Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

WriterdeckOS

writerdeckos.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 118 posts

Re: WriterdeckOS

#81

Post by devilbunny »

cout wrote: post #61
CTDOCodebases wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is intended for people who want to use a laptop as a single use device for the purpose of writing. So basic file management and a word processor is all that is needed. WriterdeckOS is not meant to be an OS for general computing. Purppose built writerdecks are quite expensive. WriterdeckOS is a practical, inexpensive and resourceful alternative to a purpose build device. For more information on writerdecks check…

This is the main reason I keep my PS/2 around with WordPerfect 5.1. Sure I can go browse the web with Minuet, or I used to before https everywhere, but that means saving and exiting WP. And 30+ years later I'm still waiting for a word processor with a decent Reveal Codes.

It’s been 30ish years, so I can’t be 100% sure, but Ami Pro 3.1 for Windows had an easy-to-use equation editor that gave great results. And I think its Reveal Codes equivalent was pretty good.

Crashed a lot, though.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#83

Post by pigeons »

swores wrote: post #79
fouc wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew about IBM PS/2, but I temporarily forgot for a moment and was feeling confused about using WordPerfect 5.1 with PlayStation 2 haha.

Meanwhile my mind first jumped to the old, pre-USB connector used for things like keyboards and mice, and was wondering what wizardry they had built to turn a PS2 keyboard into a complete text processor!

I always thought they were related because my PS/2's did use PS2 connectors.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#84

Post by ckz »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #67

An old AlphaSmart can be picked up for a few hundred dollars on eBay. Kind of a clever distraction-free text editor. I picked up a couple a few years ago. Pretty clever in that, one way it transfers files. You connect the device via USB to a functional computer and ready an empty document in your text-editor of choice. Push a button on the device and it sends the internal text as though from a USB keyboard to your co…

Just a note for those in the market (as someone with the unusual distinction of owning ~30 Alphasmarts), a few hundred $ is more like a top of the line, NIB/serviced Alphasmart Neo 2 with bag, manual, etc.

If you just want to try out distraction-free writing with USB a used AS3000 is easily found <$50 (YMMV re. battery corrosion).

Re: WriterdeckOS

#86

Post by ckz »

Surprised my fellow typewriter folks haven't shown up yet! [paging @ebruchez]

If you want the writerdeck experience I'll echo the recommendations here for an Alphasmart. The brute-force autotyping file transfer it uses is quaint but always amusing. Gave one to a screenwriter friend and it's now gotten regular use for years. PDAs are a solid choice as well that may resonate with the HN crowd.

Don't sleep on owning an actual typewriter though. I have a small collection and use one daily. There's a rabbit hole of ~150 years of makes & models (most of which continue to function fine today) that will give any mechanical keyboard enthusiast much to chew on. :)

Re: WriterdeckOS

#87

Post by hank2000 »

Give me automatic plaintext syncing (hell sync to GitHub) and no other network interface and it’s perfect. Otherwise I lose my three weeks of work like my mom lost writing her masters thesis. I don’t want to go back to that.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#89

Post by ergocoder »

tombot wrote: post #42

Why isn’t there autosaving? Why go to all this effort to make such a hostile UX?

It's against the writer's manifesto.

The writers should always always recall their materials.

Auto-save is an opposite of that.

You can see the full manifesto here: writermanifesto.com.

Re: WriterdeckOS

#90

Post by coffeebeqn »

ndiddy wrote: post #65
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #17

The idea of a low-distraction laptop OS is a good one, but I'm not sure that this is necessarily the best approach. If I mentally model such a thing myself, I end up with something that looks a lot like Classic (pre-OS-X) Mac OS. It's simplified and has just enough presence to properly host graphical applications. No taskbar, no notifications (or associated drawer), no self-populated launcher menu. File manager is sp…

You can buy an iBook G3 for ~$50 if by "something a lot like Classic Mac OS" you'd be fine with running actual Classic Mac OS. I agree with you that it seems like AppleWorks or Word 5.1 or something in OS 9 would be a nicer writing environment than the TUI word processor offered here.

Depends what you’re writing I guess. I experimented with a TUI word processor before on a very low powered machine and it was quite an experience to not be able to multitask. I just used it for personal notes / diary but it was really a revelation how often my attention slips in a modern OS. Oh let me do some searches on this topic I mentioned, let’s check mail and messages and refresh this page I had open.. and the writing mode is gone. I still prefer a notebook and a pen though and sitting outside
Post reply on HN