6 ms·

There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. If you were to set me the task of writing something long-form, and told me the faster

by causi 5y ago

There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. If you were to set me the task of writing something long-form, and told me the faster and better I did it the more I would be rewarded, I'd be doomed with a modern laptop or a smartphone. My favorite writing tool is, frankly, an IBM TransNote from 2001.

tfandango 5y ago
This is why I like my Kindle so much (and other e-readers are the same presumably). It does one thing very well, and not much else. I could read the same book on my phone but it's always popping up alerts and buzzing and so forth, breaking my attention.
- falcolas 5y ago
  To be fair, even if I'm reading on my Kindle, my phone is still doing all that. I can DND my phone, but then it would have the same effect if I'm reading on the phone.
  - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
    On Android, DND still pops up notifications and stuff. Anyone know if there is any easy way to turn that off? I get so distracted and that certainly doesn't help
    - Arrath 5y ago
      Airplane mode? Turn it off?
      - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
        I think you misunderstood - I mean I just don't want notifications showing up on the screen when I'm using it. If I don't want to be distracted when I'm not using it then I just silence it and put it away from me obviously...
    - mFixman 5y ago
      Go to Do not Disturb -> Details -> Hide Notifications -> Hide All. This will prevent notifications from popping up and also not remove any existing notifiation from the notification bar. (I'm using Samsung; YMMV).
      - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
        Awesome, thank you. I had no idea this was an option under DND. I tried turning off all notifications before and it seemed impossible
- contingencies 5y ago
  Linux console gives me the same feeling. It's partly the font, partly the focus (no interruptions), partly the lack of latency. OSX + iTerm2 is so damn laggy vs. Linux even on worse hardware. It just sux when you have to, you know, input Chinese or open a PDF. Gotta say though, Dune was a disappointment to me, having grown up with Dune 2 on MSDOS. The old Dune had, you know, deeper characters. There's nothing like eating boys and bathing in blood to set off a character. The new Harkonnen are positively placid. We are in a new "PC" age...
  - shiomiru 5y ago
    > It just sux when you have to, you know, input Chinese or open a PDF. Don't know about PDFs, but for Chinese IBus works just fine with XTerm.
    - contingencies 5y ago
      Console != terminal. Console means no X11/Wayland.
    - pxc 5y ago
      I don't generally use PDFs for super fancy stuff like forms with JavaScript or whatever, but I generally find that KDE's Okular and GNOME's Evince work perfectly well for my needs. Acrobat Reader is a fucking hog by comparison and I loathe waiting for it to start up when I'm on operating systems where it's the standard.
  - pxc 5y ago
    > OSX + iTerm2 is so damn laggy vs. Linux even on worse hardware This is one of those things you notice in a jarring way as a Linux user coming to other platforms, but people kinda look at you sideways and don't believe you when you tell them. What I tend to notice, especially as someone who prefers to use a full screen terminal tiled with tmux, is (1) poor availability of Quake-style dropdown terminals on macOS and Windows and (2) extremely slow rendering on most terminal emulators for those platforms. On the other hand, I think I've heard some Mac users say they detect some input lag on Linux terminals.
zeteo 5y ago
In terms of sheer productivity for an uninterrupted, expert user it's hard to beat the pre-Windows office suites. Yes it would take you weeks if not months to master WordStar or Lotus 1-2-3 and it was quite expensive and not everyone in the company could have it on their machines. But those who did would leave today's Google Docs users in the dust for any data entry task longer than 15 minutes.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > In terms of sheer productivity for an uninterrupted, expert user it's hard to beat the pre-Windows office suites. There basically aren't pre-Windows office suites. There are pre-Windows standalone productivity software products, but agglomeration of this into office suites is mostly a post-Windows phenomenon.
  - kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
    AppleWorks would beg to differ. And if GUIs aren't prohibited then GEOS on 8-bit platforms had a suite too.
  - pxc 5y ago
