4 ms·

The device is rather useless without the cloud service, isn't it.

by stewbrew 4y ago

YeBanKo 4y ago
Why is it useless without cloud if you can still use USB?
- afandian 4y ago
  They broke that feature. They’ve been quite responsive to my Zendesk ticket, and claim to be working on it. But I don’t know if they fixed it yet. For a number of versions at least it was impossible to use USB upload. Also, it was always advertised as “experimental”. They don’t officially support non-cloud use. Edit: To clarify that last comment, I mean non-cloud use for the advertised primary benefits. I.e. getting your notes off (and onto) the device.
  - darkteflon 4y ago
    That’s absolutely insane. I’m exactly the kind of person that would be interested in the RM2 but every time it comes up on HN I learn something new that keeps me away. Strange business.
    - afandian 4y ago
      With this issue I think it’s just they’re in move fast break things mode still. Probably feeling the heat from the competition and focusing on competitive features. But as a user, my impression is that they don’t consider this feature to be existential enough to have a smoke test for. And I do.
      - YeBanKo 4y ago
        Thanks for explaining. I definitely don’t want to have a “connected” or “cloud first” experience. If I wanted to get locked in with a cloud, I would probably to find bigger players, at least they are more likely to be around in few years.
      - throwaway277432 4y ago
        That's very generous. Yes they're moving faster than before, but for a while it seemed like they didn't have any developers at all. Instead they spend an insane amount of money on marketing. And for a long time (I'm an early v1 user) what they did deliver was miniscule, ignoring a lot of the feedback from core users about basic issues. Some of the "new" features being released recently even existed in early v1 releases, e.g. the screen sharing which used to work fine locally, but now doesn't anymore because it "needs" to go via their cloud. The break stuff unintentionally too though, so you're right there. For a few releases they even broke the core writing feature - lines and drawings would be drawn all jaggy - and the fix took forever. The marketing worked and tricked me into buying one, but it's clear to me now that reMarkable is first and foremost a marketing company, tech and users come second. I won't be spending any more money with them.
    - wiseowise 4y ago
      That’s absolutely insane because it’s a blatant lie. https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-without-a-subscription https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-wi...
      - afandian 4y ago
        See my reply to your other comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33354089 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33354089
  - wiseowise 4y ago
    > They don’t officially support non-cloud use. Stop spreading FUD, they literally have a page that lists what you can do without cloud. https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-without-a-subscription https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-wi...
    - YeBanKo 4y ago
      > Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive integration These are cloud services. > Handwriting conversion > You need to be connected to Wi-Fi and logged in to your reMarkable account. > Read on reMarkable > Once you’ve logged into your account and sent content to your reMarkable paper tablet, you can review, annotate, and focus on the task you’re working on without any distractions. Almost every use-case requires some sort of connectivity to a cloud. No mention of USB.
    - afandian 4y ago
      That's a selective quote. I'm talking about being able to get files on and off the device. That notwithstanding, looking at the page you link, let's look at each heading and what it says. Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive integration https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Integrating-with-Google-Drive-Dropbox-and-OneDrive https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Integrating-with-Go... "Step 1: Log in to my.remarkable.com and click the menu in the top right-hand corner." Handwriting conversion https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Convert-handwritten-notes-into-text https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Convert-handwritten... "You need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network and logged into a reMarkable account (my.remarkable.com) in order to use handwriting conversion." Read on reMarkable Chrome: https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-Google-Chrome-Extension https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-... "You’ll also need a reMarkable account to use this feature." Microsoft Office: https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-Word-and-PowerPoint-add-ins https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-... "8. Log in with your reMarkable account." Screen Share https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Screen-Share https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Screen-Share "Your reMarkable needs to be paired with the cloud" Send by email https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Send-by-email https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Send-by-email "Note: You must be connected to Wi-Fi to share files from your reMarkable. You won’t see an option to send a file if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi and signed into an account." Tags https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Tags https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Tags You can tag pages without a cloud account. It's useful but at best an anciliary feature. Limited cloud sync https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Connect https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Connect You need an account.

