Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/16/i-found-the-perfect-distractio.html
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TBH, I was expecting a post on pen and paper. 
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Quick Q, Mr. @SeamusBellamy. Why did you mirror-image the top photo? Took me a minute because I was looking at the keyboard layout and thought, “That’s not a little different. That’s WAY different. Oh wait. What? It’s backwards.”…Thus my question. Thank you.
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In the olden days, the Amstrad nc100 had this covered. Distraction-free, nice keyboard, the battery lasted forever and you could hit it with up to four bricks before it broke.
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Okay so the BB store selling face-recognition cameras is necessary, but there’s no affiliate links for great stuff like this that I’d actually click on numerous times?
Monetize me!
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Amazon is listing one with a QWERTY keyboard:
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The layout isn’t strange, it’s the same as the Atari 8-bit computer.
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Exactly, I used to take notes in the late 1990s with such a setup and people were amazed by it – I hear that there are folding bluetooth keyboards that pair with smartphones for a modern take on the idea without the need for a whole new gadget (although I suppose less suitable for typing on the beach or something).
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Freedom from distraction is why computers allow multiple user accounts. Just create one for writing and do not hook that account up to any logins or media or services, turn off its notifications, and thus carry around a single device that by logging in differently serves many purposes.
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Hey, $50 in 2004 and I took a lot of notes on that. It did what it did quite well, although I replaced it with a Palm TX within a year.
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I need to stick with my Chromebook and phone using Google Docs because writing ideas sometimes hit you on the go.
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Alternative tool: “airplane mode”, or just turning WiFi off. It takes less willpower to use a distinct device. Even less so if that is the Only One you take with you.
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No good. Whenever I try to sit down and write that way my pen keeps making little doodles in the margins.
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I STILL use an Alphasmart 3000. It was $8, the 3 AA batteries last FOREVER, and it was made for school use, so it can take a beating. It’s a great machine, zero bells and whistles. To transfer documents you plug the USB cable into a computer and it’s recognized as a keyboard and “types” whatever you wrote into the program of your choice.
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No price mentioned? Must be expensive.
Seems like maybe a rooted Nook could serve the same function.
I used to have a similar rig for my Sony PDA. Never fell in love with the keyboard though.
It’s a qwerty layout but not all of the keys function as you’d think they should.
The world is both strange and mysterious.
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