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Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

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Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#31

Post by taeric »

kstrauser wrote: post #25
taeric wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair that "just use a notebook" is unnecessarily flippant. This sort of device is something that clearly some folks like.

I mention in another comment here that I have a Freewrite Alpha. It has a couple of issues that keep it from being my perfect device, but it's darn close. I genuinely love taking it out and cranking line after line of rough draft with it. Its deliberately pared-down UI removes the temptation to even try bothering to edit the words. That comes in a later step after it's synced to my laptop or its cloud service. But fo…

Sounds like it is a great tool for you in generating prose/poetry? Do you not need to be more graphical for some of the notes? I'm assuming you just don't use this for the math or notes use case? I'm also having to assume that this is largely consumed on another device for editing and such?

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#32

Post by kstrauser »

taeric wrote: post #31
kstrauser wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mention in another comment here that I have a Freewrite Alpha. It has a couple of issues that keep it from being my perfect device, but it's darn close. I genuinely love taking it out and cranking line after line of rough draft with it. Its deliberately pared-down UI removes the temptation to even try bothering to edit the words. That comes in a later step after it's synced to my laptop or its cloud service. But fo…

Sounds like it is a great tool for you in generating prose/poetry? Do you not need to be more graphical for some of the notes? I'm assuming you just don't use this for the math or notes use case? I'm also having to assume that this is largely consumed on another device for editing and such?

I love it - at least the Platonic idea of it - for writing lots of scattered ideas quickly. The recommended workflow for the Alpha is to Just Write: sit down, hit the buttons to open a new, empty doc, then follow whenever your mind leads. You deliberately don't want to edit at this stage, unless it's a typo you can fix with a couple of backspaces. You're in writing mode, not editing or proofreading mode. Then you can pull the raw text into a full-featured editor on your computer and do all the editing you want later. And yeah, it's not even remotely decent at math or taking (or organizing) notes. It barely handles Markdown.

If I were in the middle of writing and got sidetracked, I'd probably insert something like

  ...were roasting hot dogs on the fire when the UFO came
  
  TK NOTE Just remembered I should buy a suitcase
  
  and sucked the alligator up out of the lake.
and then later I'd stumble across that when I was editing it. But also note that these aren't limitations in what the hardware+software could to. It's more about what the software should do, and for the Alpha, that's get out of the way so you can write.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#33

Post by throwanem »

kstrauser wrote: post #20
throwanem wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I envy your ability to handwrite my thoughts as quickly as I can type them. Not your thoughts, certainly. But for matters of any depth, not only code, I find the limit on speed tends rarely to be set by speed of transcription.

The limit on your speed, as you pointed out. There are times I stare at a screen for an hour and then add a comma to fix a bug. There are other times I'm writing long walls of text as fast as I can get them out of my brain. That's the sort of thing the device in this article we're discussing is meant for. And for me, I cannot possibly put pen to paper as quickly as I can put chars on a screen (or ribbon ink onto typi…

It's hardly as if one doesn't switch to a keyboard when a keyboard is indicated. Just that it seems a bit silly to start with whatever hundreds of dollars or hours of investment this device requires, needing also to learn how to use and fettle it and tolerate its various inconveniences, when the need it addresses is so relatively rare compared with what a simple, inexpensive pen and notebook, or even a $160 Decimo and a Mnemosyne or Webnotebook, can serve. The device is the distraction.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#34

Post by throwanem »

kstrauser wrote: post #25
taeric wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair that "just use a notebook" is unnecessarily flippant. This sort of device is something that clearly some folks like.

I mention in another comment here that I have a Freewrite Alpha. It has a couple of issues that keep it from being my perfect device, but it's darn close. I genuinely love taking it out and cranking line after line of rough draft with it. Its deliberately pared-down UI removes the temptation to even try bothering to edit the words. That comes in a later step after it's synced to my laptop or its cloud service. But fo…

> I can sit down and comfortably type out several pages of content with it. If I tried writing that much by hand, I'd be nearly in tears of hand-cramping pain by the end.

If I had problems like this, I'd likewise assume mere contrarianism on the part of someone claiming a notebook can serve as well as a keyboard. That was why I refused to use pens or write longhand in school, except under duress. I had not then discovered that good pens solve this problem; writing a dozen pages with one, effectively without pause, can certainly be meditative but need not be at all painful.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#36

Post by Apocryphon »

taeric wrote: post #23
kstrauser wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take plenty of paper notes, especially for math, diagrams, and other things. But we're here talking about an article about typewriting devices, and in the context of the kinds of things you'd write long-form on a typewriter, "just use a notebook!" is insultingly unhelpful. I've tried for decades to write long-form things without it causing my hand to cramp up painfully. I know what's wrong, and I also accept that a…

Fair that "just use a notebook" is unnecessarily flippant. This sort of device is something that clearly some folks like.

Okay, then get a used Chromebook for $20 that's too old to run anything distracting.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#37

Post by kstrauser »

throwanem wrote: post #34
kstrauser wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mention in another comment here that I have a Freewrite Alpha. It has a couple of issues that keep it from being my perfect device, but it's darn close. I genuinely love taking it out and cranking line after line of rough draft with it. Its deliberately pared-down UI removes the temptation to even try bothering to edit the words. That comes in a later step after it's synced to my laptop or its cloud service. But fo…

> I can sit down and comfortably type out several pages of content with it. If I tried writing that much by hand, I'd be nearly in tears of hand-cramping pain by the end. If I had problems like this, I'd likewise assume mere contrarianism on the part of someone claiming a notebook can serve as well as a keyboard. That was why I refused to use pens or write longhand in school, except under duress. I had not then disco…

That makes a world of difference, sure. I have some excellent fountain pens that I love jotting notes with. They’re so much more pleasant and comfortable than any other handwriting tools I’ve very used. They’re great.

And for me, they’re still in a different category from keyboards. For me. I get that they’re perfect for other people, but I’m not one. For me, the main alternative to a keyboard is… not writing.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#38

Post by kstrauser »

dmd wrote: post #35
smarx007 wrote: post #6

Pen and paper, thank me later.

I can type a sustained 90 wpm. I can write about 10 wpm … for about five minutes before I’m in severe pain.

I kind of feel like we’re in a story about a nice, new wheelchair and people are commenting that we should just try getting better shoes.

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#39

Post by eadmund »

kstrauser wrote: post #19
taeric wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming this is a bit facetious, that said, I think it is worth exploring. Yes, you can use short hand to learn to write words faster, such that you may be surprised at how fast people can actually write. Certainly, you'd be surprised at how slow some people type. Especially when thinking. More pertinent for notebooks, though, is how unstructured it can be. Learning to use the space of a page is a big thing that…

I take plenty of paper notes, especially for math, diagrams, and other things. But we're here talking about an article about typewriting devices, and in the context of the kinds of things you'd write long-form on a typewriter, "just use a notebook!" is insultingly unhelpful. I've tried for decades to write long-form things without it causing my hand to cramp up painfully. I know what's wrong, and I also accept that a…

> But we're here talking about an article about typewriting devices, and in the context of the kinds of things you'd write long-form on a typewriter, "just use a notebook!" is insultingly unhelpful.

Of course, some of the greatest works of literature were written long-hand, i.e. as manuscripts!

Re: Micro Journal: Distraction-Free Writing Device

#40

Post by fuzzythinker »

kstrauser wrote: post #5

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 t…

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