2023]

Thanks for letting clint have it to make a awesome video of this I remember these things in middle school back in 98

[@coreybabcock2023]

@@Me-qp8vz WTF

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

@@Me-qp8vz Are u UK, what u don't understand ?

[@Browncowfarttips]

@@Me-qp8vz I just got done diagnosing you, I spent hours in the DSM 5 and I have bad news. You might be retarded.

[@Francoberry]

This is one of those rare cases where a 90s gadget is actually extremely competent and does exactly what it intends to do. I'm seriously impressed. You could've said this came out last week and I'd still find it impressive. The way it works with regular paper and doesn't even need you to put 1 sheet on at a time is really cool.

[@DavidSmith-oy4of]

I think a similar product today might be a Boogie Board or something?

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

yeah this video really makes me want to have one! It's super neat!

[@sacredeight]

@@DavidSmith-oy4of Wacom also has a variant of the Intuos Pro with a clipboard built in that can digitise paper work.

[@harshnemesis]

Lmao this thing is dumb, just get a scanner and OCR software and it does same thing.. No need for a thicc pad under your notepad and weird pen that's very expensive.

[@Misckelskyisch]

@@harshnemesis you must be such a beautiful ray of sunshine

[@lizb459]

Hey that's from me! Glad you were able to get it working! We thought it was the most weird and cool piece of tech. So fun seeing it in a video, especially the previous users writings!

[@ChrisParrishOutdoors]

😀

[@LGR]

Thank you again for sending my way, it’s even cooler than I thought it would be!

[@cheaterman49]

I was genuinely surprised that it would hold all that data for that long with dead crusty batteries, seems like an era where proper nonvolatile memory would be prohibitively expensive and it would be a whole lot cheaper to use battery-backed SRAM :-) truly proving it was a higher-end device, haha!

[@coreybabcock2023]

Thanks for letting clint have it to make a awesome video of this I remember these things in middle school back in 98

[@needlesandsonics5819]

@@Me-qp8vz a typical thing you do? Well judging from how you act like a child discovering cuss words for the first time, I’d say your parents must be proud of you.

[@glitchedoom]

Cool Crab is my favorite recurring LGR guest.

[@mightyfilm]

I'd say he's practically the mascot for the channel at this point.

[@giselletorres4156]

I haven't checked out his website yet but if he's selling Cool Crab stickers or pins, take my money!

[@LGR]

^I do but only in-person at conventions and such 🦀

[@mightyfilm]

@@LGR If you made a shirt that said "The game just made fart noises no matter what I did," (or whatever the quote was in the Read-a-Rama review) I'd certainly buy it.

[@RyanOfGilead]

@@LGR You should sell t-shirts that say, "Hey, kid, wanna try some DOS?" I'd buy one in an instant. I don't remember which video you said it in but I laughed hard at that.

[@christianharper1061]

It was nice seeing the Crosspad. I (as a software developer) had purchased one (at FULL price) and it was good for note-taking, but really worked well when diagramming new features and developing user stories for development. The searchable "Links" came in very handy for code reviews. It did have a purpose, and worked very well for me, saving quite a bit of time.

[@TheIrtar]

Honestly, seeing this I was thinking how great having this tool would be for scratch sessions brainstorming logic flows even today. Much better than taking a picture of a white board. I imagine with today's machine learning to allow better recognition of written text and today's better storage allowing higher resolution (so more fine control of lines) it could have a market.

[@acerIOstream]

@@TheIrtar an analogous product today would be a RocketBook, but it's not /quite/ the same.

[@chris-hayes]

Rocket Book is neat. Seems like even today that style of tablet is rare. E-Ink devices like remarkable seem to be the trend, I know a software architect that enjoys his. Recently, at Staples I saw similar devices as low as $35 now.

[@majoryoshi]

If this were being sold in 2023 I’d pick it up in a heartbeat. So many of my classes don’t allow taking notes on laptops and this would be a good solution for digitizing it after class so I can refer to them easier

[@jimktrains0]

Look at the remarkable eink tablet. I've found the response time to be good enough for writing.

[@LakesideGazer]

Look into the Kindle Scribe then. Ironically, it's the same price now as the cross was when it was released.

[@Charky_Creations]

What you ACTUALLY want to look into is Wacom's Smartpads, which are exactly like this, and much more affordable than the e-ink tablets.

[@mialemon6186]

If you can get away with an iPad, it's been a great solution for me. I just carry a separate keyboard to make it "laptop like" if needed.

[@wdjkncvgdfsbyt34jgvi]

moleskin also makes something like this now!

[@plot6520]

Now that seems super advanced for the time period. Massively cool!

[@billybollockhead5628]

Quite cool for this time period if you ask me

[@danosdotnl]

@@billybollockhead5628 Indeed, most e-ink tablet style 'writing pads' nowadays do not even have OCR. Also, the serial transfer of pages seems even faster then clunky proprietary subscription based cloud sharing services on kindle and remarkable. And, wow, you can use almost any paper and it is actually paper. Totally blown away. This honestly seems better than anything on the market right now...

[@patrone14HCP]

But poop is cooler!.

[@billschannel1116]

@danosdotnl And you know that hardware wise this device will last way longer on account of how simple it is. Of course no repurposing as it's a one trick pony but still.

[@danosdotnl]

@@billschannel1116 The fact that you can still use it is a testimony of that indeed. I'm really curious about the 'radio' part. Being a licensed ham radio operator I have some knowledge about this field but it boggles my mind how this is done. Pretty sure I'm overthinking it (as your hint to simplicity). That said, I expect the radio protocol to be fairly easy to snoop on and reverse engineer

[@MTFMuffins]

I worked for cross for several years, 2008-11. I worked in the HQ in lincoln ri and then ran a store in boston! this was before my time but i remember it being advertised when I was in college and wanted it so bad! I still love the idea, as an artist who draws and sells original sketches, this would have been a great way to draw and save my work simultaneously! nowadays there are better options out there, so in the past it remains. FYI, cross never got over that lawsuit. When i was there they hired this asshole CEO who got paid a lot of money to move all physical production to china while simultaneously carving up the sub departments and selling them off to competitors. by the time the great recession killed my store the company was a pretty toxic place to work. Still, I loved their pens and pencils and their rollerballs were the best in the business IMHO.

[@PixelGaming_2020]

What a stupid move! Making anything in China just inherently cheapens the product.

[@jackmcslay]

There was the Wacom Bamboo Folio that did exactly that, and had the same fate.

[@rommix0]

@@PixelGaming_2020 Add to that the whole Covid fiasco. Who would want to have anything made in what's pretty much become a hazmat zone?

[@WowCreativeUsername]

@@PixelGaming_2020 Blame the companies not the country. Any company can dictate the quality when selecting or building a factory. They just always choose to maximize profit.

[@u9vata]

I still like the whole idea! I wish this would be open sources as open hardware for makers to make it!

[@BuildItnow]

Im really digging in the indepth techtails at the start of most oddware episodes

[@flemmingpedersen567]

This seems like it would have been every pupil's best friend back then: Being able to take notes and have them all on the computer come exam time... They chose the wrong target group.

[@SimonBauer7]

well i guess that finally happens many years later with modern tablets like the ipad having stylus support and allowing you to write directly on the screen

[@Thaleios]

I worked for a large healthcare company in the 90s. We had several devices that would have been similar to this that were used for doctor to take notes. The problem with something like this and any of the tablet like devices was that they were too complicated. Most doctors would not touch a computer keyboard and if it was a tablet device, it either had to take voice dictation or be able to do ocr on some of the worst handwriting possible. The technology back then just couldn't compete with a simple voice recorder and a dedicated secretary transcribing notes. This was back before most medical records were digitized. I saw the start of the forced transition of medical records to digital by the government. It was quite a wild ride.

[@TheOtherBill]

@@SimonBauer7 The Galaxy Note 2 phone was doing that more than 10 years ago.

[@kbhasi]

Yep! I had wanted a Wacom Bamboo Slate back when I was in school, since the school system where I lived didn't allow students to bring most tech (but staff members could), and it would've been a great way for me to take notes while in class, but I couldn't afford one at the time and would've had to think of a way to sneak it into class and use it without anyone noticing.

[@toast99bubbles]

@@kbhasi I used one of those for university stuff and still use it regularly to this day.

[@hyphens]

Everyone keeps saying this was amazing for its time. I would argue this is still amazing even in current time.

[@EeveeFromAlmia]

I’m currently a uni student; I’ve seen so many people use remarkable or handwriting on their iPads. This thing was just ahead of its time.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

back then, people needed to write it down, and be social too in meetings. Newton was the interface that sold this solution, IBM needed to get in to. Who used newton interface back then, some people here that still remember ?

[@mialemon6186]

I'm one of those! I love the iPad because I can usually keep my books and the notes on one device. Makes it harder to forget something. Maybe I'm a fossil but handwriting notes just makes my brain store information better.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

@@mialemon6186 1970 research yeah, but now with google, the cross links you generate, we digest it better. Taking notes on a pad and pencil, the Digital Future that never was ...

[@BrandonNedwek]

Oh man I remember seeing these at CompUSA at the time and wanting one so badly (for all those meeting notes I was taking when I was 13).

[@rommix0]

> for all those meeting notes I was taking when I was 13 So you were one of those posh kids. At least you got your Palm Pilot.

[@BrandonNedwek]

@@rommix0 haha I got one for my freshman year of college but already by then it felt like “why am I entering data into an extra little device…”

[@tilmatomo]

Me and a friend went halfsies on I think it was the smaller one back around 1999 or 2000. She took notes in the college classes we took together and emailed them to me because my handwriting was horrible. It was an impressive device given the rough state of OCR on scanners. Can't remember how much it cost though, we both worked for Circuit City at the time and got stuff like that at cost.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

back then many Newton interfaces, all failed... how you take tones and be in a meeting, auditorium etc ...

