The story of how
technology made the world tremble each time a spelling mistake was made...
What do you get when you put together a processor, some memory,
Linux OS, vibration mode, motion sensor and Wi-Fi capabilities? A computer, of
course. Now, what happens when you add some ink and a nib to this contraption?
You get a digital pen that vibrates when it spots spelling mistakes or
illegible writing.
The pulsating pen has steadily been writing its own success
story in traditional and social media. And
while the world stands agape at this new invention, India can only stand aside
and yawn. From doors that shut themselves till eternity if a wrong password is
uttered, to ghosts that give the slip when the wrong answer is given to their
question, we’ve seen it all in our mythological movies, haven’t we?
However, since science is always given preference over
movies in our media, people have gone suitably ga-ga over the invention. And just
when the pen is all set to chalk its own course, the naysayers (read
manufacturers of ordinary gel pens and ball pens) have embarked on Project
Sabotage, to make sure that the success story of the pen springs a leak. Here’s
their side of the argument:
“Imagine students writing their exams with this pen. They
would start trembling the minute they make a mistake. Schools would then inform
their parents who would start wondering if their child had contracted
examophobia, testitis, quizzaria or worse. This could in turn lead to child
psychiatrists working overtime and minting money. The DVD sales of Taare Zameen
Par will skyrocket all over again, with everyone wanting to know if a) their
kid has a problem and b) Aamir would visit their kid’s school as well.
There would also be other problems if the minicomputer
inside became virus-infected. Parents would have a tough time sending leave
letters to their kid's school stating that their ward be excused from attending
classes for two days because his pen had crashed. Schools would simply refuse
to entertain such nonsense.
Doctors could also have a serious problem if they used the
pen to write prescriptions. The digital pen would go hyper trying to decipher
every squiggle of theirs – from Aspirin to Zinetac, not a word of their indecipherable
writing would make sense to the pen, so it would protest and vibrate non-stop.
And most pens would give up, with their mini on-board computer going into a
freeze each time the doctor started prescribing medicines. 'Patient alive, pen
dead' would be the common refrain heard in the corridors of every dispensary.
Even if the pens survived this graphologic nightmare, the doctors wouldn't be
able to handle so many vibrations each minute and would be forced to seek medical
assistance or an assistant, as the case may be.
There could also be serious issues if the pen were to be
used in courts - judges and lawyers would appear to be under severe pressure if
the hand that wrote the verdict trembled because of the vibration. The battery
could be a problem as well - what if the pen ran out of charge and the writer
had 750 episodes left in his daily soap? And what if the battery leaked, creating
a short-circuit and sending coroners into a state of severe shock each time they
signed a death certificate?”
Adding support to this argument, another anti-pen faction
began a movement to bring back the pencil and oust the digital pen. Called Pencil-in,
‘the vaccine for trembling hands’, this movement suggested an innovation which would
be so advanced that it would make the vibrating pen obsolete. The pen was able
to point out mistakes made, but this innovation would do better - it would carry
an implant that would actually help remove the error. This attachment needed no
maintenance, microchip, software, power source or upgrades. It wouldn't hang or
get corrupt.
And that was how pencils with an eraser at the other end
were born.