    That's an interesting distinction. Do you think that maybe the agglomeration you describe is one of the reasons that post-Windows office tools seem to have worse productivity? I've never used old office software, but I could imagine that each office application being distinct allowed them to focus user interfaces on the exact use cases of each product, instead of trying to build on least-common-denominator metaphors that can be shared between office products of different kinds.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Do you think that maybe the agglomeration you describe is one of the reasons that post-Windows office tools seem to have worse productivity? I think (and there were some productivity studies I remember seeing when DOS w/o Windows, Win 3.x, and MacOS were all popular that seemed to support this, IIRC) that WYSIWYG is the problem, distracting from substance with presentation continuously.
j_walter 5y ago
This is why I do most of my coding in vim...simple and easy. When it comes to debugging I can switch to VS, but when actually coding it is more focused on vim.
CarelessExpert 5y ago
Eh, you can get that distraction-free experience with modern technology if you want it. When I want to focus on writing, I have a Vim setup that gives me a screen with a cursor. I run that full screen, turn off notifications and whatnot, and get to it. And when I'm done I can go back to using my modern technology to do everything else I want with the content, whether it's formatting/typesetting, sharing, etc. There's really no reason to sacrifice all those additional capabilities at the alter of focus or productivity. Just find ways to use modern technology more effectively.
- uncletaco 5y ago
  Sounds like he just wants to open a program, not build his life around it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - CarelessExpert 5y ago
    Digging up and using some old piece of technology instead of using an existing, multi-purpose computing device is the definition of "[building] his life around it", as it requires adapting your workflows to the technology instead of adapting the technology to your workflows.
- pxc 5y ago
  > There's really no reason to sacrifice all those additional capabilities at the alter of focus or productivity. Just find ways to use modern technology more effectively. It could be that the screenwriter used to use that MS-DOS program back in the day, and already knew and liked it, had a well-developed workflow around it, etc. Then running it on DOSBox or an old machine you happen to have lying around makes perfect sense imo.
  - CarelessExpert 5y ago
    > It could be that the screenwriter used to use that MS-DOS program back in the day, and already knew and liked it, had a well-developed workflow around it, etc. Then running it on DOSBox or an old machine you happen to have lying around makes perfect sense imo. Absolutely! But I wasn't responding to the article. I was responding to the original comment, which stated: > There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. My response and point was that this isn't somehow precluded with newer technology. That is, if what you're getting out of older technology is "focus", you can get that with newer tech without having to sacrifice other capabilities. If what you're getting out of older technology is "familiarity" or "nostalgia" or "joy" or something similarly aesthetic, then obviously, keep on keeping on. :)
p_l 5y ago
Seriously, TransNote? I'm now kinda envious :) Do you use it with windows 2000 or XP, and how does the notepad works with your setup?
throw10920 5y ago
> I'd be doomed with a modern laptop Can you not install Linux, or enable airplane mode or mute notifications on Windows? > or a smartphone You wouldn't want to write long-form on a soft-keyboard with a tiny screen anyway - even though, ironically, I know that you can silence notifications for sure (as opposed to a question mark for Windows 10/11). I don't think that the problem is the technology - at least, not that technology - because it already has the ability to silence distractions. The problem seems to be with us - we're more distractable and less able to focus. Although, you can probably blame the internet and commercial social media for that!
hinkley 5y ago
There's a whole cottage industry now of electronic typing devices with no internet connection. They seem to be particularly helpful for creative people. There's a big overlap between 'making creative connections between seemingly unrelated ideas' and 'easily distracted'. There's a ton of literature out there about how to keep to the craft and not get stuck. Simplified electronic devices seem like a good tool for that toolbox. The ones I've seen look like a sawed off typewriter with an eInk display above the keys. But there are also tablet tablets that are just a screen with an erase button, not unlike those wax and plastic boards they sold for kids prior to iPads.
throw0101a 5y ago
> There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. For one, it is unlikely that it'll rise up and try to enslave humans. I guess the writer took the lessons of the Butlerian Jihad to heart.

