PlayBook: A Programmable Paper Notebook [video]
Ink & Switch's PlayBook is a programmable notebook concept combining digital tools and handwriting, though commenters debate its literal use of the word paper.
summary is enough The article text is unavailable and the link is a video demo, making a quick look and reading the comments sufficient.
The article could not be read automatically; this analysis is based on the title and discussion.
summary
Ink & Switch released a video demo for PlayBook, a programmable notebook exploring new interaction designs combining handwriting and software. Commenters praise the innovative design approach and composition of basic primitives, while questioning the use of the term paper for a digital tool. Viewers also note that the current demo is missing features and is not yet easy for outsiders to try.
key points
- PlayBook is an experimental programmable notebook created by the research lab Ink & Switch.
- Commenters debate whether the project qualifies as 'paper' given its digital handwriting mechanics.
- Users point out that the current public demo lacks features shown in the talk and is not yet accessible for independent testing.
who should read it
Researchers, interaction designers, and developers interested in novel user interfaces and human-computer interaction.
discussion positive
consensus
Commenters admire Ink & Switch's experimental design philosophy and primitives, but critique the 'paper' branding and the current difficulty of trying the tool themselves.
pushback
A few commenters focus deeply on the architectural elegance, praising how it composes sophisticated behaviors from basic primitives akin to well-designed programming languages.
It’s a fascinating design approach. Taking a few basic primitives (paper, ink) and seeing how much mileage you can get out of them without interfering with their fundamental behaviors, but also without adding new primitives. Most interaction design would add a new primitive for every high-level user need instead. Which to be fair probably makes more sense for practical product design needs. But the ability to compose/decompose sophisticated behavior from/into smaller parts I think is a hallmark of software that really works as a predictable tool with a high ceiling for what kinds of problems …
It provides a thoughtful architectural analysis of why the design approach succeeds, comparing it to programming languages.
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