7 ms·

I would buy this in an instant. A separated device to write my blog or some short stories would be a godsend to me. With each year it passes, I feel my concent

I would buy this in an instant. A separated device to write my blog or some short stories would be a godsend to me. With each year it passes, I feel my concentration vanish more and more. A distraction-free device could help me regain some concentration (I think).

bluescrn 4y ago
You could make any PC or laptop into a 'low distraction' device by disconnecting it from the Internet and having a minimum install of only the required productivity software. It won't free you from the distraction of your other devices though, as you've probably got a fully-online phone within reach.
- yur3i__ 4y ago
  Yeah I feel like this kind of thing is a bit of redundant, if you were going to be distracted by looking at HN on your laptop, you probably will do the same on your phone
- Grumbledour 4y ago
  I got similar feelings as the OP though. It's not just about notifications popping up or having a browser at hand. I feel the epaper display puts me in a different frame of mind. A "Not sitting at the computer" state, in which I think differently. So I always wondered if writing on an epaper display would not feel entirely different than looking at an empty page in a word processor. I certainly feel the difference when reading a book an my ereader vs. my phone/tablet.
  - Kerrick 4y ago
    I have an IBM Correcting Selectric III for this exact purpose. I do find it helps. It’s not very portable, though. I just picked up a Sears Citation for that, but the 1960s typewriter definition of portable is much closer to “you can take it on a trip and type in your hotel room” than it is to “you can take it on a hike and type under a tree.”
    - drewzero1 4y ago
      I also have a Correcting Selectric III and to say that it's not very portable is as much an understatement as saying a boat anchor is not very slim or lightweight! For actually portable typewriters I've really enjoyed my Royal Mercury and Smith-Corona Skyriter, both of which are usable on a lap on a bench (or under a tree).
  - mackrevinack 4y ago
    any time i read hackernews stuff on my eink i always spend a lot less time reading overall, mainly because its a lot more inconvenient to use. but that's a good thing some times!
- jolmg 4y ago
  If YouTube, other videos, or fast-moving games is the source of their distraction, then an e-ink monitor would provide a hardware obstacle rather than a pure software one which can more easily be overcome.
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  I usually just turn my phone off if I need to focus. If someone /really/ needs to reach me they could always call my workplace. And I avoid phone communication at all cost anyway. I realise this is not an option for everyone of course. There's also apps that allow you to time lock your phone with exceptions for important things. Protip: set it up so you can get around it by rebooting the phone, in case you forgot to whitelist something, etc. Smartphones are painfully slow to boot anyway, so it still helps discourage the constant distraction if you can muster the will power to not do the reboot. More effort means you consider it rather than reflexively do it.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  There's some truth to your comment, and the one threat you'll never run away from is yourself, but it misses a lot. I've been using an Onyx BOOX Max Lumi as my daily driver for about a year. It's an e-ink Android tablet, principally intended as an e-book reader (which I use it for), though it also serves quite well for podcasts, web browsing, and general terminal work (Termux / SSH). If I really want to minimise distractions, I'll disable networking. I can read local content (articles, or my Pocket stash), which is already ample distraction. Or play back downloaded podcasts. It is far more usable outdoors or under bright lighting than any laptop or tablet, which is itself highly useful. Battery life is quite good when reading ebooks. This involves disabling Bluetooth, WiFi, and if possible, the Backlight, and avoiding screen repaints. When used for podcasts or browsing, CPU drain is fairly substantial, though I can get well over a day's use per charge typically. There's no social media or any other apps on the device. My one authenticating app is Pocket. The UI is not entirely as distraction-free as I'd like, but it is far more so than any other device I've owned in decades. Lacking colour and high-speed animations is of and by itself a major win on distraction-free status. So, interestingly enough, is the ability to take freehand notes on the device. I'd not anticipated doing that much, it's turned out to be a significant use.
noir_lord 4y ago
I like https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ that and since I'm on linux I can silence anything I want to turn off - it works pretty well.
- teddyh 4y ago
  Start Emacs (as a graphical window, not in a terminal), maximize it, install darkroom: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/darkroom.html https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/darkroom.html
