Yeah I responded to that the other day about a recipe app that tried something similar. It allowed people to scan the barcode of recipe books they owned to add the contained recipes into the app. They were busted.
I'm not familiar with Readwise but it appears they only store highlights? Publishers probably don't like that but don't care enough to do anything about it, whereas "uploading copies of books to the services to do AI stuff with them" is the subject of many ongoing lawsuits right now, so they'll be very interested if this takes off.
If that's the case, what does this metal plate do that my phone can't? It is just a knob that sends a number to my phone? Why can't I just use my phone? This feels like the humane pin again.
Well, it's a bookmark ...I guess. One that can be used to select a book from a list and set a page number. But, yeah. I just don't see the need for it.
"The first AI bookmark" - and the site doesn't seem to mention AI once, as far as I can tell. Seems like a very fancy and overbuilt input method for a gamify-reading app, and not a lot more.
So just to recap, at the moment we have bookmarks which are free, paper thin (because they're made of whatever piece of paper, ticket stub, etc. I have around) barely stick out from book but can stay with it, and feather light. When I start reading and stop reading I simply move it to another page. I can and do own dozens with at least one stuck in many books. I can have multiple in one book. They physically bring me to my last-read page.
Instead this is something expensive, thick, with a battery that could ignite and a knob I must turn, protrudes a lot and/or I must carry separately, slow to resume and slow to save.
This doesn't read like an April Fool's joke. This reads like an Onion or SNL skit mocking the tech industry. What am I missing?
I can't overstate how important it is that a real bookmark stores itself by simply tucking it somewhere else in the book while I'm reading. A titanium dongle with a battery in it can't beat that for UX....
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 45.9 ms ] thread- Looks like you turn the knob to set your page
- This, and your book title, appear to be the only input data to the system (no other sensors)
- Does this mean they aim to have a database of the text of every edition of every book, indexed by page?
If they can pull it off I think it could be useful, but I think they will need to compromise on quality if they hit copyright issues.
https://x.com/markhardware/status/1894829887304933626
Instead this is something expensive, thick, with a battery that could ignite and a knob I must turn, protrudes a lot and/or I must carry separately, slow to resume and slow to save.
This doesn't read like an April Fool's joke. This reads like an Onion or SNL skit mocking the tech industry. What am I missing?
> Yet, while print remains king, it lacks what digital tools offer: engagement, accessibility, and efficiency.
Guys, that’s not a flaw, that’s the _sales pitch_.
If this could help me with review or highlight collection then I'd be happy with it.
Is it some sort of device that scans the text in physical books and then create AI cliff notes?
Because if so, I imagine they will be sued out of existence by publishers pretty fast.