If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.”
The eTrament Project
WELCOME
until the launch of the Boox Note Air, I didn’t know there were many people like me clamoring for a magnetic stylus to use in conjunction with their Boox tablets. When I purchased my Note Air, I was excited not only by its modern and chic design, but also for the virtue of not having my stylus rolling off the tablet. Unfortunately, I soon realized that Note Air’s magnetic insides are a bit gimmicky. All of this, not to mention that Boox magnetic pen comes with a small and stiff nib, which turns out to be very slippery. To make things worse, the nibs are very fragile and cannot be swapped out for coarser nibs.
In my disappointment, I turned to Samsung’s S-pen for the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. This pen is also magnetic and, although not designed for the Note Air, it snaps onto the tablet quite well. In addition, it is compatible with a wide range of nibs. However, I wasn’t satisfied with this stylus either. First, the S-pen weighs around 7g. I always preferred styli that have more weight; they feel more natural in the hands. For a comparison, Boox magnetic stylus weighs 13.7g, and Boox triangular pen weighs 9.8g. Second, the S-pen has a diameter of 7.75mm, which makes it very thin. I prefer a wider pen that is easier to grip. Third, the eraser button blends in with the body of the pencil, which makes it difficult to find when you want to erase something. Finally, the S-pen doesn’t reflect the sleek design of the Note Air.
But despite all my frustration, I was decided to find a solution. In a common effort with my wife Audrey, we started working together to create a stylus that would live up to our expectations. This is how the eTrament project was born. We wanted a simple design reflecting the chic aesthetics of the Note Air. Our first thoughts materialized in the design of the video’s thumbnail above. As in the Note Air, the idea was for the body to be predominantly Navy blue with some orange stripes.
The name of our project is a portmanteau word that blends “e”, for electronic, and “atrament”, which is a Latin term designating an ink based on carbon black used during Roman times. Thus, eTrament stands for “electronic ink”.
We will continue to share a little of our experience in this creative project through a series of Blog articles. If you love our initiative, you may consider subscribing to our mailing list. That way, you will be notified everytime a new article is posted. You can also follow us on our Facebook page, our Instagram account and/or our Youtube channel, where you will find additional material, like pictures and short videos illustrating parts of the process, preliminary results, and more.
Thank you so much for your interest in this adventure, we would love to have you on board! We are looking forward to sharing more of this journey with you here on the eTrament project.
Audrey & Andrés
Stay tuned!
Want to learn more about the eTrament project?
Sign up to receive our weekly updates by email.
Audrey & Andrés
Stay tuned!
Want to updated about every new blog post ? Sign up to receive our newsletter by email.