The Fly Pentop Computer

By Jeffrey Hastings -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2006

LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., 6401 Hollis Street, Suite 100, Emeryville, CA 94608-1071 (800) 701-LEAP www.leapfrog.com $99.99. Additional software/game cartridges $24.99–$29.99. Fly Paper pads $5.99.

I have an insatiable craving for shiny new toys, yet Santa seems to have a definite blind spot when it comes to fulfilling the secret wishes of playful middle aged men. That’s why this Test Drive gig’s so sweet—cool new tech toys arrive by mail every couple weeks! The latest delivery: LeapFrog’s hot new edu-toy, the Fly pentop computer.

With the look and feel of one of those fat novelty pens, the Fly sports a computer chip, speaker, and tiny camera located behind the pen tip. When used with special paper—called “Fly Paper”—the camera senses tiny dots on the paper that let the pen know where it is on the page. The camera also recognizes the characters you write, provided that you follow the prescribed orthography of simply drawn numerals and uppercase letters known as “Fly Type.”

Maggie, a third grader, had little difficulty mastering Fly Type. She was visibly delighted when the pen read her letters and words aloud as she used the additional “Fly Through Spelling” cartridge and worksheets to work through a list of spelling words she created. Maggie was doubly impressed when she followed the pen’s instructions and created a working, talking calculator simply by jotting all the digits and functions down on Fly Paper. Her favorite function, though, was on the pen’s “Fly Tones” menu; she created a piano by drawing a keyboard and then tapped out a tune using the pen’s touch-sensitive tip. “Cool!” she gushed.

Drew, a tech-savvy eighth grader, was a little more reserved about the tool. He liked the fact that, when solving problems using the package “Fly Through Math,” the pen would prompt him, mid-equation, with helpful hints if he was goofing up. Nevertheless, he also cited two of the pen’s shortcomings. “Paper and patience,” he said. “The Fly needs a bit too much of both.”

The Fly gets high marks in the gee-whiz category, initially impressing youngsters and adults alike with its ability to interpret the stuff you scrawl on Fly Paper. But once the novelty wears off, you’re left with a fairly expensive gadget that craves add-ons and lacks some of the basic utility delivered by its conventional, screen-and-keyboard cousins.