by causi 5y ago

tfandango 5y ago

This is why I like my Kindle so much (and other e-readers are the same presumably). It does one thing very well, and not much else. I could read the same book on my phone but it's always popping up alerts and buzzing and so forth, breaking my attention.

falcolas 5y ago
To be fair, even if I'm reading on my Kindle, my phone is still doing all that. I can DND my phone, but then it would have the same effect if I'm reading on the phone.
- weird-eye-issue 5y ago
  On Android, DND still pops up notifications and stuff. Anyone know if there is any easy way to turn that off? I get so distracted and that certainly doesn't help
  - Arrath 5y ago
    Airplane mode? Turn it off?
    - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
      I think you misunderstood - I mean I just don't want notifications showing up on the screen when I'm using it. If I don't want to be distracted when I'm not using it then I just silence it and put it away from me obviously...
  - mFixman 5y ago
    Go to Do not Disturb -> Details -> Hide Notifications -> Hide All. This will prevent notifications from popping up and also not remove any existing notifiation from the notification bar. (I'm using Samsung; YMMV).
    - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
      Awesome, thank you. I had no idea this was an option under DND. I tried turning off all notifications before and it seemed impossible
contingencies 5y ago
Linux console gives me the same feeling. It's partly the font, partly the focus (no interruptions), partly the lack of latency. OSX + iTerm2 is so damn laggy vs. Linux even on worse hardware. It just sux when you have to, you know, input Chinese or open a PDF. Gotta say though, Dune was a disappointment to me, having grown up with Dune 2 on MSDOS. The old Dune had, you know, deeper characters. There's nothing like eating boys and bathing in blood to set off a character. The new Harkonnen are positively placid. We are in a new "PC" age...
- shiomiru 5y ago
  > It just sux when you have to, you know, input Chinese or open a PDF. Don't know about PDFs, but for Chinese IBus works just fine with XTerm.
  - contingencies 5y ago
    Console != terminal. Console means no X11/Wayland.
  - pxc 5y ago
    I don't generally use PDFs for super fancy stuff like forms with JavaScript or whatever, but I generally find that KDE's Okular and GNOME's Evince work perfectly well for my needs. Acrobat Reader is a fucking hog by comparison and I loathe waiting for it to start up when I'm on operating systems where it's the standard.
- pxc 5y ago
  > OSX + iTerm2 is so damn laggy vs. Linux even on worse hardware This is one of those things you notice in a jarring way as a Linux user coming to other platforms, but people kinda look at you sideways and don't believe you when you tell them. What I tend to notice, especially as someone who prefers to use a full screen terminal tiled with tmux, is (1) poor availability of Quake-style dropdown terminals on macOS and Windows and (2) extremely slow rendering on most terminal emulators for those platforms. On the other hand, I think I've heard some Mac users say they detect some input lag on Linux terminals.

zeteo 5y ago

In terms of sheer productivity for an uninterrupted, expert user it's hard to beat the pre-Windows office suites. Yes it would take you weeks if not months to master WordStar or Lotus 1-2-3 and it was quite expensive and not everyone in the company could have it on their machines. But those who did would leave today's Google Docs users in the dust for any data entry task longer than 15 minutes.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> In terms of sheer productivity for an uninterrupted, expert user it's hard to beat the pre-Windows office suites. There basically aren't pre-Windows office suites. There are pre-Windows standalone productivity software products, but agglomeration of this into office suites is mostly a post-Windows phenomenon.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
  AppleWorks would beg to differ. And if GUIs aren't prohibited then GEOS on 8-bit platforms had a suite too.
- pxc 5y ago
  That's an interesting distinction. Do you think that maybe the agglomeration you describe is one of the reasons that post-Windows office tools seem to have worse productivity? I've never used old office software, but I could imagine that each office application being distinct allowed them to focus user interfaces on the exact use cases of each product, instead of trying to build on least-common-denominator metaphors that can be shared between office products of different kinds.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Do you think that maybe the agglomeration you describe is one of the reasons that post-Windows office tools seem to have worse productivity? I think (and there were some productivity studies I remember seeing when DOS w/o Windows, Win 3.x, and MacOS were all popular that seemed to support this, IIRC) that WYSIWYG is the problem, distracting from substance with presentation continuously.