[@RickinBaltimore]

I remember working at Staples at that time and we were selling these. I don't remember any selling of them personally, but the concept was really interesting.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

He is not able to understand it, or show what it did, drawings.. MAD ! the learning your handwriting is the best of the system !!!! He is only crying about memory onboard, not understanding the Newton needs back then ! Why he says cool, but is not understanding it, too nerdy cool ? Nerd behavior coolness ?

[@leonenthedk]

Wow, quite pleased with that transition from desk view to screen capture around 18:46. That was smooth.

[@Jim-Jam]

This makes me think it’s be awesome to so a video on what a 90s businessmen tech setup would look like. Wall Street style. Suit included.

[@SM-rn3xy]

This is amazing for the period. Wacom tablets might have already existed but this is something you could use in a meeting and not look like a total dork. Also, I assume the pen would have felt just like a normal one and you can see what you have written, just like a normal pen. Surprised it didn't get more success.

[@JessHull]

My dad worked from home and had this. Or a device that worked exactly like this. I don't seem to remember his having that little lcd at the bottom but it was a long time ago so maybe it did. I just remember him showing me and I drew little comics on it when he would let me. It was really fun! My dad worked importing a lot of different metals from Asia and sometimes Europe. Mostly Aerospace grade aluminum. I mostly remember him using it to take notes while on phone calls and then he would be able to easily email the notes or whatever info he wrote down to whoever he needed to minutes after the phone call ended so he got a lot of use out of it. The only reason he stopped using it was he eventually stopped working from home after getting a higher position in the company and had a secretary. So instead of using the crosspad type device he just would give his notes to the secretary and then she would transcribe them and send them to whoever needed them.

[@user-ni7ct5vr8u]

Sony Ericsson had a similar product like this. The technology was inside a special pen which used a special kind of paper that you wrote or drew on. IIRC it was called Chatpen. Could it have been what your dad used?

[@0326Hambone]

Wow, that's usually the opposite of what happens when new tech comes out; usually it replaces the human!

[@JessHull]

@@user-ni7ct5vr8u I'm not 100% sure but I don't think so, because I definitely remember writing on a yellow legal type pad on it. Unless the Sony Ericsson one used special yellow paper?

[@JessHull]

@@0326Hambone hahah right! Rarely its the human replacing the technology. hahah.

[@user-ni7ct5vr8u]

@@JessHull The only thing I know is that they used some special paper, can't remember how the paper actually looked. But apparently there are at least 2 products like this, so there might as well be more.

[@stanleystriker7065]

That drawing transfered pretty well. And the drawing was good, too. :)

[@PoulWrist]

I could actually totally see this as being a great thing for our table top role play games group. I don't like to use laptops and tablets during play, pen and paper are what we rock. This would be a good way to get notes into a pc after to do a quick refresh of what happened.

[@hammerheadshark45]

at least as of a few years ago they still make products like this with all the same functionality, but it's all built into the pen itself, so there's no bespoke pad that you need to carry. i always wanted one when i was in school, but i never got one and i don't actually know how well they worked

[@kutannopapa]

I was a tech journalist in Tokyo back then and was so excited to have one of these that I brought it to every press conference or interview for a certain period. The first and foremost drawback was that the tip of the pen had an mechanical switch and it always “sink” by 1 to 1.5 mm travel, accompanied with annoying click sounds as you try to start writing something on paper. The price was reasonable for the kind of professions (imagine computer prices at that time) and I wish it could continue its life and fix those issues bit by bit.

[@rhyleymaster]

Radio guy here, willing to bet that the crosspad works by tracking where the pen is transmitting from using 2 or 3 antennas on the pad itself. The receiving antennas are performing angle of arrival (AoA) calculations on the pens signal when it's transmitting, giving us 3 angles the text could have came from. The point where these angles intersect (the 'fix') is calculated, giving us a position that can be put into a set of coordinates. Each coordinate is recorded at a fixed rate (the sample rate, think something like a framerate), giving you the path of the pen. That's my theory of how it works anyways.

