This story appears in the
October 2004 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Copy Talk
A few years ago, handheld pen-style scanners created a lot of
excitement. But the early incarnations were often clunky to use or
inaccurate. Now that the technology has been around the block a few
times, there are some interesting options open to entrepreneurs.
Who might benefit from one of these devices? Anybody who needs to
capture magazine articles, pages of books, notes, contracts and
other documents on the go. For example, contracts signed at trade
shows could be captured on the spot and logged into a laptop right
there or stored back at the office.
We test drove a $200 (street) Planon System Solutions DocuPen to see how well
the latest scanners work. It pays to read the scanning tips and
apply a steady hand. Once you do, the scanned text is crisp, and
the device itself, slim and portable with enough built-in memory
for up to 100 pages. While the DocuPen captures pages horizontally
line by line, most pen scanners work more like highlighters. Other
options include SolutionWorx's C-Pen line, and WizCom
Technologies' InfoScan and QuickLink
scanners. Prices range from about $110 to $200. That's not
chump change, but it's worth the convenience and productivity
boost for entrepreneurs who need the capabilities.
80%
of cell phone users feel other people are less courteous when using
a cell phone compared to five years ago.
SOURCE:
Sprint
The global trade in pirated software was nearly
$29
BILLION
in 2003, accounting for almost
60%
of the global software market.
Statistic Source:
Business Software Alliance