When I received the test unit for my first product test I was quite sceptical about the usability of such a small product. My opinion didn't recover too much when I finally unwrapped this nifty little device. It appears to be a yellow wooden stick standing at about 15 cms length. Visible on one end is what appears to be a bit of pink gum, though the taste was quite awful and the other end you can see a black core- this must be the processor for this simple device.
I took this pencil in my hand and decided that you must need to hold it like a chopstick to make it work so I rubbed the pencil on the nearest surface I could find, my computer screen, and could not get it to move the mouse or make pictures at all. This was my next big beef with this product, it didn't come with any sort of instruction manual whatsoever! After a considerable time searching on Google, I finally tracked down the instructions on how to use this device. Apparently you need a second product (clearly upselling from the beginning) called a sharpener that helps you expose the lead core chip. After it is exposed you can rub the core on paper (I never would have imagined that!) and it will leave an imprint.
I spent a couple of days testing out this technique and the pencil delivered on it's promise. I found I could alter the strength of the imprint by altering my pressure on the pencil and I could write on a lot of surfaces, including my wall, desk, and floors. The pencil also has a cheap price tag, usually ranging from $0.10 to $1.00 for the luxury models.
In the end when they learn to ship these units with instructions, the pencil may take off as the next big thing since the iPod and I am glad that I took the time to learn how to use it! I give this product a rating of 4 out of 5!
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