Rocketbook unites smart paper with a smart app to provide a fusion experience. Classic paper meets the digital age will allow you to access your materials wherever you need them.
Everlast notebook provides a classic pen and paper experience, yet is built for the digital age.
I believe Sarah Stankorb correctly labeled those of us born between 1977 and 1985 as the Xennials. Not quite Gen-X and not quite Millenial, our micro-generation experienced the analog life of our parents and the new digital life of our children. We knew life before cell phones, before Compact Disks, and before the modern computer era. Interestingly, our children have never known a time without many of the devices that we now use regularly. We did not have laptops/tablets and digital educations. Instead, we relied upon paper, notebooks, and words written in actual books. Throughout my scholastic experience, I learned how to take copious and thorough notes, utilizing scores of spiral notebooks. This trend continued throughout college and into graduate school. In fact, I still have dozens of books that eventually need to be digitized/scanned. You may be asking why I made reference to the Xenial generation above. The reason is that Joe Lemay and Jake Epstein have invented a device that bridges the notebook gap. With the invention of the ROCKETBOOK EVERLAST in 2017, they created the Xenial of notebooks.
It is interesting to learn that the idea for the ROCKETBOOK started in 2013 after Joe Lemay forgot to bring the correct notebook to a meeting. Starting with the microwavable ROCKETBOOK WAVE (as seen on Shark Tank), the company moved into the EVERLAST and most recently to the COLOR notebook. The premise behind the technology was a successful union between the digital ROCKETBOOK App and a smart paper notebook. The matte black cover of the EVERLAST notebook and the grey firm plastic spiral provided a humbling nostalgic rush of notetaking memories. The Lime green EVERLAST Logo atop an infinity sign, brilliantly informed the user that this notebook was the last one that they would ever need. It is no wonder that ROCKETBOOK became the number one selling notebook on Amazon in November of 2016 and one of the hottest Christmas gifts of 2016.
The 8 13/16 inches tall by 6 1/16 inches wide notebook has 36 internal pages and a rigid front and back cover. The grey colored front inner cover acts as the legend for the book, providing seven symbols and the space to identify them. Different from the ROCKETBOOK COLOR, the EVERLAST notebook does not have a name/signature line. Each of the included thirty-six white waxy pages has a subtle sixteen box wide by twenty-five box tall grid overlay. Each of the grids measures 5/16 inches square. Along the bottom left of odd pages and bottom right of even pages, you will find a QR code that is designed to link to each page of the journal. Next, to the QR code, you will find the same seven icons identified on the legend page: rocket, diamond, apple, bell, clover, star, horseshoe. The back black matte cover is devoid of markings, which I felt was a waste of space. The pages provide a different tactile feel than standard paper but the experience is pleasing. The ROCKETBOOK paper has a silky classy feel, similar to that found in some higher-end personal journals.
The problem of forgetting a notebook is not solved solely by the ROCKETBOOK because you cannot just use any pen inside of the book. As the EVERLAST name suggests, the notebook pages can be used endlessly with Crayola Dry Erase, Crayola Washable pens and with Frixion Erasable pens from Pilot. One of the major limitations of the notebook was the need for special ink and the need to carry along a Frixion pen. To solve this problem, in late 2017, the company released a device called the Pen Station. Utilizing the blank back page of the notebook, you can conveniently install the 3M tape with included pen loop accessory. The velcro loop will accommodate numerous pens and the 3M tape will allow you to place the Pen Station atop or aside the notebook. This device truly enhanced the experience of the notebook and ensured that you always had a pen for your book. Furthermore, you can purchase extra $5 Pen Station devices to attach to your favorite notebook or even to a tablet case. Put the Pen Station wherever you want and have an accessory pen loop for your favorite pen.
The ROCKETBOOK App is elegant in its simplicity. To start, you will need to download the application from the iOS App store or the Google Play Store. You will then need to log into the app utilizing your name, email, and a password. When you log into the app, you will start on a “Destinations” page, which corresponds to the legend inside of the book. Unfortunately, you cannot provide multiple options for each icon. If you have a ROCKETBOOK COLOR, EVERLAST, and WAVE, you will have to use the same destinations (unless you change them in the app). Starting out, each of the icons will be set to the default email that you provided during the initial setup. Touching each of the icons, the app will navigate to a second page. From there, you can change the destination, file type, auto send and allow for animated gifs. The app currently supports the following destinations: Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, OneNote, OneDrive, Slack, box, iCloud, Email, and iMessage. To use each of the destination sources, you will need to sign into the accounts and give the app permission to access files/folders, contacts and camera. Excitedly, you can use as many or as few of the options as your desire.
When you are ready, you can touch “New Scan” and the camera will activate. The screen will turn green and then the page will be scanned. Place an “X” through whatever destination you desire and the app will route the page there. You may not have noticed this feature initially, but the white paper is surrounding by a black border. This is designed to serve as a border for the app and creates a pretty edge once scanned. The app does an amazing job at cropping out the borders and highlights the writing on your page. To show the features, I created a page of Pros of the device, I wrote a love letter to my wife and created a grocery list. You can continue using pages until the book is full or wipe the pages clean with a microfiber cloth. Maintaining the same destinations as with the ROCKETBOOK COLOR review, I sent the messages to my wife. The ability to send PDF notes to my Evernote account was convenient and I wonder if they will allow ROCKETBOOK template forms, similar to a Mad Libs. Perhaps the future would be a reusable book of individually created documents. The options are limitless.
If you are concerned that you will lose your notebook, scan the image and then wipe it clean. I love this book and find it great for business, medical, educational and professional use. I rate the device/app combination at 5/5 stars.
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