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BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

byok.io

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Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#41

Post by jval43 »

wenc wrote: post #34

There are a bunch of distraction-free writing devices, from the BYOK to the Freewrite. They range for $100 - $500. List here: https://kadavy.net/distraction-free-writing-devices/ To me, YAGNI. Let me suggest two cheaper alternatives (battletested by me): 1. Fountain pen and a nice notebook with nice paper (Mnemosyne, or Rhodia) 2. A foldable Bluetooth butterfly keyboard ($43 on Amazon) paired to an old tablet (I have…

100% agreed. Save your money. That's also my opinion after spending several thousand on a couple of these devices over the years, only to find that they don't solve my problems.

E-ink is slow and is hard to read because of the low contrast. And contrary to all the marketing it actually increased eyestrain for me because it's so dark.

Not to mention the software on all the tablets I had was severely lacking, slow and buggy, and the subscriptions tacked on top felt outright offensive to me.

1. I'd go one further and say the nice paper notebooks and pens haven't worked for me either. Instead I just use a free A5 paper notepad and pen I have laying around.

2. Agreed with iPad + keyboard as an actual alternative. The retina 120Hz screens of the Pro models really help. Reading PDFs is a joy, even when compared to a large A4 e-ink device I had. It's just so much faster on the iPad.

Although I use it with Wifi on, I don't have many apps installed on it and basically all notifications disabled. I'm in the iOS ecosystem so everything just syncs, which means less work and mental overhead organizing my notes and reminders.

I'd recommend the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard though, it's expensive but snaps in place and feels great.

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#42

Post by KevinCarbonara »

I've never understood these devices. I get that they're for people who just don't have impulse control, and need some sort of hard separation between play and work. But inevitably, these devices become the abstraction. People obsess over the features and look for upgrades and otherwise immerse themselves in trivialities, because buying a device still doesn't improve your impulse control.

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#44

Post by scripturial »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #18

Why is this so expensive? Raspberrypi zero 2w + some stripped down OS that boots directly to an editor, lcd display and a nice case would be much cheaper. Also easier to implement other stuff, like different fonts, use your own 'cloud' to sync stuff (and not being forced into a subscription), etc.

Parts for something like this? $1 ESP32, $5 LCD, $2 lithium battery, $5 3D printed case. Assembly? (Depending on quantity) maybe $5. This is max $20 to build.

I guess if you want something like this but don’t have time to build it it could be worth $100

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#45

Post by scripturial »

mwambua wrote: post #15

Why do none of these have larger displays? I imagine it's annoying to type without the ability to at least skim over the last page of content? Are larger monochrome displays just harder to procure?

This is already relatively large for this type of display. There is no market for these types of screens at a larger size. (They are mostly used in products that are not connected to a computer such as a controller panel for a factory, or mechanical device.)

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#46

Post by numpad0 »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #18

Why is this so expensive? Raspberrypi zero 2w + some stripped down OS that boots directly to an editor, lcd display and a nice case would be much cheaper. Also easier to implement other stuff, like different fonts, use your own 'cloud' to sync stuff (and not being forced into a subscription), etc.

  https://www.google.com/search?q=coolest+cooler

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#47

Post by wenc »

Writing isn’t a linear process. You need to keep enough of a context window viewable and to scroll/jump to different parts quickly.

Devices without fast refresh or a large enough screen are unsuitable for many of today’s writers except for the very few who write linearly (streams of consciousness).

A word processor is a tool of thought. You need to be able to manipulate thoughts easily in it. Small devices don’t serve this purpose well.

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#48

Post by wenc »

notjulianjaynes wrote: post #39
ryukoposting wrote: post #33

There's a guy I see at my local coffee shop who uses a word processor. Based on what I found on eBay, I think it might be an AlphaSmart. If so, it would have run him about $75. I thought about getting a similar device, as I also write a lot, but settled on a $90 used laptop instead. Not seeing the case for spending $175 and only getting half a word processor. If portability was the goal, an external keyboard goes aga…

I once wrote a ~2,000 word draft,on an alpha-smart ($6 at a goodwill) and then couldn't get the transfer to computer function to work correctly, so I had to rewrite the whole thing because I wasn't gonna sit there and manually re-type three lines at a time from the grayscale LCD. The subsequent draft was actually better though, so for this reason I would recommend such a device. It's also a fun novelty thing. Really…

Writing things twice is actually a technique for improving quality.

https://grantslatton.com/software-pathfinding

Re: BYOK – Bring Your Own Keyboard

#49

Post by teo_zero »

jimbob45 wrote: post #40
wenc wrote: post #34

There are a bunch of distraction-free writing devices, from the BYOK to the Freewrite. They range for $100 - $500. List here: https://kadavy.net/distraction-free-writing-devices/ To me, YAGNI. Let me suggest two cheaper alternatives (battletested by me): 1. Fountain pen and a nice notebook with nice paper (Mnemosyne, or Rhodia) 2. A foldable Bluetooth butterfly keyboard ($43 on Amazon) paired to an old tablet (I have…

1. Fountain pen and a nice notebook with nice paper (Mnemosyne, or Rhodia) Spending money is overrated. The pen at the back of your junk drawer from a hotel you don’t remember staying at will do just fine. There’s a notebook in there too that’s as good as new if you just rip out the first page.

> The pen at the back of your junk drawer from a hotel you don’t remember staying at will do just fine.

Vehemently disagree! Few things hurt on my nerves more than a pen that leaves ink spots behind, or works intermittently, or needs excessive pressure on the paper...

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