FLY Pentop Computer
© 2005 LeapFrog
Update, Spring 2006. Leapfrog has announced three new FLYware products; Algebra, Writing and Memorizer. Leapfrog’s new computing pen FLY can be summarized the way scientists first described the laser—a solution looking for a problem. Our testers were both fascinated and frustrated by their initial FLY experience. Here’s a closer look at the most innovative advance in children’s computing for 2005. The $99 starter kit comes with one FLY pen, a plastic case, a AAA battery, headphones, a FLY Notebook and a starter set of tutorial activities. From a technology perspective alone, FLY is modern wonder, especially given the amount of technology packed into a sub $100 form factor—that can hopefully survive in a middle schooler’s backpack. The oversized pen has a tiny camera in its tip, that sends 75 images per second to the pen’s onboard computer. The camera detects motion against a background of special, propitiatory faint dots. These dots are like tracks to a train—without them, the pen gets lost and won’t work. So the first thing you need to know about FLY—special paper is involved. It’s not actually the paper... it’s the image printed on the paper. These dots can be printed by any standard printing process with regular inks and are barely visible to the naked eye. There’s no magnets or “green go button” involved. The pen is powered by one AAA battery; ours lasted four four days of at least two hours per day before needing to be changed. Extra accessories include a cradle charger ($30), headphones (included), speakers ($15) and ink refills ($8); all sold at www.liveonthefly.com. FLY can do a variety of things, some well and others poorly. Our pen excelled with simple "touch and hear" applications, where you can tap a clock to hear the time, a baseball card to hear the player's name and position, or country on a map to hear the national anthem. There's never a need to sign in in or register -- the pen knows. Testers loved the journal, where they could touch a sticker and hear a sound, or get advice for a problem. The text to speech process is a disappointment, however. You expect to hear your writing read aloud, but this only happens one single word at a time, with specific applications, or by filling in forms like spelling sheets. We would have liked a more direct "write and hear" feature to promote free language experimentation. For example, the Spanish Translator, which requires snapping in a different $35 cartridge, lets you hear jotted words one at a time. When it works, it is amazing-- testers would say "how does it do that?" According to Leapfrog, the pen has a built in lexicon (meaning a library of words that can form intelligent sentences) of 70,000 words, allowing it to become a portable dictionary, thesaurus. Once word recognition is better developed, these language tools will be much more accessible. Oh well, perhaps FLY 2.0? The pen comes with an onboard calculator (sketch your own number pad), several simple games, a clock, and a calendar/day planner. FLY's most exciting potential lies in the least exciting part of a child's life -- homework. Imagine self-correcting worksheets (teachers-- rejoice), with the pen programmed to give hints and instant feedback. Any storybook could become interactive, and any map a geography game. Leapfrog used the game in two board games (baseball and Batman) and a journal designed for two girls. In these roles, the pen suggests turns ("player 1, your turn") or becomes a random spinner to assign moves on a board. Testers were not impressed with either the Batman or baseball games, finding the setup process to be to frustrating. Still, the portable form factor of a pen that can be passed from one player to the next breaks new ground for the role technology can play in social relationships. Never before has there been a writing based tutorial with such immediate, clear feedback. Because the pen won't work unless you write, clear penmanship (remember that?) is a prerequisite skill. Just as Konami's Dance Dance Revolution has somehow made legions of stumbling middle schoolers into graceful dancers, FLY forces children to focus on fine motor handwriting skills. They are forced to slow down and process each letter and word. For spelling lists (one of the better FLY kits), this could be a major breakthrough. Also notable are the games and quizzes where you are asked to construct your own set of words to turn into a quiz. This process helps children feel ownership over the quiz -- it comes from them, not Addison Wesley. Kids find that more than a few pages of wasted FLY paper are required before they learn the pen's sometimes moody temperament. FLY is clear evidence that a computer can take the form of a pen, but clearly there are bugs to be worked out. The current batch of eight software products vary in price and quality, but in general met with a less than enthusiastic response from our testers. The pen is large and clunky to hold (it was called a toothbrush by more than one child) and although they grew used to it, the size rules out extended use by younger children. Children with poor penmanship/fine motor skills had an especially difficult time creating the FLYcons icons. There's also a question of the special consumable paper; once you run out, the pen is ... well, just a pen. The long term success of this medium will lie in the willingness of mainstream publishers to adapt the dotted media format. That said, we were struck by how our seasoned, tech savvy middle school testers reacted to this device. The seemed to sense that it was something new and important. Said one "I have no idea what I'll do with it, but I have to have it." We recall the same reaction to the Apple IIe.
$99, Smart Toy
Teaches: all subjects; especially penmanship, writing, math and geography