7. Livescribe 3 Smartpen ($150)
Dozens of different companies make styluses and apps that enable users to take handwritten notes on their tablets, but some users prefer good old fashioned pen and paper. With a device like the Livescribe 3, your dad can have the experience of handwritten notes with the convenience of a digital, searchable archive.
The Livescribe smartpen tracks your handwriting and instantly adds it to the device’s accompanying iOS app, where it can be analyzed, exported, or emailed to family members and colleagues. A new feature also allows a user to record audio via an iPhone or iPad’s microphone and sync it to the position of your handwritten notes, making it excellent for reviewing class lectures or business meetings.
The only downside is that the Livescribe requires special paper that lets the device track your writing, and this paper isn’t cheap (a pack of four 100-sheet notebooks runs about $20). But for dads who take frequent handwritten notes for work or school, the long-term cost of the Livescribe paper may be easily outweighed by the convenience of a digital note library.
