I really love my Pulse smart pen. One of the most valuable affordances it’s provided me is the peace of mind I have, knowing everything I’ve written is safely backed up on my computer (and in the cloud), after I’ve synchronized.

It’s certainly replaced my normal notebooks, but I find that I’ve also started leaving my laptop behind more frequently. I often bring it along “just in case” I want to capture a thought or other information that I’d likely want to share.

In a fantastic feat of accomplishment, the Pulse actually also played a part in “permitting” me to leave my laptop home, when I set off to a two-week vacation.

All of this is just great.

On the other hand, however, I’ve been finding that I’d like to synchronize and/or share information that I’ve written down with it sooner, rather than later. Of course, I could easily install the sync software onto my laptop instead, but then I’ll be back to being tempted to bring my laptop along for the ride – what a step backwards.

But there is an answer: iPhone OS 3.0‘s External Accessory framework.

This new API will allow third-party devices to communicate with iPhone / iPod Touch devices via either the dock connector, or Bluetooth. This, naturally, opens the door to “on the road” syncing with the cloud, without the use of a personal computer. And, really, isn’t the “untethering” of the human from his PC one of the fundamental goals of paper-based computing?

Please, oh please make this happen!

Best Regards, John Lianoglou