A note on the trackpad, not an iPad

The startup idea

The problem

The desk has a MacBook and a cheap pen. It does not have room for another tablet.

Who would pay for this?

Primary

Someone with an Apple silicon MacBook and a capacitive stylus, and no room for a tablet.

Secondary

A person who wants a scratch note over a full-screen app.

Early adopter

One note, one pen, Control-Option-N.

How could it make money?

Possible models. Nothing here is a claim about what Trackpad Notes charges.

• The post says free and open source. The readme says MIT.
• No price. The stylus is the user's.

What would the MVP look like?

1. One floating window, including over full screen.
2. The trackpad mapped to the canvas.
3. Palm rejection from the contact's size and shape.
4. A line that there is no hover, and that fine work still wants an iPad.

How to validate the idea

• Ask five MacBook owners with a cheap stylus to write one note over the app they were already using.
• If they only want it as a drawing app, the floating note was not the product.
• Do not add a second language until one Chinese note is kept.

How to differentiate

• The pen does not pair.
• The note floats over the current app.
• The iPad limit is named.
• Do not become a tablet.

Why this could be interesting now

Product that inspired this idea

The post says a small macOS app turns the MacBook trackpad into a writing pad for a cheap capacitive stylus. The trackpad maps to the canvas, palm rejection reads each contact's shape, and Control-Option-N opens a floating note over any app, including full screen. Free and open source. A reply says Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later, a passive stylus, a Chinese interface, and that it is built on Trackpad Studio by Zayn Jarvis, MIT. The same reply says there is no hover, and it will not replace an iPad with Pencil. The readme says the same, including MIT.

Posted by @LocalHostTech9. Watch the original launch. No separate product site is listed unless the post itself is the source.

• macos
• notes

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