[Athen] A Small Rant About Livescribe

[Kamran Rasul via athen-list]

Hi,

Thanks for initiating this conversation…

Aside from tablets with digital pens and apps that support audio syncing, are there any other alternatives to scribing math and science lectures?

[cid:image001.png at 01DC4914.1A68C680]
Kamran Rasul, MEd.
Assistive Technology/Alternate Format Specialist (SDS)
Phone: 410-516-1167
E-mail: krasul1 at jhu.edu<mailto:krasul1 at jhu.edu>
Garland Hall, 1st Floor, Office 135-G
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Schedule a meeting with Kamran<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/ATC2@live.johnshopkins.edu/bookings/>

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Will Pines via athen-list
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 7:55 PM
To: Sebastian M Niles <smniles at ucdavis.edu>; Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] A Small Rant About Livescribe


      External Email - Use Caution




Sebastian,

I have the same questions. From what I’ve gathered, the Livepen is also going obsolete or going out of production soon so Inq can introduce their own version of the pen. In just the past six months, two pens have gone out of production, the notebooks no longer function properly, and the apps are terrible.

Inq is still Livescribe — not a new company that acquired them. It appears to be more of a rebrand to erase the failure of the last two smart pens.

I’ve started looking into other bulk options that don’t require an app and still keep the note-taking system within the pen itself. Unfortunately, the industry seems to have shifted toward personal products that rely on a tablet or smart device, yet don’t even perform the basic function of recording audio directly on the pen.

I asked Inq if they would send us a pilot Livepen for a trial so we could evaluate its viability and provide feedback. They declined and said we could purchase a pack of ten instead. Interestingly, someone in an assistive technology group I’m part of (based in Canada) mentioned that Inq sent them a single pen for review—but they ultimately decided it wasn’t worth pursuing.

Best,
WILL PINES, Disability Specialist
Accessible Technology Specialist
Student Disability Resource Center
he/him/his

University of California, Riverside
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1228 Student Services Building
Riverside, CA 92521
Phone: 951-827-3861 | Email: wilbert.pines at ucr.edu<mailto:wilbert.pines at ucr.edu>

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On Wed, Oct 29, 2025 at 4:40 PM Sebastian M Niles via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>> wrote:
Hello all

I'm emailing with a big complaint about Livescribe and wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience. In the past, our university has ordered Livescribe Echo pens for students that love taking their own notes and want to record as well. The Echo 2s were awesome even if they also tried to get you to connect to a bad app (foreshadowing!!).

Fast forward to now. It appears that Livescribe has discontinued the Echo 2 and is now selling the Livepen (and also trying to get people to use Inq for some reason). The problem with the Livepen is that it doesn't have a built-in recorder, and it forces you to use the Livepen app if you want to use any of its potential features. As I said before, the app isn't great. I don't feel great about making students rely on it when they wanted an offline notetaking option in the first place. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I have no idea what Livescribe is trying to do here. Why would they abandon the feature that everyone turned to them for in the first place? Why are they still selling notebook paper with options to "record", "pause", and "stop" if the Livepens can't record outside of the app? Who is the target audience here?

Does anyone have good alternatives to Livescribe? I'm not talking about Otter or Genio. I'm looking for something that does what the Echo 2 did. I know I could just give students a digital recorder and call it a day, but I'm hoping that there is some hidden tool that is still committed to doing what Livescribe did.

Thank you


Sebastian Niles, CPACC

Accessible Technology Specialist

Student Disability Center

University of California-Davis

Davis, CA 95616


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