[@Brazbit]

My dad is a bit of a semi-pro artist and had wanted to get into computers back in the 60s so anything that combined art and computers he would give a try. He had owned a traditional digitizing tablet before but hated that the only visual feedback was on the screen. So, when he saw an ad for the Cross Pad he immediately ordered one thinking that it would have the fidelity of a primarily art tablet but with the immediate feedback of the ink on the page. He was picturing something akin to a Cintique, but with paper in place of the display, this was the 90s after all. He was immediately disappointed by the fact that the drawings did not show on screen in real time, and when you transferred a drawing over it had serious jaggy lines and the lack of pressure sensitivity meant that line width was not accounted for. He also had thought you could use any pen so toss in the lack of color and the ability to use different pens with different tips and his dreams were shattered. The tablet sat mostly unused, and when he did use it he would forget that he had to use the correct pen and he made an absolute mess of the thing when he would confuse it with his other one and try using it without paper installed. It looked like a middle-school desk covered in grafitti. He had set it up himself and, while he didn't forbid me from using it he was constantly worried about the "special paper" and the ink in the special pen... on the occasion he remembered either. Since I did not set it up, and he lost the manuals almost immediately, I only just found out in this video that the tablet was not a hard-wired device and it required batteries. I think he would have enjoyed it much more if he had realized he did not have to be tethered to the computer to use it and we wouldn't have thought he broke it when the batteries must have died in the tablet. We even went as far as replacing the pen, which we knew took batteries. I also never found the spare ink storage, that would have eased his mind about the ever so precious ink. All in all, I think he successfully made maybe 3-4 drawings using the tablet, none of which were ever taken into another program for refinement. I had no idea at the time that this was such an expensive bust. Not his most expensive, or oddest piece of hardware, but it is higher up the list than I ever imagined.

[@RetroGamingNook]

Oh yeah, sold these at Staples... those that got it did seem to love it. Staples sold pretty fancy Cross pens that cost over a hundred dollars without any tech inside so $80 for a replacement was not too bad. They were so expensive, I had to cycle count cross pens weekly back then. I mostly remember trying hard not to buy it when it went down on clearance for like $29.99. I succeeded, so it's cool to see it fully in use now. Great Oddware!

[@speight4327]

30 bucks might have been worth it for the pen alone, no need to put batteries in it

[@Malkaine]

I love the music you use in your videos; it suits the nostalgia of the tech and the sound of your voice so well.

[@LGR]

Thanks!

[@IllusoryMaze]

While I don't generally use subtitles for LGR videos, I sometimes end up watching one with them left on from a previous video and I've gotta say, the random adjectives added to the [jazz music] captions are adorable.

[@RRRRRRP]

Man, this is the first oddware thing that I in ironically would love to own, or a modern/reimagined version. Edit: the main appeal is that you are actually drawing on paper with the full tactile experience that comes with being on paper

[@HorstGBurkhardt]

I'm greatly enjoying the Whitelines products for this sort of thing - the one complaint I have is that there isn't a desktop version of the software for high-res scanning to PDF.

[@elijaheumags5060]

There are new forms of that same device in Wacom devices, like the bamboo folio and spark.

[@iamstickfigure]

I seem to remember that 9 volt batteries are typically just little boxes holding several AAAA batteries in series. Not sure how common that is these days. But I recall that being true at one point in time

[@eDoc2020]

Only some. I think carbon zinc/heavy duty are rectangular cells but alkaline are usually AAAA. An important consideration is that on bare alkaline cells the polarity is backwards compared to regular batteries.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

I really miss watching computer chronicles back in the day. As well as ZDTV programs like The Screensavers, Call For Help, and Fresh Gear. Simple days but fun days.

[@WilliamHaisch]

Computer Chronicles was my jam back in the day! I still like watching them on the Internet Archive.

[@ILOVEBACONBOY2018]

I actually miss some of the things that were out in the newly digital age.

[@LordSandwichII]

I am a tutor, and I think something like this would be great for testing students' times tables and other things. I could write a program that knows where each answer is on the pad and use it to determine which questions the student student stumbled, so I can give them targeted practice.

[@VeraTR909]

If it had a backlight it would be great for tracing/digitising stuff.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

Wacom was the better solution !

[@harz426]

I remember wanting this SOOOOO badly as a kid who was ALWAYS drawing. I drew on EVERYTHING and was always in trouble with my teachers for drawing and "not paying attention." (I was, I start to daydream if I'm forced to just sit there and listen, and this was my right-brained way of focusing my childhood energy.) I remember just getting access to a scanner to scan my drawings was always a chore, and often I drew something in a traditionally-bound sketchbook so it was next to impossible to get the sketchbook to lie flat on the scanner bed, and you'd get a gigantic gray fade mark across the whole page when scanned. If somebody would have bought me one of these as a kid I would have used the ever living daylights out of it!

[@LarixusSnydes]

Great story. Do you still work as an artist, or has it remained a dominant hobby?

[@AndrewAMartin]

You probably would have been very disappointed in this as an art tool -- art was really not its intended purpose. Other tablets would have worked much better (and probably cost much more)....

[@dddd6606]

Moleskine introduced "Smart Notebook" last year that seems to be modern version of this product. Very expensive but works great.

[@summarity]

The Wacom Bamboo is the same

[@nigasasdasfasf]

The Wambam Thankumaam is the same

[@karenweiner1857]

Oh cool! I was wondering if anyone made something like it currently, it’s definitely seems like something that would have a market

[@olik136]

I often have to measure floorplans and this tablet would have been perfect. Nowadays I use an Ipad to do the same- but that is not less expensive at all.

