I use this case for a desk clock program I wrote. The case might also be a good option for a keyboard + typing. There is a fair amount of space inside the case so it could probably handle a small battery pack.
In terms of text size on such a tiny display I envision a zoomed in view of the current typing position enough to see a word or two like if it were the carriage of a typewriter. (really more like the type guide, if you want to get technical)
Sure, we hit the 1990s by the time I’d dropped out of college and the search is much more moot. But in the 1980s choices were much more limited. I tried using a Sharp portable electric, which could use either ink cassettes or thermal paper, but the little LCD window for editing typed text was too small for my needs. At least the keyboard was more ok than the membrane keyboards I spent time on.
Casio PB-80? Membrane keyboard and never had enough memory, not to mention there was no chance of getting anything printed from it. (As a calculator with BASIC on it it was pretty neat otherwise.)
In 1990, the (I think) Toshiba T1000LE (used) had some serious compromises, too, but it was also the last electronic machine I spent any serious time on. Once the battery died I lost interest in laptops for a time, and focused on desktops/the Smith-Corona manual typewriter I found in a church basement sale for $6.
I tried writing on a keyboard paired with a tablet or phone as a focus device, and I didn’t realize how much I rely on the mouse to move text around. Just ejecting words onto the page isn’t really what I’m doing when I “write”. To put it another way, typing is the easy part, and that’s kind of all this device will do.
Thats… a really good idea.
I’ve found this device really helpful:
*Ducks as people hurl heavy objects in my direction*
Hear me out. It started with Notepad++ as my daily writer. I found that plaintext monospace fonts are excellent for proofreading. Eventually I went to Vim when I switched to Linux and haven’t looked back. I don’t use Vim to write code for the most part. I’m not a programmer, though I write little scripts and there. I use Vim to write prose, articles, letters, you name it. The thing about Vim is that because you get into the flow of using a keyboard, you find yourself not wanting to reach for the mouse. You end up not wanting to switch over to your browser or what have you because it’s a different kind of muscle memory for navigation (except Discourse… which uses Vim navigation). Throw in some other habits (turn off screens you aren’t using if you have multiple, no non-task processes in the background, email client does not have popup notifications, etc.)
The other thing about using Vim is that especially for beginners who aren’t using it to code, the interface lends itself to writing. Advanced users will tweak and modulate and get keybindings set up just right for their language of choice. Prose writing doesn’t really need any of that.
I realize I’m not offering a dedicated offline writer, but you can’t beat the price and device (free, the one you already own). And I’ve come to realize in recent years that changing habits around this sort of thing is harder, but provides greater dividends. Vim helped me develop some good habits, though I freely admit YMMV.
Vintage computing - it’s not just for nostalgic nerds.
It reminds me of an Osbourne:
Does this do anything at all that couldn’t be done with a $150 laptop and the right software?
Going to also contribute to the AlphaSmart train. I recommend the AlphaSmart Neo 2. Something like 700 hours of battery life [no shit, I had it for a year and I have yet to replace the 3 AAA batteries]. Syncs via USB, but even if you don’t have drivers, the device can emulate (or even be used) as a USB keyboard on anything supporting USB 1.0 and you can “send” the text file, which basically just types it into your document at high speed. The keyboard is actually pretty nice for a lower-height membrane keyboard [I am a mechanical keyboard bitch, so I think it is ok, it is definitely saying it is in the top 90%… probably just below Topre and BTC dome-with-slider for rubber domes].
Basically, go to eBay, find a good deal ($20-$30; they are usually old equipment from secondary schools), replace the CR2032 coin cell [for memory backup] as a matter of principle and give it 3 fresh AAA’s and you are off the races. If you want to get fancy, get the driver suite from Renaissance (can attest it still works on modern Macs) and remove everything but the word processor and the configuration tool (and perhaps the spell check) from the device. You know how tons of room to work.
And don’t be shy about the eBay thing and used school equipment aspect. These things are tanks. Short of breaking keys [which are arguably hard], there is little that can go wrong. Honestly, I am thinking of picking up a second as spare parts/backup if down the road something goes south years from know, just because they are cheap and extremely useful.
I think even on a 3.5" display, if you had a standard console at 80 columns by 32 rows (I think?), that should be legible. And then you could just use nano, micro, or even wordgrinder as your writing environment. Maybe bang together a TUI for opening files…
Commodore 64 nostalgia time: My dad and I had a deal, for every X games we typed in from Compute! Gazette, I would help him type out a utility. One of us would read the lines, the other would type. One of the first things I helped him type in was the listing for SpeedScript.
The reason I think this indulgence is relevant is that SpeedScript had just the right number of features for an application like this.
I’m using an 8x8 font in the demo software I linked on my 3.2" 480x320 display, which works out to 60 columns by 40 rows. It’s pretty hard to read without adjusting my glasses.
So my Alphasmart just arrived, and it’s pretty great. It’s in near new condition, and it’s so dead simple to use I didn’t even need to track down a manual. If you’re looking to pick one up, there’s a pretty great community on Flickr for the devices.
People really seem not to appreciate the benefit of an e-ink screen. Years before the Freewrite was even announced I dreamed of, and actually researched to see if a laptop with e-ink screen existed. E-ink to me is a major revolution. Saves my eyesight. The reason I ordered a Traveler is because (1) e-ink is SO much easier on my eyes. I always read an actual Kindle instead of using the Kindle app on my phone for the same reason; (2) it’s completely visible in bright sunlight; (3) it forces you to move forward. Failing to move forward through a first draft, and instead looping back continually to improve and change as you write, is something I have witnessed as a writing teacher of almost 15 years to be the single biggest destroyer of would-be novelists. Everyone knows about this as a problem but I don’t think people are generally aware of how big a problem it is. Based on my experience with students it is THE problem of problems. This fixes that by forcing you onward. It’s a first draft machine, plain and simple. It is not for revisions after the first draft. But it is well worth it for that very reason. Yes, there are apps that do this for you; you can disable your wifi if you don’t want to be distracted and so on.
But you won’t.
Almost no one ever does. They eventually decide to check their email. They decide to disable that app that won’t let them go back. It was either Penn or Teller, I don’t know which, who did a review of the Kindle versus reading on his iPad. He noted that he gets almost no reading done when he decides to “read a book” on his iPad, precisely due to the connectivity to email, Facebook, Twitter, newspapers and everything else. So sure, theoretically you shouldn’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars for this benefit, but in reality, in fact, as the world actually plays out, you do. Otherwise almost everyone will end up checking online stuff, or doing “research” to avoid actually writing, and they’ll also end up going back endlessly fixing their draft and never getting to the end.
Anyway, the Traveler doesn’t cost a cent. It’s free. I lied when I said I ordered one. I ordered 2, not 1. Because if you pre-order 2 you get both for less than what will be the retail price of one after they are released. Once released, they will quickly go out of stock the way they did with their first device. At that point I will put my “spare” one up on eBay and get back every single penny I spent for the two of them, and even make a small profit.
This is what happened with the Freewrite. It came out, went out of stock, and then people were paying above retail to get them on eBay. It will be the same deal this time around. So mine, effectively, will not only be free, but it will most likely earn me a little bit of extra money.
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