Time to talk about my writerdeck • Hacker News Board

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#21

Post by CharlesW » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:52 PM UTC

normie3000 wrote: post #8

> I'm trying to be more intentional with my tech choices. I want devices that do one thing really well, and that when I'm done with that one thing, I can put them away, and do something else. I don't want everything to follow me around everywhere. Sign me up. I would like an audio device which can play mp3, podcasts, internet radio. Bonus points if it supports some kind of cartridge system, size between credit card a…

You have hundreds of options for devices like this. Amazon alone shows 200, or well over 300 if you don't need live internet audio streams.

You're about to respond: "But many of these use Android, and general purpose computers are too distracting for me." In that case, you'll need to forego live internet audio streams and buy a closed option with a radio receiver.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#22

Post by skydhash » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

normie3000 wrote: post #8

> I'm trying to be more intentional with my tech choices. I want devices that do one thing really well, and that when I'm done with that one thing, I can put them away, and do something else. I don't want everything to follow me around everywhere. Sign me up. I would like an audio device which can play mp3, podcasts, internet radio. Bonus points if it supports some kind of cartridge system, size between credit card a…

> I would like an audio device which can play mp3, podcasts, internet radio.

That internet radio is a whole magnitude of complexity, especially with the need for wifi (cellular?) if it needs to be portable. But there are options like specially modified android devices.

I have the Shangling M0 with a 512GB card. I don’t even bother with converting my flac files. A nice other device is my kobo. It holds my entire fiction library with space to spare.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#23

Post by em-bee » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

the key goal here seems to be to remove temptation. for me just switching to a virtual console and firing up vim there would be enough because switching back to the gui would involve typing a long password which i believe for me would be deterrent enough to not keep switching on a whim. if you are not as easily tempted then running a terminal in fullscreen might just be enough.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#24

Post by daoboy » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:55 PM UTC

drakonka wrote: post #11

daoboy wrote: post #6

I'm desperately awaiting the perfect eink device for this. I've got a great writing setup on Obsidian that really works for me, a royal kludge mechanical keyboard...just waiting on the next gen of eink The Boox One Note Max was sooo close, but they almost immediately discontinued the product and probably won't be supporting it long. Suggestions are welcome

I use the Onyx Boox Palma for a portable eink drafting setup. It's worked pretty well. I wrote about it here: https://liza.io/portable-writing-setup-with-onyx-boox-palma/

That's very similar to the setup I'm working on, including the stand. Thanks for sharing!

One of the appealing features on the Note Max was the screen size (13.3"). How do you find working on such a small screen?

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#25

Post by black_puppydog » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:59 PM UTC

chungusamongus wrote: post #17

The way people are coping with the current hellscape that is 2026 is interesting to me. Somehow, it always seems to be internalization. Like, if only I can lock in using this distraction free method, if only I start buying more physical media, if only I use a dumb phone and an mp3 player for my music, etc. etc., somehow that will resolve the intractable shitstorm happening right now. And none of that is even going to…

Nothing opposes a setup like this to collective action. Given that most of modern technology or at least most of the internet is built to actively distract you as much as possible to extract profit, it's just a sane choice to disconnect from this every now and again if you want to work on things that actually matter. And this can totally include things that are for the collective good, and in collective efforts.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#26

Post by a1o » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:59 PM UTC

I would love a KingJim Pomera DM 250 but I can’t have it shipped easily and it is hard to find in a physical store.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#27

Post by stavros » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC

Jesus christ I cannot believe it took this article for me to realize after so many years that leaving the root password empty would set my user up for sudo. Every single installation, the first thing I'd do is log in and lock root and give my user sudo!

No more of that! Thanks, this article!

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#28

Post by stavros » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

drakonka wrote: post #11

daoboy wrote: post #6

I'm desperately awaiting the perfect eink device for this. I've got a great writing setup on Obsidian that really works for me, a royal kludge mechanical keyboard...just waiting on the next gen of eink The Boox One Note Max was sooo close, but they almost immediately discontinued the product and probably won't be supporting it long. Suggestions are welcome

I use the Onyx Boox Palma for a portable eink drafting setup. It's worked pretty well. I wrote about it here: https://liza.io/portable-writing-setup-with-onyx-boox-palma/

> The keyboad

Perhaps you should have chosen a better one?!

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#29

Post by salamander014 » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

I've wanted to do this for a while. Thanks for detailing your setup! I hope one day I find the time to try it.

I've also always yearned for more usability from just the command line.

There's no tui spotify client, is there? Maybe I should break out my mp3 collection again... I'm trying to think of what else I'd really need to not need a GUI machine for my day to day. Maybe email?

Lynx and other tui browsers are not usable on today's web. Maybe there's a subculture to find somewhere that also appreciates reader-mode / lack of javascript?

If so anyone please lead me to the promise land!

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#30

Post by tedd4u » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:02 PM UTC

1) Cool! Only think I can recommend is using use a taller 4:3-ish screen (like a Framework) for this. You could maybe have two columns of text available.

2) More broadly, one tip I've found to reduce phone engagement is to set the phone to black & white only. It's significantly less interesting and prone to sucking you in. (You can do this on iOS & Android.)