I just gave a company $37 of my money with, optimistically speaking, a 25% hope of ever seeing a return. I normally don’t back Kickstarters unless I’m reasonably confident that the thing is going to ship on time.
The Everlast notebook is promising the stationary holy grail; Dunder Mifflin’s downfall, otherwise known as reusable paper. I think it’s going to crash and burn, but just the outside prospect of success has me breaking my own rules.
What the Everlast is promising is basically a better version of a whiteboard. Using a particular pen (Pilot Frixions, which are already erasable), you can write in the notebook just like you would with a normal pen. When you’re done, use a moist paper towel to erase your work.
The makers are also touting their app that allows you to store work in the cloud, but really, that’s all secondary to the key thing here: reusable paper. If it works (IF!) it would virtually mean an end to the need for scrap paper, not to mention a big boost in sales for Pilot’s Frixion pens.
Of course, there’s all kinds of ways this could be a flop. If the feel of writing is significantly off from real paper, the erasing is blurred and messy, or it smudges easily, it’s not going to catch on, especially for $37 per notebook.
All of the small details need to come together to make this thing work, which is why I have so many doubts about this particular Kickstarter. The line “Execution is on par with what you’d expect from a group of well funded SF based developers with swank offices” from the press release also gives me cause for concern. But all in all, I’ve never been so excited to be proven wrong.