[@0326Hambone]

Seeing Computer Chronicles in an episode of LGR is so fitting, full circle if you will.

[@KairuHakubi]

this is what I tune in to oddware for. My first drawing tablet in 2007 had a flap on top you could slide a paper under and trace it.. I quickly realized though, angle matters. you can be touching the line on the paper, but that doesn't matter, because the transmitter is not literally right at the tip. like an eye with astigmatism, if you tilt it even slightly, it won't line up anymore with the tablet's 'retina' the same way.

[@longlastnamae]

Clint, your music and sound is always on point. Keep crafting magic sir.

[@SpiffingNZ]

Your quest to find an AAAA battery reminds me so much of when I was trying to find one for my Surface pen. They're damn hard to find, but eventually I found some at a hardware store of all places.

[@4jp]

The cells inside of a 9v battery are only a few millimeters shorter than an AAAA. Just cut one of those open.

[@georgeh6856]

I vaguely remember seeing a similar product decades ago in a store. The one I saw, however, used special paper with a grid of dots on it or something like that. This CrossPad did have its downsides, but at least it didn't use proprietary paper which would have been a really bad thing.

[@JuliusDownes]

I remember at work a company trying to sell us a device matching your description for digitising paperwork that had to be completed by hand according to the regulations. First I thought it may have been the device in this video but it was later (maybe 2008ish) and specifically it needed special paper. They didn't buy and not soon after the regulations were changed anyway.

[@caralynx]

Livescribe, perhaps?

[@WilliamHaisch]

I knew a guy who bought one of these! It was a LiveScribe and you could buy the special paper or you could print it out on your printer using regular printing paper. It would also record audio and the pen could replay what was said when writing. Cool stuff! 😊

[@kajsagauza]

Lenovo Yoga Book from 2016 has similar functionality. You can draw on one side (a pad that can turn into a keyboard), even on paper, and it will digitize drawing or writing. It was pretty good for taking notes or sketching.

[@norkshit]

dream device right there, i’ll bet they’ve gotten far cheaper now, might have to get one for the heck of it

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

Considering that Lenovo was a division of IBM makes sense

[@EmergencyChannel]

Lenovo is Chinese and bought IBM's PC division, they were never part of IBM.

[@AndrewAMartin]

@@AlejandroRodolfoMendez Lenovo was IBM's contract manufacturer for laptops; when IBM got out of the PC game, Lenovo purchased the rights to IBM's designs and trademarks so they could continue making and marketing ThinkPads, just under their own brand. They've gone on to sell their own designs, and even purchased Motorola from Google.

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

@@AndrewAMartin they are their own thing now but were part. Not all but were

[@zvndmvn]

So cool to see old notes upload like clockwork after a quarter century!

[@danielmarcus420]

Another fantastic odd ware video! I love all your content and appreciate your hard work, Clint!

[@DasIllu]

I was recently thinking back when i first saw devices like that and thought to myself "damn i wish something usable like this was still around". I'm an electrician, doing repair work and upgrades to existing systems. Scribbling down a few numbers here, a schematic there, plus a BoM for the next week and so on. But loose paper gets lost a lot and keeping it on the notebook makes things rather chaotic in no time. Being able to archive all the things on the go, maybe even upload it to my home server would be a nice relief.

[@Charky_Creations]

It is around. Wacom came up with a range of smartpads just like this.

[@kevink9365]

This seems 15+ years ahead of its time. I'm blown away. 😲

[@MUMSUniverse]

This is super neat. I would have loved having this. Heck, I would use it now.

[@retroatx]

Back around 1981 I bought a couple of X-PADs for my Radio Shack Color Computers. These things were great. It was a tablet. You could put paper on it. There was a sensor that could detect the pen distance from the pad as well as a switch that detected when the pen touched the pad or when it was pressed against the pad. These things were great. I still have and use both of them. You should try to do an episode on them. They were never really supported by much software... We mostly wrote our own and some third party Mac paint clones supported them. Because of this they were eventually replaced by the koala pad which plugged into the joystick port, was much more limited but better supported...

[@toast99bubbles]

I got something like this in 2018 for university coursework. The Wacom Bamboo Slate in A5 (A4 would have been better, but I went with A5 because it was cheaper at the time). It connects via bluetooth to an app and was so useful during the pandemic for me when revusing with fruends because I could share what I wrote live through screen sharing.

[@trommpete]

I got the same device. It is pretty neat in a way, but very much let down by software. There really wasn't too much what you could do with it, other than get an image of what you had drawn or written. There was handwriting recognition offered but only as an online service for which you need an account. It did offer an output of the raw strokes, which theoretically should allow you to modify your strokes, like change the thicknesses, modify the path, change colour... Only I there didn't seem to exist a single piece of software that can do anything with those files! In that way, I feel the CrossPad from the 90s is much better equipped.

