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Actually, reMarkable is _precisely_ what I had in mind. Distraction-free is just an excuse for obviously unfinished software; just go and see which con most rev

Actually, reMarkable is _precisely_ what I had in mind. Distraction-free is just an excuse for obviously unfinished software; just go and see which con most reviews agree on. The hardware is quite capable, but held back by the software.

the__alchemist 5y ago
Not every electronic device needs to run a general purpose operating system and arbitrary software! This is a big contributor to why modern electronics have high latency and frustrating UIs.
- AshamedCaptain 5y ago
  Most of them are already running general purpose operating systems, and you are already paying the cost in latency (and frustrating UI) without any benefit. This is not the 90s, everything just runs Linux, even "single purpose" devices.
  - the__alchemist 5y ago
    I'm proposing designing more devices that don't use GPOS/linux. And do their job well, with no noticeable latency or responsiveness problems. Easy for many tasks, using Cortex-M for example.
    - AshamedCaptain 5y ago
      Sure I might agree there, but this is hardly the case nowadays. You have crappy overpowered hardware and incomplete software.
praxulus 5y ago
Distraction-free is not just an excuse, it's absolutely a valuable feature for me and a nontrivial number of other people. It's fine if you don't like that feature, but not every customer would like them to "finish the software" by putting a highly functional browser on every e-reader. There's room in the market for both types of devices.
- AshamedCaptain 5y ago
  And yet you serve both types of customers by, well, putting the browser.
jsjohnst 5y ago
Show me a general purpose computing device, like you are seem to be insisting every device should be, that has a month or more of battery life despite moderate to heavy usage, yet weighs as little and is as thin as the reMarkable. Products necessarily have trade-offs due to current technology limitations, so it's not just about "excuses".
- asdff 5y ago
  It's not a technology limitation to withhold root access from the user.
  - jsjohnst 5y ago
    Instead of it being "excuses for limiting features because of poor software" it's "withholding root access" now? So we are shifting goal posts?
    - asdff 5y ago
      I'm not the GP but you mentioned general purpose computing device. All of these devices are general purpose computing devices in terms of the offered hardware and even the underlying software, the only thing stopping you from doing general purpose compute is the fact you aren't allowed to have root access to what is probably some unix OS running on the device. Imagine being able write your own scripts to run on your remarkable tablet and build your own features tailored to your own use cases, just like any laptop today. The only limitation is corporate policy rather than hardware or even software, both of these are capable of general purpose compute already.
      - jsjohnst 5y ago
        > Imagine being able write your own scripts to run on your remarkable tablet You have actual root access to a reMarkable device by SSHing into it, so not sure your point here? Were you thinking it was a device locked down like an Apple product? More details: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

the__alchemist 5y ago

Not every electronic device needs to run a general purpose operating system and arbitrary software! This is a big contributor to why modern electronics have high latency and frustrating UIs.

AshamedCaptain 5y ago
Most of them are already running general purpose operating systems, and you are already paying the cost in latency (and frustrating UI) without any benefit. This is not the 90s, everything just runs Linux, even "single purpose" devices.
- the__alchemist 5y ago
  I'm proposing designing more devices that don't use GPOS/linux. And do their job well, with no noticeable latency or responsiveness problems. Easy for many tasks, using Cortex-M for example.
  - AshamedCaptain 5y ago
    Sure I might agree there, but this is hardly the case nowadays. You have crappy overpowered hardware and incomplete software.

praxulus 5y ago

Distraction-free is not just an excuse, it's absolutely a valuable feature for me and a nontrivial number of other people. It's fine if you don't like that feature, but not every customer would like them to "finish the software" by putting a highly functional browser on every e-reader. There's room in the market for both types of devices.

AshamedCaptain 5y ago
And yet you serve both types of customers by, well, putting the browser.

jsjohnst 5y ago

Show me a general purpose computing device, like you are seem to be insisting every device should be, that has a month or more of battery life despite moderate to heavy usage, yet weighs as little and is as thin as the reMarkable. Products necessarily have trade-offs due to current technology limitations, so it's not just about "excuses".

asdff 5y ago
It's not a technology limitation to withhold root access from the user.
- jsjohnst 5y ago
  Instead of it being "excuses for limiting features because of poor software" it's "withholding root access" now? So we are shifting goal posts?
  - asdff 5y ago
    I'm not the GP but you mentioned general purpose computing device. All of these devices are general purpose computing devices in terms of the offered hardware and even the underlying software, the only thing stopping you from doing general purpose compute is the fact you aren't allowed to have root access to what is probably some unix OS running on the device. Imagine being able write your own scripts to run on your remarkable tablet and build your own features tailored to your own use cases, just like any laptop today. The only limitation is corporate policy rather than hardware or even software, both of these are capable of general purpose compute already.
    - jsjohnst 5y ago
      > Imagine being able write your own scripts to run on your remarkable tablet You have actual root access to a reMarkable device by SSHing into it, so not sure your point here? Were you thinking it was a device locked down like an Apple product? More details: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable