Mecha,
I've seen the Kickstarter and think it's a neat idea. I think of it as a digital 'carbon transfer' to realistically capture whatever has been written or drawn on paper. Carbon transfer is basically an old school method of rubbing graphite on the back of the paper that you drew on and then place it on another surface and re-draw over the lines. When you're done, the transfer is there, depending on how dark the lines are but it's a very common tool for illustrators or fine artists to use when painting or using wet media, or any other technique.
So, in that sense, the iSketchNote appears to be designed to capture the lines you naturally draw on instead of using a 'fat' stylus or any of that kind that can't really replicate the pressure you normally you on pencil or pen. It does seem to 'forgo' the scanner itself as well. With this device, if your sketchbook or paper fits in that size dimension, you can draw on it without using the scanner.
BUT, my concern is the resolution that the Slate uses. They don't say it but I suspect you can control the resolution size when exporting for web or print use ( the latter will need more refining in another app). Their website states you can export the files to Photoshop or Illustrator, or any other program to be fleshed out for more detailed work. You can apparently see your drawing on the iPad while working on the Slate in 'real time', apparently, and save it, not too different than using an old school Wacom. The neat thing about it is you can create videos out of your sketches to show the step by step process. You can use layers ( yay! ).
The Slate isn't cheap but it's a great tool if you insist on capturing your natural handwriting and sketches that styluses and Apple Pencil cannot use ( it won't work with any other iOS device let alone the Pro. ).
I assume you've seen their website? If not, here's the link: http://www.iskn.co
This page shows how it works: http://www.iskn.co/how-it-works/
But professionally, for me, I rely on Mischief, Sketchbook Pro and Manga Studio on my desktop, with Adobe CS5 of course using my Wacom Intuos 4 which gets the job done.
If I had the money, I wouldn't mind the Slate to experiment with. Otherwise, I use my iPhone to capture my sketches from my moleskine sketchbook ( I swear by it ) to Dropbox and then to my professional apps on the iMac.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to go about it in digital or traditional art, it just using whatever tools you're comfortable with in your own workflow. I don't think the Slate is a 'stupid' idea but I totally understand their reasoning behind it because drawing in analog method beats out any digital approach, especially the Apple Pencil--no matter how hard Apple tries to convince.
The iSketchNote or Slate is really a conjunction of ' old school ' and the new.