[@LarixusSnydes]

I've seen this in the Netherlands on a digital fair and a couple of years later a company aimed at elderly people sold a product that connected to the internet and enabled them to write an e-mail just by writing on the pad. It was less ambitious in a way because there was no OCR going on, it just sent the picture as a graphics file. I offered to buy one for my favourite granny, but she did not want the subscription to an internet company, so that was that. Visiting her was always a great experience, so for our contact it was probably the best.

[@MaxwellVador]

I had a Logitech version of this. It had DRM paper with little dots on it that transferred the writing to vector strokes

[@tcdahn7]

Livescribe works very similarly

[@HypercubeGO]

I remember seeing a demo for this back at the Atlanta MicroCenter in the 90s. I was ecstatic about it, wanting to turn my drawings into digital art without a scanner (which at the time was hand-held and had to be dragged across the art). This lives in my memories, and I constantly wish I had gotten to take one home.

[@Elliottlikeshistory]

I was installing windows 98 while and this guy showed up I’m hooked from today

[@halfsourlizard9319]

This is the most '90s, fiddly, clunky thing ever. It's so close to being useful while being a total PITA. Love. It.

[@tekgamer33]

I had a CrossPad XP! I got it after it was discounted and used for school, but I don’t remember using it that much. It was a bit thick and bulky for daily use. But it did work “as advertised” to digitize notes.

[@BluetheRaccoon]

My teen is an artist, and would absolutely love one of these! It's a real shame they don't seem to be obtainable anymore. Amazon has a review for one, but there aren't even any Ebay listings for them. We would happily buy it off you!

[@Sb129]

Impressive for today, amazing back in the day. There is also a PDA version made by Seiko.

[@YourComputerExpert]

Haven't watched your videos for a long time for some reason. Glad to have stumbled upon you again, Clint. You look great! Time to binge watch everything I have missed.

[@LGR]

Hey, welcome back! Hope you enjoy that backlog :)

[@purringc5552]

Something like this would have really been useful while I was in school. Especially for math, science, and engineering work. I still have all my notes from then just because they're very useful to have. Takes up a lot of space though. Having exact digital copies would have been nice.

[@user-njyzcip]

My mum bought something like this when I was young! Probably 10-15 years ago. It was a little device you clip onto the top of your paper and it stores your notes/drawings into the device, which you then transfer to your computer with a USB cable

[@DynamixWarePro]

That device seems like a useful device, especially back at the time it came out and I would have loved to have had one then, had I known about it at the time. I never actually knew there was AAAA batteries until you showed the pen takes them as I have never heard of or seen those types of batteries before. It amazes me a company selling writing stationary is still going 177 years after it was founded and only branching into also selling things like watches, cufflinks, pen cases and a few other things besides writing implements.

[@vshlkmr40]

Microsoft surface 2in1 laptop comes with a stylus, that takes aaaa batteries as well. There are some Lenovo styluses and even wacom stylus, all use aaaa batteries. As far as I know, only Duracell manufacturers them

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

I think the channel technology connection showed in a video that were lots of types of batteries just that most are not for consumer degree.

[@mamizoumain]

one of my professors in college used one of those optical pens that would record what was written to pdf. definitely a very useful resource for lectures.

[@SteTechGaming]

I'd say the modern equivalent for this would be the Rocketbook, which has reusable pages that you'd use with a pen with ink that wipes off. You would then take a photo of the page on your smartphone in the dedicated app and it would upload the photo to the cloud service of your choosing.

[@-PVL93-]

Man it's often so sad hearing how unfortunate the stories of these different oddware episode devices ended up being. A lot of them are genuinely cool ideas that simply came out at a wrong time period where the technology wasn't quite there to unleash the full potential Like this inkpad - give it some extended capabilities, wireless connectivity to easily sync your notes with cloud storage or just transfer from the device, a built-in battery for both the pen and the tablet, and I guarantee you today this would be a fantastic albeit a little niche product. Especially if for example you could use an eraser and modify the notes on the fly without having to change the page and resync every time you make a small addition or correction to the already completed note/drawing

[@billschannel1116]

This video reminded me of a mousepad I was given by a company. It was a pad of paper. There was no holder, it was just paper. You could write on the mouse pad then rip off the sheet. It functioned extremely well.

[@noneofyourbeeswax01]

Have I missed the joke? Is a _whooosh!_ headed my way? Because it seems to me that your "mousepad" was nothing more nor less than a notepad. Was that the joke? Seriously, I really can't tell any more, everyone is so earnestly committed to crazy these days...

[@billschannel1116]

​@@noneofyourbeeswax01 Oh no, it wasn't a joke. I'm serious when I say it was neat. It was a fully functional mousepad with real nice grip yet felt good when you wrote on it. You could write on it and rip off the top sheet. I think it had like 25-50 sheets after which it would be gone. I know it's stupid simplistic but was clever and useful. It was neat for something that was given out as company swag. It looked nice, not like a legal pad. I could see someone who was a minimalist really liking it. I know it's not curing cancer, but people liked them.

