aha! InkWriter 2.0 for Windows

aha! InkWriter 2.0 for Windows is an electronic-ink word processor from aha! software corporation, packaged in a retail box that pairs the product name with a Microsoft Windows Compatible badge and the tagline "The power of word processing, the convenience of pen and paper."¹ The cover sets that promise above a screen image of handwritten meeting notes on a yellow legal pad, illustrating the application's core idea of working with handwriting as though it were typed text.¹

aha! software, founded in early 1991 and based in Mountain View, California, announced InkWriter — the first product in its InkProcessor line — in June 1993, billing it as the first product to let users of pen-based computers, personal communicators, and PDAs edit and search handwritten words in the form of electronic ink without first translating them into computer text.² That initial release ran on the PenPoint operating system and carried a suggested retail price of $249.² On June 10, 1994, the company released and shipped aha! InkWriter for Windows, which supported "deferred recognition" — letting users postpone translating handwriting into text — and drew on either the recognition built into Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing or other software such as that from Communication Intelligence Corporation, while its InkFinder technology searched through a mixture of text and ink.³ The Windows release carried a suggested list price of $199, with a $149 introductory price for direct orders placed before August 1, 1994.³

The 2.0 release carries a 1994 and 1995 copyright and describes itself on the package as improving handwriting "the way word processing improved typing," built on aha!'s patent-pending SmartInk technology.⁴ The box presents a feature comparison against InkWare NoteTaker, crediting InkWriter with a twenty-level undo against a single level and roughly one minute to print eight pages of notes against nine.⁴ Listed system requirements are a Windows-compatible computer with an integrated pen or attached tablet, Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher with Windows for Pen Computing 1.0, 4 MB of RAM, and 1 MB of available disk space.⁴ The package quotes The Wall Street Journal calling InkWriter "a revolutionary system for editing and searching through electronic handwriting," Esther Dyson of EDventure Holdings saying "it lets you deal with handwritten text the way a word processor does ... it's pretty stunning," and Dick Shaffer of Technologic Partners calling it "the answer to the problems with handwriting recognition."⁵ This particular copy is marked on its spine "For evaluation purposes only — Not For Resale."⁶

aha! extended InkWriter beyond Windows during this period: in September 1994 it announced a version for Sony's Magic Link and other Magic Cap personal communicators, priced at $129 and fully data-compatible with the Windows version,⁷ and in October 1994 Fujitsu announced it would ship a special version of InkWriter with its new Stylistic 500 tablet computer.⁸ In January 1995, Mobile Computing Insights named aha! Software InkWriter a nominee in the systems software category of its first Mobility Awards.⁹ On April 8, 1996, Microsoft Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire aha! software, citing the company's approach of manipulating handwriting in its ink form as though it were computer text.¹⁰

AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes