As a researcher and teacher of religious studies, my work involves considerable work with very ancient - and often, very delicate - manuscripts. The extensive access to these texts that my work demands is frequently a challenge for two reasons. First, the manuscripts are often held in limited-access collections in libraries' rare book rooms or in the homes of private collectors, and regular access is never a sure thing. Second, the texts themselves are often very fragile, particularly if they are inked onto especially ancient parchment scrolls. Rolling and re-rolling these scrolls can cause them to degrade prematurely, and, for obvious reasons, I have an interest in ensuring that the texts stay in good shape for as long as possible.
Once I discovered scanR, I knew that it was precisely the tool I was looking for. Once I locate a text I want to work with (whether it's in a scroll or bound in a codex), I ensure that it's lit well enough and snap some quick closeup photos of it with my cell-phone's built-in camera, then send them via MMS to scanR. Presto! I've got a permanent .pdf record of the text that I'll have all-hours access to forever, and which will never decay or degrade, no matter how many times I return to it. It's a magnificent solution!
As you can see, I'm simply thrilled with this service as a mobile document-scanner (I hope to try out the business-card and whiteboard services someday too!), and am overjoyed that I don't need any equipment more complicated than my phone. It's absolutely marvelous. So, if nothing else, this e-mail gives me the opportunity to send a heartfelt thank you to your entire team, who has made this wonderful solution possible, and who has enabled me to do the work I love without risking damage to the ancient documents on which my academic community relies so heavily.
Best regards,
-- Oren J. H