[@billschannel1116]

This was in the 90s when people sometimes had to use mousepad's because the mouse roller balls had trouble on their desks. It was not like running the mouse on regular paper. Paper is smooth. This had texture. It had the company emblem on top and looked like a mousepad.

[@noneofyourbeeswax01]

@@billschannel1116 It sounds interesting and I'm sure I would have used one - but even if priced reasonably I think the issue for me would have been just the nuisance factor of having to essentially buy a new "mousepad" every time the "notepad" ran out of paper.

[@typingcat1814]

As someone who hates writing on anything other than real paper, I think there's still absolutely a market for this. IMO a modern version would be: * Smaller, rechargeable, and bluetooth * Adjustable to accommodate different pad sizes * Live input like a wacom tablet

[@SixSonn]

That translucent mouse is absolutely fantastic.

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

why you need that ?

[@alexx.p2]

Man the blue hue in the blackground along with your shirt look sooo clean and good. Very visually satisfying

[@LemonRush7777]

This would be great for note taking in classes if it also properly recognizes your writing.

[@lunalucadou877]

I used my Surface in my college classes to take notes and MS OneNote does a surprisingly good job of OCRing my writing for its search function. Add in the ability to insert slides, assignments, etc. and global search them all, and I basically lived out of that application. I cannot imagine going back to individual Word docs and 90s OCR. That said, writing on glass cannot compare to real paper. If there was a modern version that seamlessly merged the two and worked on modern systems, I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

[@sonnyjimm23]

I mean I have ADHD and throughout my study I was the only student in my classes who wrote notes with a pen and paper. It's the only way I can retain information - taking notes straight on my laptop or tablet doesn't ingrain the information, it's a waste of time. THIS would have saved me weeks of note transfer. Honestly, I have 5 boxes of hand written note pads from a 3 year degree. The struggle was real lol. Such an amazing device even in today's standards.

[@JacobJohnson-lh4gx]

Nice so this is where Wacom got their idea with the Wacom Folio and Bamboo slate, truly an oddware indeed.

[@lilac2238]

Yeah I tought this was a New technology by them or something but they just stole the idea lmao

[@JacobJohnson-lh4gx]

@@lilac2238truee, It would've been a nice addition to the animation studios back when this came out. But unfortunately it was too early and too expensive, not to mention it wasn't on par with traditional materials that an animation studio uses to produce quality animations.

[@TheOtherBill]

Wacom had a cordless pen tablet back in 1984.

[@lilac2238]

@@TheOtherBill someone please send a Wacom tablet from the 80's to LGR

[@hunyesmith03]

Growing up my gran had something similar I.e. a pen that digitised whatever you wrote/drew, but it was completely standalone just a slightly chunky pen and then a dock to transfer the files to a PC. She used to use it for meetings and sometimes for art it was super cool tbh.

[@jimhjortsberg2990]

I love how cool crab has pretty much become the mascot of this channel!

[@pjousma]

Your videos are peaceful, man (im drinking), but I love and watch all ur videos for years. You're a staple in my youtube life; always there, always chill. Love to see your face.

[@genericfriend2568]

To be totally honest, I'm a real stickler for texture on my drawings as I work, I'd consider buying one of these

[@HeelBJC]

Awesome video! I live for this type of stuff. My dad was very into being early on tech stuff and so while we didn't have this, we had tons of oddware type devices from this era around the house when I was growing up. I love seeing similar products documented with the great presentation you always have.

[@meetoo594]

This evolved into those cheapo digitizing pens you can buy on Amazon. They have onboard storage and upload to pc via Bluetooth. They work surprisingly well although lack the paper holder/tablet bit as its not needed.

[@LGR]

Ahh yes I’ve always been curious about those. Might have to try one sometime.

[@Lbf5677]

You're buy curious

[@angryfurniture]

This is a product I could definitely use today. Out of all the weird 90s stuff this is probably the most useful thing I’ve seen!

[@Markimark151]

The screenless predecessor to iPad or the Wacom tablets! This would’ve been good for illustrators and animators at the time!

[@hingeslevers]

It's not a predecessor to Wacom, those have been around since forever.

[@Markimark151]

@@hingeslevers those Wacom boards was based off the Crosspad, but there were early ones that were smaller and were just made for signatures only not actual word documents.

[@ForgottenMachines]

21:53 I LOVE the "Boring Business People" pictures timed to each word...especially the 2nd one...what Forgotten Machines are those Boring Business People posing in front of there? We will find out...but Another AWESOME LRR Oddware video Clint! Always LOVE to watch these, more entertaining than darn near anything on KZbin or Amazon combined...seriously! Just when you thought your videos couldn't get any better...you up the bar...love it!