robinsoh 4y ago
> I would buy this in an instant. Except, if it did not achieve your expectations. Note the article is short on facts, high on marketing verbiage. If I'm not mistaken this is the same blogger, Alex Soto who previously made a lot of claims and when I challenged him on it, rapidly backtracked. Same guy previously claimed that E-Ink was a patent abuser, and another similarly named guy who headed some kickstarter program claimed E-Ink was suppressing his business and that was why he wasn't able to deliver on previous products, but when I asked him to substantiate it, he changed his blog post. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26245563#26249219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26245563#26249219
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  So many of these marketing-slick web sites show up on HN.... Some guy in his basement that cobbled together a working e-Ink word processor would be much more interesting to me.
  - Grumbledour 4y ago
    There have been in few in the last years. Here are two from the top of my head. https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/ https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/02/14/the-spudwrite-single-purpose-user-device-for-creating-writing-made-with-e-paper-mbed-and-stm32f401-cortex-m4/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/02/14/the-spudwrite-single-pu... Also, you might like to check out the pomera https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/digital-memo-pomera-dm30-e-ink-typewriter-review https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/digital-memo-pomera-dm3...
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    Some guy in his basement that cobbled together a working e-Ink word processor would be much more interesting to me That's exactly what this looks like. It looks like someone glued an e-Ink display into an old ThinkPad T41. Zoom in on the bezels in the up-close view: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/61a133075b8ce58a48f1bed1/61e07ada0a1e7d4ea6f4a4eb_chassis-scaled.jpeg https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/61a133075b8ce58a48f1bed1/61e... The southeast corner looks like there's a battery indicator half-covered up. It even has a IBM ThinkPad logo and a "T41" in the corner and machine screws holding the screen together.
JKCalhoun 4y ago
I see plenty of AlphaSmart NEO's on eBay going for roughly $30 to $70. I picked one up a few years back and it is excellent for typing. Plug it into a computer via USB and it will declare itself a keyboard, and with one keystroke, "type" all your text into your computer. Very clever.
- classichasclass 4y ago
  The best AlphaSmart is still the Dana, though. The closest thing to a PalmOS laptop and everything that makes it an AlphaSmart, too, with the same great keyboard and "typing" feature.
  - steveylang 4y ago
    The Dana is great, but the regular Alphasmarts are particularly rock-solid and 2 AA batteries will last you over a year. The Dana touchscreen isn't as contrasty, the backlight eats battery, and if you use up all your batteries you will lose your data without backups. It's all quite manageable of course (since as you say it's just a Palm PDA with a keyboard) and has much more functionality, but not as bulletproof. (I'm just happy to participate in a Alphasmart discussion LOL.)
m-p-3 4y ago
Maybe the FreeWrite Traveler is what you're looking for? https://getfreewrite.com/collections/writing-tools/products/freewrite-traveler https://getfreewrite.com/collections/writing-tools/products/...
- jseliger 4y ago
  I hope the latency is better than about two years ago, when I tried one.
alex-a-soto 4y ago
Hi, elnatro Thank you for your words and for describing your use case. For writing, I tend to go analog. I use paper and pencil to write a rough draft and get my ideas on paper; the next stage is to type up the thoughts digitally and use a low-tech device like an AlphaSmart Neo, or Pomera DM30. I've found breaking up the writing process into steps and using a dedicated device works for me.
na85 4y ago
May I suggest WriteRoom? https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode
- elnatro 4y ago
  Do software solutions can work? I’m not sure, besides I’m sorry but… I haven’t used emacs, would you say it is worthy?
  - na85 4y ago
    >Do software solutions can work? Realistically speaking it's your personal discipline and work ethic that's going to make it or break it, whether or not you have a hardware or software solution. But I think the answer to this is "yes". >I haven’t used emacs, would you say it is worthy? Absolutely. Don't fall into the trap of having 4000-line configuration files. Emacs works well out of the box, and you can enable something called "CUA mode" to make the hotkeys for e.g. copy+paste work more like Windows, if that's what you want.
kazinator 4y ago
Speaking of distraction; why post a photo of an IBM ThinkPad?
GrumpyNl 4y ago
Why not buy a Brother WP-95 Word Processor?
fragmede 4y ago
Remarkable2 is a decent contender for that niche space.

