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I bought a Freewrite Alpha last summer and which I'd gotten something like this instead. The Alpha's great in many ways, but has just enough aggravation that it

I bought a Freewrite Alpha last summer and which I'd gotten something like this instead. The Alpha's great in many ways, but has just enough aggravation that it makes me resent the thing a little: * I have a model without a backlight, and the screen's all but invisible unless you're under a light. Wake up and think of something you want to write? Either turn on the lights, or hope it actually turned on when you hit the power button and that you're not typing on a powered-off device. * Why, oh why, can it only remember 1 single Wi-Fi password? I write most of the time from home, but sometimes I like to go to a nearby coffee shop. If I connect it to the coffee shop's Wi-Fi, I have to manually re-enter my home password when I get back. I don't need it to remember thousands of networks, but maybe just the 3 or more most recent ones would cover the above cases, plus tethering to my phone. I joined the BYOK[0] Kickstarter last year. I hope it turns into the device I hoped the Alpha would be. [0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byok/byok-the-ultimate-distraction-free-writing-tool https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byok/byok-the-ultimate-...

joseda-hg 2y ago
Not really a fix, but I encounter this regularly (Usually with my e reader), I just named my Phone's hotspot the same as my home network (Same password too) and connect the phone to the public WiFi It has other problems (Like security, if you're connecting other devices), but it makes it simple enough Edit: Maybe make it the same SSID as a guest network, that way you avoid your other devices thinking it's a trusted network
- kstrauser 2y ago
  That's an option, for sure. I've thought about doing exactly that, but stopped because of the security issues. And that doesn't help with the coffee shop / hotel / office issues, unless I want to use tethering 100% of the time I'm outside the house, which I don't.
fuzzythinker 2y ago
There's one with a keyboard on igg now: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-focused-writing#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pomera-full-suite-typewri...
- kstrauser 2y ago
  That looks beautiful but it’s a bit spendy. Not overpriced, but spendy. If the software is nice, though, that’d be almost exactly what I’d want.
john_the_writer 2y ago
Got an AlphaSmart 2000 off ebay. It cost < 200.. It's 100% offline, and the setup involves getting a pack of AA batteries at the local gas station. It is so easy to use, and reliable as heck.

joseda-hg 2y ago

Not really a fix, but I encounter this regularly (Usually with my e reader), I just named my Phone's hotspot the same as my home network (Same password too) and connect the phone to the public WiFi It has other problems (Like security, if you're connecting other devices), but it makes it simple enough Edit: Maybe make it the same SSID as a guest network, that way you avoid your other devices thinking it's a trusted network

kstrauser 2y ago
That's an option, for sure. I've thought about doing exactly that, but stopped because of the security issues. And that doesn't help with the coffee shop / hotel / office issues, unless I want to use tethering 100% of the time I'm outside the house, which I don't.

fuzzythinker 2y ago

There's one with a keyboard on igg now: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pomera-full-suite-typewriter-for-focused-writing#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pomera-full-suite-typewri...

kstrauser 2y ago
That looks beautiful but it’s a bit spendy. Not overpriced, but spendy. If the software is nice, though, that’d be almost exactly what I’d want.

john_the_writer 2y ago

Got an AlphaSmart 2000 off ebay. It cost < 200.. It's 100% offline, and the setup involves getting a pack of AA batteries at the local gas station. It is so easy to use, and reliable as heck.