When it really comes down to it, I’m not a gadgety person. Last week I was in a Verizon store and actually considered what life would be like with a prepaid flip phone. However, when I got the chance to try Wacom’s new Bamboo Smartpad, I started to change my mind. The Bamboo Smartpad takes handwritten notes and digitally renders them to any device through a Bluetooth connection so you can share and save them easily. If you’re looking for a way to spice up your study habits, this may just be the way to do it: here are five reasons why.
1. You can easily share notes when your friends miss class.
We’ve all been there: one of your friends or the nice guy that sits next to you misses class one day, and asks if you can share your notes with them. It’s inconvenient for both parties when you have to take pictures of your notebook and email them to your classmates but with the Bamboo Smartpad, with the touch of a button you can automatically transfer your notes to the Inkspace app, which allows you to share the notes with anyone.
2. Your professors won’t let you use your laptop to take notes anyway.
Can I get a show of hands as to how many peoples’ professors have cited whatever study said you retain more information when you take notes by hand? Everyone? Cool. Tons of professors are anti-electronic note-taking, and they’re actually right – taking notes by hand does help you engage and remember the information more easily. Thankfully, it’s fun to take notes on the Bamboo Smartpad, and you can upload them to Inkspace to keep them digitally organized.
3. You’re in UIC’s College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts
CADA students have so many sketches. Like, so many. Having a device like the Bamboo Smartpad helps you keep all of those sketches in one digital place, which means no more overflowing portfolios. Plus, it’s a great way to see how your drawings will render digitally. If you’re a graphic design student or are into digital art, Wacom’s Intuous is a touchpad and pen that connects to your computer to give you a digital drawing surface. If you’re just looking for a new stylus, Wacom’s got you covered with the Duo stylus and pen combo!
4. You keep accidentally bringing you T/R notebook to your M/W/F classes.
Don’t you hate it when you bring the wrong notebook to class and have to take up precious note-taking space on the wrong paper, and then go through the hassle of transferring them to the right notebook? With the Smartpad, organizing your notes is easy when you upload them to Inkspace, and you’ll never have to paperclip loose-leaf notes into the proper notebook again.
5. You’re ready to get serious with your doodling habit.
You don’t have to be a CADA student to get creative with the Bamboo Smartpad. It’s extremely doodle, design, and drawing friendly for aspiring professionals and amateurs alike. The best part is that you can upload the drawings to your device and edit them using the Inkspace app, then share them so your friends can see how talented you are. As shown below, this is not my particular strong suit, but at least I had a good time.
Be sure to check out Wacom’s website and Facebook page, and follow them on Twitter and Instagram!