bluescrn 4y ago

You could make any PC or laptop into a 'low distraction' device by disconnecting it from the Internet and having a minimum install of only the required productivity software. It won't free you from the distraction of your other devices though, as you've probably got a fully-online phone within reach.

yur3i__ 4y ago
Yeah I feel like this kind of thing is a bit of redundant, if you were going to be distracted by looking at HN on your laptop, you probably will do the same on your phone
Grumbledour 4y ago
I got similar feelings as the OP though. It's not just about notifications popping up or having a browser at hand. I feel the epaper display puts me in a different frame of mind. A "Not sitting at the computer" state, in which I think differently. So I always wondered if writing on an epaper display would not feel entirely different than looking at an empty page in a word processor. I certainly feel the difference when reading a book an my ereader vs. my phone/tablet.
- Kerrick 4y ago
  I have an IBM Correcting Selectric III for this exact purpose. I do find it helps. It’s not very portable, though. I just picked up a Sears Citation for that, but the 1960s typewriter definition of portable is much closer to “you can take it on a trip and type in your hotel room” than it is to “you can take it on a hike and type under a tree.”
  - drewzero1 4y ago
    I also have a Correcting Selectric III and to say that it's not very portable is as much an understatement as saying a boat anchor is not very slim or lightweight! For actually portable typewriters I've really enjoyed my Royal Mercury and Smith-Corona Skyriter, both of which are usable on a lap on a bench (or under a tree).
- mackrevinack 4y ago
  any time i read hackernews stuff on my eink i always spend a lot less time reading overall, mainly because its a lot more inconvenient to use. but that's a good thing some times!
jolmg 4y ago
If YouTube, other videos, or fast-moving games is the source of their distraction, then an e-ink monitor would provide a hardware obstacle rather than a pure software one which can more easily be overcome.
mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
I usually just turn my phone off if I need to focus. If someone /really/ needs to reach me they could always call my workplace. And I avoid phone communication at all cost anyway. I realise this is not an option for everyone of course. There's also apps that allow you to time lock your phone with exceptions for important things. Protip: set it up so you can get around it by rebooting the phone, in case you forgot to whitelist something, etc. Smartphones are painfully slow to boot anyway, so it still helps discourage the constant distraction if you can muster the will power to not do the reboot. More effort means you consider it rather than reflexively do it.
dredmorbius 4y ago
There's some truth to your comment, and the one threat you'll never run away from is yourself, but it misses a lot. I've been using an Onyx BOOX Max Lumi as my daily driver for about a year. It's an e-ink Android tablet, principally intended as an e-book reader (which I use it for), though it also serves quite well for podcasts, web browsing, and general terminal work (Termux / SSH). If I really want to minimise distractions, I'll disable networking. I can read local content (articles, or my Pocket stash), which is already ample distraction. Or play back downloaded podcasts. It is far more usable outdoors or under bright lighting than any laptop or tablet, which is itself highly useful. Battery life is quite good when reading ebooks. This involves disabling Bluetooth, WiFi, and if possible, the Backlight, and avoiding screen repaints. When used for podcasts or browsing, CPU drain is fairly substantial, though I can get well over a day's use per charge typically. There's no social media or any other apps on the device. My one authenticating app is Pocket. The UI is not entirely as distraction-free as I'd like, but it is far more so than any other device I've owned in decades. Lacking colour and high-speed animations is of and by itself a major win on distraction-free status. So, interestingly enough, is the ability to take freehand notes on the device. I'd not anticipated doing that much, it's turned out to be a significant use.

noir_lord 4y ago

I like https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ that and since I'm on linux I can silence anything I want to turn off - it works pretty well.

teddyh 4y ago
Start Emacs (as a graphical window, not in a terminal), maximize it, install darkroom: https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/darkroom.html https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/darkroom.html

robinsoh 4y ago

> I would buy this in an instant. Except, if it did not achieve your expectations. Note the article is short on facts, high on marketing verbiage. If I'm not mistaken this is the same blogger, Alex Soto who previously made a lot of claims and when I challenged him on it, rapidly backtracked. Same guy previously claimed that E-Ink was a patent abuser, and another similarly named guy who headed some kickstarter program claimed E-Ink was suppressing his business and that was why he wasn't able to deliver on previous products, but when I asked him to substantiate it, he changed his blog post. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26245563#26249219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26245563#26249219

