Portable Scanner...

If you were asked to name an unsexy object, you might call out a handheld scanner. For some reason I blocked in a concept for one today.

I was thinking about research this morning and was reminded how awkward it can be to track citations of text. Sure, it is easy enough in the digital realm, but much of what we still read is in actual paper based journals and books. Until Google finishes digitizing the world, we sure could use a good handheld scanner, purpose build for scanning and easily tracking citations.

It seems like the market imagines a handheld scanner as something to replace a desktop scanner, in a pinch...which to me is the entirely wrong use case. I imagine a handheld scanner is specifically for compiling citations. It would be for the professional academic. A geek tool.

-It should have bluetooth connectivity which automatically opens a word processing app or Evernote. --It should be linked to text recognition which translates the image into text.

-It should prompt for ISNB and page number first

-then prompt to add text.

-a scan button initiates app connectivety

-a plus button adds a scan

-a minus button cancels the last scan

Basta...

You could get really detailed in the UX on this to make it really useful, but for now I am curious about what the form would be for a professional academic. Some swoopy aerodynamic shape seems a dumb choice. Rather it should be frank and crisp, something between a Tivoli Radio and a Mid-Century Swingline Stapler and an Olivetti Typewriter.