It’s a bit strange to be honest. I’ve thought for a long time about getting a Supernote. I first heard of them about 2.5 years ago: right around when the Nomad first came out. I was very keen to get one too but they weren’t available on Amazon so for expectedly obscure bureaucratic reasons it was “difficult” to purchase w/ research funding. I made the decision at the time, therefore, to go for the Kindle Scribe. That is the only other E-ink device that I have reference to, so that is my main point of comparison.
I said at the start that it was strange but then went on a bit of a tangent and never explained what was strange so let me go on another tangent to explain. I’ve always been someone who’s been excited by new tech. I suppose most people are, so it’s probably easy for you to imagine what I mean. When I first got an iPad I thought it was the bee’s knees, it filled me head to toe with excitement. Why? What do you mean, “why?” It’s an iPad Pro! The pinacle [sic] of human ingenuity! What could be better? For one week, I was smitten. Four years on? I can’t think of one truly great experience it brought me. It is fantastic, yes, but there’s nothing I really want to do with it. It sits, weeks or even months at a time, unused. To be honest, a part of me is looking forward to giving it back when I graduate in a few months. I know it’ll be sat on a shelf somewhere else not being used, but I won’t feel guilty anymore about it lying on my desk. Perhaps that’s selfish of me, but perhaps that’s a hint at why new tech is so tempting. “Look at how powerful this is! Look at everything it can do! If you aren’t able to find a use for it, it’s because there’s something wrong with your workflow; you need to adopt your lifestyle! Don’t worry, here’s a newer, even more powerful device. Get this and you’ll definitely improve your life!” I see how much something “benefits everyone else” so it must benefit me too. But without a clearly defined way that it will benefit me, I get bored, and forget about it, until I spot it and in my guilt try to see if a new software update has solved all my woes. It never has. What, then, makes the Supernote different? Isn’t it naïve to write this a mere 12 hours after getting it? Yes, it probably is. But what makes it different is that I waited for this. Not by choice, admittedly, but I waited all the same. And so when the Nomad finally sat atop my desk, I was not excited. Not in my usual way at least. And that was strange. But I think I know why. When I got the idea, what got me excited was potential - imagining all that I might be able to do. With the Nomad, I’ve been watching reviews and reading articles about it for years. I knew what it can do, and what it can’t. There is no mystery. So in that sense there is no excitement. But maybe that makes all the difference.
That’s not to say that it’s exactly as expected, and I set it up exactly how I wanted. I wasted the best part of two hours and sideloaded four apps to get a file transfer app on here, just to realise the provided one was more than enough for what I wanted.” But I got this thing to write on, and maybe draw on too. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. But if that’s what I want to do, then what’s wrong with the iPad, or the Kindle Scribe? Well, the iPad, for me, was a horrible writing experience. I just did not like how slippery the pen was, how hard the glass was, and how the Notes app worked. It just never felt anything more than a complete mess. Maybe that’s a me problem, but that’s just how I felt. I did try a “paper-like” screen cover but it made the screen look worse and always made me aware I was destroying my iPad tip with how scratchy it was. The Kindle? Well it have a better feel so that was good, but there are too many reasons not to like it. It’s extremely locked down, build quality was poor, I couldn’t connect to a WiFi network if the password began with a digit, I couldn’t save multiple WiFi networks, organization of notes was a mess, hard to export audiovis. Most annoying for me though, the pen nib wore down so quickly and left bits everywhere. That was the worst of all, and probably the #1 reason I felt confident that a Supernote would work for me. Sure, two finger-gesture is a bit hit-or-miss, and I can’t stand to hold the folio in my hand for a long time but aside from that, it’s been fantastic. Notes are easily organised, I love the UI, the Partner app works well, I get easy exports – and an everlasting nib! An everlasting nib. Amazing. I’m grateful in anyway to the Kindle Scribe, because I appreciate this Nomad so much more as a result! And that’s what I think will make a difference this time. I’m not excited to use this device – I’m grateful to :)