The device is rather useless without the cloud service, isn't it.

YeBanKo 4y ago

Why is it useless without cloud if you can still use USB?

afandian 4y ago
They broke that feature. They’ve been quite responsive to my Zendesk ticket, and claim to be working on it. But I don’t know if they fixed it yet. For a number of versions at least it was impossible to use USB upload. Also, it was always advertised as “experimental”. They don’t officially support non-cloud use. Edit: To clarify that last comment, I mean non-cloud use for the advertised primary benefits. I.e. getting your notes off (and onto) the device.
- darkteflon 4y ago
  That’s absolutely insane. I’m exactly the kind of person that would be interested in the RM2 but every time it comes up on HN I learn something new that keeps me away. Strange business.
  - afandian 4y ago
    With this issue I think it’s just they’re in move fast break things mode still. Probably feeling the heat from the competition and focusing on competitive features. But as a user, my impression is that they don’t consider this feature to be existential enough to have a smoke test for. And I do.
    - YeBanKo 4y ago
      Thanks for explaining. I definitely don’t want to have a “connected” or “cloud first” experience. If I wanted to get locked in with a cloud, I would probably to find bigger players, at least they are more likely to be around in few years.
    - throwaway277432 4y ago
      That's very generous. Yes they're moving faster than before, but for a while it seemed like they didn't have any developers at all. Instead they spend an insane amount of money on marketing. And for a long time (I'm an early v1 user) what they did deliver was miniscule, ignoring a lot of the feedback from core users about basic issues. Some of the "new" features being released recently even existed in early v1 releases, e.g. the screen sharing which used to work fine locally, but now doesn't anymore because it "needs" to go via their cloud. The break stuff unintentionally too though, so you're right there. For a few releases they even broke the core writing feature - lines and drawings would be drawn all jaggy - and the fix took forever. The marketing worked and tricked me into buying one, but it's clear to me now that reMarkable is first and foremost a marketing company, tech and users come second. I won't be spending any more money with them.
  - wiseowise 4y ago
    That’s absolutely insane because it’s a blatant lie. https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-without-a-subscription https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-wi...
    - afandian 4y ago
      See my reply to your other comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33354089 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33354089
- wiseowise 4y ago
  > They don’t officially support non-cloud use. Stop spreading FUD, they literally have a page that lists what you can do without cloud. https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-without-a-subscription https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Using-reMarkable-wi...
  - YeBanKo 4y ago
    > Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive integration These are cloud services. > Handwriting conversion > You need to be connected to Wi-Fi and logged in to your reMarkable account. > Read on reMarkable > Once you’ve logged into your account and sent content to your reMarkable paper tablet, you can review, annotate, and focus on the task you’re working on without any distractions. Almost every use-case requires some sort of connectivity to a cloud. No mention of USB.
  - afandian 4y ago
    That's a selective quote. I'm talking about being able to get files on and off the device. That notwithstanding, looking at the page you link, let's look at each heading and what it says. Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive integration https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Integrating-with-Google-Drive-Dropbox-and-OneDrive https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Integrating-with-Go... "Step 1: Log in to my.remarkable.com and click the menu in the top right-hand corner." Handwriting conversion https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Convert-handwritten-notes-into-text https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Convert-handwritten... "You need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network and logged into a reMarkable account (my.remarkable.com) in order to use handwriting conversion." Read on reMarkable Chrome: https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-Google-Chrome-Extension https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-... "You’ll also need a reMarkable account to use this feature." Microsoft Office: https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-Word-and-PowerPoint-add-ins https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Read-on-reMarkable-... "8. Log in with your reMarkable account." Screen Share https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Screen-Share https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Screen-Share "Your reMarkable needs to be paired with the cloud" Send by email https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Send-by-email https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Send-by-email "Note: You must be connected to Wi-Fi to share files from your reMarkable. You won’t see an option to send a file if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi and signed into an account." Tags https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Tags https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Tags You can tag pages without a cloud account. It's useful but at best an anciliary feature. Limited cloud sync https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Connect https://support.remarkable.com/s/article/Connect You need an account.