If they made it half the weight (which they could if they tried), I’d be a lot more likely to get one.
I’m already working on a mechanical keyboard + Raspberry Pi Zero + 40 char/4 line display combination for myself.
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That sounds like a great device.
I was chatting with a colleague about this, and that’s pretty much what he said.
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Who knows? Let’s you and I and @enso start a kickstarter!!
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My CAD skills are for shit so trying to make a keyboard tray for the mechanical keyboard with insets for the display, the pi, and a battery spot is a little challenging. I just haven’t put much work into it.
Was this the Kickstarter soundtrack? I wasn’t paying attention back then.
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I would never use a Clark myself – too demanding. 
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But if I get blocked again…
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The Alphasmart NEO does pretty much all of what this does. Plus? No sending all your work up to the cloud for the government to read and Google to save… forever, and ever, and ever… 
And? 700 hours (sic) on three penlight batteries. You can get one second-hand for about $30 (sic).
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I can understand a large part of the price is the keyboard. However to put blunt? Not having the file on hand, dependance on the internet, and hoping the service stays up after? That is a deal breaker on top of hating the fact you can’t edit.
I hope you find enoyment in that device. I hope it does everything you want it to.
However please… I ask you something. If you heap praise upon praise on this device? Where was that praise when the alphasmart needed it? Even at its most expensive it costs HALF what this hipster device does, and lasts months on a single set of batteries.
Edit: To all those wanting to make a device out of a pi zero and an LCD display.
https://www.element14.com/community/thread/47759/l/the-gutenberg?displayFullThread=true
I humbly present a spec I’d written a rough of, and even found an image that best represents what I would like the final product to look like.
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Yeah not bad!
I get the appeal of a mechanical keyboard but I honestly feel these devices would do a ton better in sales if they followed the Apple laptop keyboard design ethos rather than the classic IBM PC one. Would also be smaller and lighter, and cheaper…
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I suspect you’re right, and while not ideal, I have been able to get work done on a flat chiclet. I’d say an adjustable display angle, but that introduces a point of mechanical failure.
-Advanced AlphaWord Pro Plus with “AUTOWRITE GREAT NOVEL NOW” function!
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++ to you!
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WiFi chipsets are actually cheaper then 3G “radio modems”, and provisioning a kickstarter project on a nationwide network is hard, worldwide would be all but impossible. WiFi without supporting captive portals will work pretty well for most people at home, and many people at work. I’m surprised they don’t support SD cards or something, that would be cheaper then the WiFi (I think), and less fiddly to set up…
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Less sex appeal than going ‘see we have this, it’s in the cloud!’
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If you can’t keep a sonnet in your head while writing it, you aren’t a poet.
Terza rima on the other hand…need a scroll display for that.
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I have the DM-100 and it’s great!
I guess I don’t know what people mean by “writing” in these contexts. Are they just talking about writing fiction? I can’t imagine writing a scientific paper or grant application without access to the Internet. Obviously people did once upon a time but I’m no spring chicken at 45, and I never have.
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