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Time to talk about my writerdeck

veronicaexplains.net

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Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#51

Post by chungusamongus »

black_puppydog wrote: post #25
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.

It just seems like copium to me. The consolation prize is we get to come up with niche lifestyle preferences to cut out the distractions. We can fine tune our lives to increase productivity. More and more optimization until we're just machines. And then people will use that as a way to feel superior to the sheep who continue to scroll tiktok.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#52

Post by jrflowers »

chungusamongus wrote: post #47
jrflowers wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me, seeing someone eating ice cream: “Here is one of several copies of The Permanent Revolution that I keep on my person for this exact situation”

It's not ice cream though. Quite the opposite. It's this notion that puritanical self discipline at the individual level will somehow get us out of this. It won't.

OP mentioned owning more than one computer in the post. They could spend all of their time watching vtubers stream gacha games when they’re not writing for all we know

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#53

Post by hank808 »

kibwen wrote: post #37
hank808 wrote: post #36

"Writerdeck' or simple word processor? They were first sold in the 1960s or 70s. Why? Buy, not build I'm thinking.

The author already had the hardware, better to not buy than to buy.

You're not gettin' the point. There's nothing here if you think about it for 10 seconds. Any ancient anything, could run vi, or vim, or Emacs, or friggin' wordstar, natively or via emulation or WHATEVER. There's nothing here.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#54

Post by mamcx »

salamander014 wrote: post #29

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 u…

Like https://github.com/Rigellute/spotify-tui ?

There is a tons of "modernized" TUI since Rust/Go, and even better terminal and shells.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#56

Post by iib »

If anyone wants to try this without the intricate setup, if you have a linux system, you most probably can just press Ctrl+Alt+F3 and drop into a tty console directly. To return, you have to press Ctrl+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+F2. You also have multiple consoles, up until F12 probably.

I used to use this a lot when trying for a less distracting desktop, just like in the original post.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#57

Post by chunkyks »

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

My wife bought one of these: https://getfreewrite.com/products/freewrite-traveler

Reviews are wildly polarised. * Some folks find it to be the best thing ever [long battery life, the new patch makes the eink surprisingly fastly responsive, decent keyboard, no distractions] * While others find it terrible [it's still eink, that's a lot of money for a device that doesn't actually do much]

You can find a selection of alternatives, and homebrewed options, here: https://www.writerdeck.org/

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#58

Post by skydhash »

chungusamongus wrote: post #51
black_puppydog wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It just seems like copium to me. The consolation prize is we get to come up with niche lifestyle preferences to cut out the distractions. We can fine tune our lives to increase productivity. More and more optimization until we're just machines. And then people will use that as a way to feel superior to the sheep who continue to scroll tiktok.

Not really. I only watch movies on my TV, play game on my PS4, and read novels on my Kobo. It’s not about productivity. Having a device tied to an activity is nice for attention and mental load.

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#59

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

chunkyks wrote: post #57
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

My wife bought one of these: https://getfreewrite.com/products/freewrite-traveler Reviews are wildly polarised. * Some folks find it to be the best thing ever [long battery life, the new patch makes the eink surprisingly fastly responsive, decent keyboard, no distractions] * While others find it terrible [it's still eink, that's a lot of money for a device that doesn't actually do much] You can find a selection of al…

That looks really cool, but that price point. I could get a Steam Deck + travel keyboard and still come out ahead.

Is that the true price for a low volume, niche product? Eink monopoly continues to make the world worse?

Looked it up, and the original One Laptop per Child came in around $200

Re: Time to talk about my writerdeck

#60

Post by tyleo »

I use the same Mac to write that I use for everything else. But I find it’s more useful to disconnect from multiple screens and just use the laptop on my desk if I need to focus.

Those idle screens taunt me with a desire to use them for Slack or Hacker News when I’m trying to work.

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