j_walter 5y ago

This is why I do most of my coding in vim...simple and easy. When it comes to debugging I can switch to VS, but when actually coding it is more focused on vim.

CarelessExpert 5y ago

Eh, you can get that distraction-free experience with modern technology if you want it. When I want to focus on writing, I have a Vim setup that gives me a screen with a cursor. I run that full screen, turn off notifications and whatnot, and get to it. And when I'm done I can go back to using my modern technology to do everything else I want with the content, whether it's formatting/typesetting, sharing, etc. There's really no reason to sacrifice all those additional capabilities at the alter of focus or productivity. Just find ways to use modern technology more effectively.

uncletaco 5y ago
Sounds like he just wants to open a program, not build his life around it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- CarelessExpert 5y ago
  Digging up and using some old piece of technology instead of using an existing, multi-purpose computing device is the definition of "[building] his life around it", as it requires adapting your workflows to the technology instead of adapting the technology to your workflows.
pxc 5y ago
> There's really no reason to sacrifice all those additional capabilities at the alter of focus or productivity. Just find ways to use modern technology more effectively. It could be that the screenwriter used to use that MS-DOS program back in the day, and already knew and liked it, had a well-developed workflow around it, etc. Then running it on DOSBox or an old machine you happen to have lying around makes perfect sense imo.
- CarelessExpert 5y ago
  > It could be that the screenwriter used to use that MS-DOS program back in the day, and already knew and liked it, had a well-developed workflow around it, etc. Then running it on DOSBox or an old machine you happen to have lying around makes perfect sense imo. Absolutely! But I wasn't responding to the article. I was responding to the original comment, which stated: > There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. My response and point was that this isn't somehow precluded with newer technology. That is, if what you're getting out of older technology is "focus", you can get that with newer tech without having to sacrifice other capabilities. If what you're getting out of older technology is "familiarity" or "nostalgia" or "joy" or something similarly aesthetic, then obviously, keep on keeping on. :)

p_l 5y ago

Seriously, TransNote? I'm now kinda envious :) Do you use it with windows 2000 or XP, and how does the notepad works with your setup?

throw10920 5y ago

> I'd be doomed with a modern laptop Can you not install Linux, or enable airplane mode or mute notifications on Windows? > or a smartphone You wouldn't want to write long-form on a soft-keyboard with a tiny screen anyway - even though, ironically, I know that you can silence notifications for sure (as opposed to a question mark for Windows 10/11). I don't think that the problem is the technology - at least, not that technology - because it already has the ability to silence distractions. The problem seems to be with us - we're more distractable and less able to focus. Although, you can probably blame the internet and commercial social media for that!

hinkley 5y ago

There's a whole cottage industry now of electronic typing devices with no internet connection. They seem to be particularly helpful for creative people. There's a big overlap between 'making creative connections between seemingly unrelated ideas' and 'easily distracted'. There's a ton of literature out there about how to keep to the craft and not get stuck. Simplified electronic devices seem like a good tool for that toolbox. The ones I've seen look like a sawed off typewriter with an eInk display above the keys. But there are also tablet tablets that are just a screen with an erase button, not unlike those wax and plastic boards they sold for kids prior to iPads.

throw0101a 5y ago

> There's something to be said for the focused nature of older technology. For one, it is unlikely that it'll rise up and try to enslave humans. I guess the writer took the lessons of the Butlerian Jihad to heart.