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"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl

Transmit-Paper  
  Paper form with a built-in capability to transmit the information written with a stylus to a remote computer network.  

This is a great idea; Herbert anticipated by about thirty years the products that have recently come out to allow you to write on a pad of paper, and then have the information transmitted to a Pocket PC or other device.

Lewis Orne ... stared darkly out of his second-story window at a Hamal morning.

Behind him there was the sound of a scratchy stylus rasping across transmit-paper as the Investigation-Adjustment operative made notes on the interview they had just completed. The paper was transmitting a record of the words to the operative's waiting ship.

From The Godmakers, by Frank Herbert.
Published by Berkley Medallion in 1972
Additional resources -

The modern day devices work in an opposite fashion; rather than the paper gathering and transmitting the information, the pen is often used to perform these functions. The pen is then synched up with software on your personal computer.

Logitech's io pen lets you write on special paper with an invisible grid of dots on its surface. A sensor in the pen tracks your writing motions; the software in your personal computer interprets the motions and provides a graphic image of your writing (or sketching). You might also want to see the entry for mediatron.

Also, check out the Siemen's PenPhone, which has the same interface - in reverse.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Godmakers
  More Ideas and Technology by Frank Herbert
  Tech news articles related to The Godmakers
  Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert

Transmit-Paper-related news articles:
  - Siemens PenPhone Watches While You Write
  - Cypak Disposable Paper Computer With RFID Antenna
  - MIT 'Quickies' RFID Transmit Paper

Articles related to Communication
'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
MyManu Titan 'Screenless Smartphone'
'Courier Commons' By Tomorrow Lab, From Karl Schroeder (and Bruce Sterling?)
Mouth Haptics Invented By Frederik Pohl In 1965, CMU Now Has Prototype

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