Think about all those times you forgot something important. A deadline, a brilliant idea, the name of that person you just met. Annoying, right? Plaud decided to solve this problem once and for all with NotesPin, a tiny AI gadget that wants to become your external storage. Will it really be the solution to our problems or the beginning of new ones?
Before continuing, I'll give you the usual, necessary premise: this IS NOT a sponsored article, I HAVE NO relationship with the company, I HAVE NOT received money, freebies, percentages, discounts to write this article. Nothing. I ordered the device and I can't wait to get it to try it, then I'll let you know, but I did it out of my own pocket.
An AI gadget with superhero ambitions
NotePin is not the first attempt at Plaud to enter the AI gadget market. The company has already made its mark with Footnotes, a smart voice recorder that attaches to the back of your smartphone. With NotePin, however, Plaud has definitely upped the ante.
This “pillolone” shaped device follows you wherever you are, ready to capture every noteworthy moment of your life. You can wear it as a pendant, pin it to your shirt, tie it to your wrist or clip it practically anywhere. It’s like having a faithful squire always at your side, ready to remember everything for you.
The world is full of AI gadgets, but NotePin wants to be different
In recent times, the market has been flooded with wearable and non-wearable AI devices. On one side, we have those that want to be our new best friends, such as Friend. On the other hand, there are those who want to become the new iPhone, like Rabbit or the wretch AI Pin. And then there are those obsessed with productivity, like Limitless. NotePin firmly sides with the latter.
NotePin's mission is clear: wants to transcribe, summarize and extract actionable elements from everything that happens in your life. It's like having an invisible personal assistant taking notes for you 24/24. Or at least, for 20 hours straight, which is the battery life promised by Plaud.
Privacy is important, even for a nosy AI gadget
One of the coolest features of NotePin is that it isn’t always listening. You have to tap it to start recording. This seemingly insignificant detail is actually crucial.
Not only is it a great UI design choice, but it’s also an important step toward privacy. In an age where we’re surrounded by always-listening devices, NotePin reminds us that we should have control over what’s being recorded. And not just for ourselves, but for the people around us.
That said, NotePin still raises a thorny question: who decides what can be recorded? When you wear such a device, you are implicitly recording every conversation you participate in. But have the other people involved given their consent? Requiring a manual action to start the recording is a good start, but it doesn't completely solve the problem. It will be interesting to see how Plaud and other manufacturers of similar devices will address this ethical issue in the future.
The real value is in the software, not the hardware
The NotePin costs $169, but the real investment is in the software Plaud. The basic features are free, but to unlock the device's full potential (like summary templates and speaker tagging) you'll need to shell out an additional $79 a year.
This strategy makes sense. With the explosion of AI, more and more people will start recording large portions of their lives. The real value will be in the software that can make sense of all this data. NotePin doesn't just make what it has recorded available. It organizes it, summarizes it, re-proposes it in whole or in part, on request.
Any examples of using the AI gadget?
You can “converse” with NotePin to ask it at what point in a meeting a certain topic was discussed, and what the position of each of those present was. Due to my professional deformation, I have created 3 “personas” and as many usage scenarios:
The Doctor's Memory Goes Digital
The doctor Alessandra Bianchi is a busy neurologist. She sees dozens of patients every day and has to remember crucial details about each case. One day, she decides to try NotePin.
He pins it to his coat and, with the patients' consent, activates it during visits. The device records and transcribes conversations, highlighting key symptoms and possible diagnoses. At the end of the day, Alessandra reviews the summaries generated by the AI gadget, saving hours of documentation work and reducing the risk of forgetting important details.
NotePin doesn’t replace her medical expertise, but it amplifies it, allowing her to focus more on human interaction with patients.
The Writer's Invisible Assistant
Marco Rossi is a novelist who finds inspiration in the most unlikely places. Before NotePin, he often found himself frantically searching for a piece of paper to jot down a brilliant idea before it vanished.
Now, wear the AI gadget as a pendant. When inspiration strikes, whether in line at the supermarket or during a walk in the park, FRAME activates the device with a touch and describes his idea. The AI transcribes his monologue and organizes it into key points.
In the evening, FRAME reviews his “augmented voice notes,” finding not only his original ideas, but also AI-generated suggestions and connections that often lead him in unexpected creative directions.
The student who never misses a class
Sofia Esposito is a college student who struggles to take notes during lectures. Despite her best efforts, she often finds herself with incomplete or confusing notes.
He decides to try out the NotePin, attaching it to his shirt during class (after getting permission from his professors). The AI gadget records and transcribes lectures, but it does much more: it organizes information into diagrams, highlights key concepts, and even generates mind maps and review questions.
Sofia discovers that, in addition to having perfect notes, the time that previously was spent frantically writing can now be used to actively participate in class discussions. His performance improves and, surprisingly, so does his understanding of the material, thanks to a more active involvement in class.
These examples show how NotePin can adapt to different needs, becoming a powerful productivity and learning tool. And of course they also raise ethical and practical questions about the use of technology in sensitive contexts such as healthcare, creativity and education.
In short: the dream of the perfect memory
The NotePin promises something tempting: perfect storage, always accessible. But like any powerful technology, it brings with it challenges.
Will we be able to manage this mass of information without being overwhelmed? Will we be able to find a balance between the desire to remember everything and the human need to forget and move on?
The NotePin of Plaud is just the beginning. We stand on the threshold of a new era, in which the line between our biological and artificial memory will become increasingly blurred. It will be a fascinating journey, full of opportunities and dangers. The future of human memory will be yet to be written. Or perhaps, we should say, yet to be recorded.