[@JamesStec]

In all fairness, OCR today still seems to strike out so much where typing something out is almost always the better option. After giving up on trying to get the device to output searchable, editable text files, I think I'd still find value in at least having digital backups of notes

[@rommix0]

I'm surprised no one made an OCR yet that uses AI. That would be the obvious choice nowadays.

[@TheSimoc]

@@rommix0 AFAIK OCR has always been based on AI by definition, and I think there have been more and more intelligent implementations. I'm not sure what kind of intelligence you would want from OCR that isn't there yet?

[@rommix0]

@@TheSimoc Yeah but not the AI that we know now. Back then it was very simplistic and most likely relied on partial binary images of letters to recognize characters. Yeah like you said what we have now is much more "intelligent"

[@TheSimoc]

@@rommix0 Yep, I thought something like that. But I still missed your point, what kind of more intelligent AI would you expect to be implemented in OCR nowadays, that has "surprisingly" not been done yet?

[@rommix0]

@@TheSimoc But it can be easily be done. We have a thing now called neural networks. It's weight based AI and one could uses images of characters as a dataset, and feed it into the neural network to create a usable classifier model.

[@negil]

Other than the packaging and screenshots of the software, the pad itself looks incredibly sleek and modern for late-90s. I could easily see this still being on store shelves with slightly updated packaging. I'm not surprised at all that this didn't succeed though. Even modern smart writing pads seem just bizarrely unnecessary and confusing, so I can only imagine how confounding this must've been to the average person when it was new.

[@lylukk]

i had a similar item as this that i got in the mid 2000s. i think it actually came from aldi. mine also worked as a basic graphics tablet and thats all i ever used it for

[@LarixusSnydes]

Yes, had it too. The software was terrible so the wow factor was gone pretty quickly. The pen also was so-so, because it required you to write at a really awkward angle.

[@thejewcanoe1]

Love the nostalgia Clint! Takes me back to my childhood in the 90s. Oh what a time to be alive! with all of the new home electronic gizmos.

[@dancoroian1]

Wow. I'm a 90s kid and I had never even heard of or seen this neat little device. Really cool, especially considering when it came out!

[@Lewis94YouTube]

Another great video, Clint! Man that is a sexy keyboard you have for your pc

[@adamsfusion]

I'm a boring business person in the future year of 2023 and I want this.

[@Kevin_2435]

Oddware is back baby! Thank you Clint. This is my favorite series.

[@stevethepocket]

Impressed that they were able to fit all the necessary electronics into that pen, PLUS a battery, PLUS a real ink cartridge. I remember the 2000s when Wacom still had exclusive rights to their battery-free stylus technology, and all the off brands had these big bulky pens so they had room for the battery inside.

[@jasonpapai]

Hey! Love your work man. Always look forward to your videos about goofy old computer stuff

[@harleyn3089]

I was in college from 1999-2002, and remember wanting one of these. I thought it would be a great way to take notes in class. I ended using a Palm 3 instead though. I got really good at Palm's graffiti text recognition, so taking notes and even writing papers on the Palm Pilot was actually a pretty good experience.

[@artchic528]

Who knew Clint was a bit of an artist? Cool Crab approves!

[@Inesophet]

Honestly, i work in sales and this would be freaking amazing as i generally take tons of notes everyday. Being able to conveniently digitize them after a work day would be great as sometimes i do find myself going back to the trashbin. Maybe it was the price, maybe it was that sales just didnt identify markets such as these.

[@Doug_in_NC]

There are a number of e-ink note takers with styluses around today that do the same thing, but without the need for an actual pad of paper. Examples include the Kindle Scribe and the ReMarkable 2. Until seeing this video, I hadn’t considered getting one, but I can definitely see the benefits.

[@chrissCazayoux-yt7xg]

Howdy. I was one of the product/channel managers for the CrossPad. I have an unreleased v2 hardware and a mini. Since they were both prototypes there is no packaging. We were about to release the next software that allowed you to use vector file formats instead of just bitmap.

[@UsernameInvalid48]

Love your videos man. Such a chill nostalgic time. Brings me back to playing Torins Passage in 1997.

[@_techana]

I'm a writer and I adore these devices and have a number of them. They save me time for not having to scan my notes and sketches. I usually take one to cafes or restaurants and write while sipping coffee or having a snack.

[@polastarr]

When you said Cross has been around for 180 years I paused the video and was like "How come I've never heard of them?", thinking it was a tech company, it took me like a solid minute to go "OOOH, THE PEN COMPANY" and now I feel really stupid because I literally use a Cross pen everyday, lol. Great video as usual!

[@dragonicmicrophone6594]

Of all the tablets from before the 2000's you've covered, I think this one's gotta be my favorite for its features.

[@sophiacristina]

People had such an interesting type of creativity in making crazy hardwares back then. Also, nice Roland speakers. Also, i really think it is funny how you grip the pen. It is like you really don't want it to fall out of your hand, lol.