Mark Engineering Unveils $129 AI-Powered Bookmark: A Revolution in Reading or Overpriced Gadget?

Mark Engineering unveils $129 AI bookmark that helps you remember where you left off

Technology has gone too far. There I said it. The folk over at Mark Engineering has revealed their latest creation and it's a bookmark that utilises artificial intelligence to help you remember where you left off with your book, all for the completely reasonable price of $129. Known as the Mark 1, this little gadget intends to solve the greatest problem that apparently plagues physical books, namely the lack of engagement, which a paperback cannot compete with when compared to digital alternatives. It's made from grade 5 titanium for some reason, and is claimed to be "not just a product -- we're an ecosystem designed to make reading engaging and impactful," and also "a statement of elegance and status." It's unclear how the bookmark registers what part of the book you are up to and how to generate a meaningful recap, but the announcement thread of X does claim that the bookmark "tracks your reading pace, topic growth, and intellectual progress over time. See how you're improving, refine your habits, and optimize what you read next," and then even provides a "Wrapped" review at the end of every year. So, if you've been looking for a reading tool that enables social and tracking features like many fitness apps, Mark Engineering's Mark 1 bookmark might just be the tool for you. That is if you're willing to splash out $129 for a tool that a playing card, scrap of paper, or folding the corner of the page in your book already achieves...

AI-powered bookmark wants to revolutionize the way you read -- $129 Mark 1 offers AI-generated summaries

Let's just hope the "ecosystem" doesn't involve an expensive subscription. Startup Mark Engineering has debuted a brand-new device, an AI-powered bookmark. Named the Mark 1, the metallic slab "inspired by Bauhaus design" can track what you read, share passages with your friends, and summarize your last reading session thanks to an "ecosystem" of connected features presented as a companion application. AI is infiltrating consumer hardware, no matter where you might look. From the Humane AI Pin (whose parent company was sold to HP last week for $116 million) to news of AI models disrupting stock markets, it's hard to disconnect from just how ubiquitous AI has become. The company touts that the Mark 1 can generate "intelligent summaries" of what you have just read, and can highlight key themes and quotes, in addition to statistics. Not much is known about the hardware inside, aside from that it features a small screen, and has what appears to be a rotary knob to its right. As showcased in a promotional video, it appears as though you manually take note of the place in your book by using the knob. The Mark 1 then sends the data about your reading session, including what you have just read, to your synced device. In a mock-up of the application to be used for the Mark 1, it appears that you can see what other users are reading and share insights of your own. Mark 1 also collates data about your reading habits, from the amount of pages you have read and the amount of time you spent reading it. It's showcased that you can track your reading pace, the number of successive days that you have read, and track your progress throughout the book, with Fitbit-like activity diaries also included. Mark 1 can also score your "Knowledge" based on what you have read across genres and types of books. The application also features interactive reading games. Mark Engineering's approach might mirror Humane AI, which attached a $24-per-month subscription to a $699 product. Mark Engineering is pinning its hopes on users interacting with both the Mark 1's hardware and software experience, which aims to "seamlessly" fit between the pages of whatever you read. The company also boasts that the Mark 1 is crafted from "Grade 5" titanium. Mark Engineering also posted a "Manifesto" of issues to address and goals the company wishes to achieve, citing that their mission is "To transform the reading experience and revolutionize how people absorb knowledge -- making it more engaging, intuitive, and impactful". The lofty claims of aiming to "reshape the way we read" might have to be delayed, for any interested readers. The Mark 1 is not currently up for pre-order, with no pricing details announced, either. Instead, you'll have to sign up for a waitlist. Since the revolution has to wait, you might want to print out similar insights by talking about what you've read to an LLM of your choice, like the recently released Grok 3, and printing out the result with an AI-powered printer.