JKCalhoun 4y ago
So many of these marketing-slick web sites show up on HN.... Some guy in his basement that cobbled together a working e-Ink word processor would be much more interesting to me.
- Grumbledour 4y ago
  There have been in few in the last years. Here are two from the top of my head. https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/ https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/02/14/the-spudwrite-single-purpose-user-device-for-creating-writing-made-with-e-paper-mbed-and-stm32f401-cortex-m4/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2019/02/14/the-spudwrite-single-pu... Also, you might like to check out the pomera https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/digital-memo-pomera-dm30-e-ink-typewriter-review https://goodereader.com/blog/reviews/digital-memo-pomera-dm3...
- reaperducer 4y ago
  Some guy in his basement that cobbled together a working e-Ink word processor would be much more interesting to me That's exactly what this looks like. It looks like someone glued an e-Ink display into an old ThinkPad T41. Zoom in on the bezels in the up-close view: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/61a133075b8ce58a48f1bed1/61e07ada0a1e7d4ea6f4a4eb_chassis-scaled.jpeg https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/61a133075b8ce58a48f1bed1/61e... The southeast corner looks like there's a battery indicator half-covered up. It even has a IBM ThinkPad logo and a "T41" in the corner and machine screws holding the screen together.

JKCalhoun 4y ago

I see plenty of AlphaSmart NEO's on eBay going for roughly $30 to $70. I picked one up a few years back and it is excellent for typing. Plug it into a computer via USB and it will declare itself a keyboard, and with one keystroke, "type" all your text into your computer. Very clever.

classichasclass 4y ago
The best AlphaSmart is still the Dana, though. The closest thing to a PalmOS laptop and everything that makes it an AlphaSmart, too, with the same great keyboard and "typing" feature.
- steveylang 4y ago
  The Dana is great, but the regular Alphasmarts are particularly rock-solid and 2 AA batteries will last you over a year. The Dana touchscreen isn't as contrasty, the backlight eats battery, and if you use up all your batteries you will lose your data without backups. It's all quite manageable of course (since as you say it's just a Palm PDA with a keyboard) and has much more functionality, but not as bulletproof. (I'm just happy to participate in a Alphasmart discussion LOL.)

m-p-3 4y ago

Maybe the FreeWrite Traveler is what you're looking for? https://getfreewrite.com/collections/writing-tools/products/freewrite-traveler https://getfreewrite.com/collections/writing-tools/products/...

jseliger 4y ago
I hope the latency is better than about two years ago, when I tried one.

alex-a-soto 4y ago

Hi, elnatro Thank you for your words and for describing your use case. For writing, I tend to go analog. I use paper and pencil to write a rough draft and get my ideas on paper; the next stage is to type up the thoughts digitally and use a low-tech device like an AlphaSmart Neo, or Pomera DM30. I've found breaking up the writing process into steps and using a dedicated device works for me.

na85 4y ago

May I suggest WriteRoom? https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode

elnatro 4y ago
Do software solutions can work? I’m not sure, besides I’m sorry but… I haven’t used emacs, would you say it is worthy?
- na85 4y ago
  >Do software solutions can work? Realistically speaking it's your personal discipline and work ethic that's going to make it or break it, whether or not you have a hardware or software solution. But I think the answer to this is "yes". >I haven’t used emacs, would you say it is worthy? Absolutely. Don't fall into the trap of having 4000-line configuration files. Emacs works well out of the box, and you can enable something called "CUA mode" to make the hotkeys for e.g. copy+paste work more like Windows, if that's what you want.

kazinator 4y ago

Speaking of distraction; why post a photo of an IBM ThinkPad?

GrumpyNl 4y ago

Why not buy a Brother WP-95 Word Processor?

fragmede 4y ago

Remarkable2 is a decent contender for that niche space.