I have a room in my house that only has an old tube amplifier and a typewriter (and a litterbox). All very low tech... it just works:

the amp still sings | the typer still writes | the litter still clumps

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The best method for keeping my tech/writing/life simple has been to establish multiple workstations ("desks") that each have their own machine & purpose (e.g. tax machine, browsing / youtube, technical writing machine, multiple typewriters [one for correspondences, another for brainstorming]). An extra laptop (or two) is helpful for general purpose multitasking, anywhere.

In 950sqft, I have six separate desks, with three primary workstations. If you haven't ever composed on a typewriter... it's worth exploring (no distractions other than emptiness-induced tech addiction syndrome).

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One of my favorite Tom Hanks -isms is that he gifts dozens of typewriters, annually, to various authors... and if he ever see his gifts sitting unused as art/museum pieces (i.e. not being used to type) he will dismantle the famous Tom Hanks typewriter exhibit and force the recipients to actually set them up for ready-use upon desks (or re-gift the machine) [American Typewriter (2016)].

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RickS a day ago | parent | next [-]

Very interesting. How long have you had this multi desk setup for, and how has it evolved? I've tried similar things over time and found a huge amount of variation in the results.

The worst are sort of "negative equilibrium" situations, where the station feels good enough to keep indefinitely, but is actually unproductive. I ran my main desk in the living room for a couple years, and it was only when I moved back into my studio full time that I realized how valuable it is to have gently lit walls on both sides of my peripheral vision, preventing attention hijacking from things going on around me. My ADHD greatly benefits from a room that acts like a horse blinder.

I've had many other "stations" but they tend to be transient, getting lots of attention initially, and then falling into disuse and accumulating crap that gets set on them like any other table.

I've ended up with one main workstation where I do everything, and a few other low-use high-specificity stations tied to specific hardware (an iMac that runs a CNC machine, a flow hood for mycology work). These are idle 98% of the time but it feels great to be able to sit down and immediately resume those things without having to rebuild the container so to speak.

The biggest ADHD-related gotcha is "out of sight out of mind". If a station isn't in a place I see or walk past regularly, I forget that it exists.

This does make me want a typewriter. Is there one you recommend for a couple hundred or less?

	▲	ProllyInfamous a day ago \| parent [-]
		>How long have you had this multi desk setup for, and how has it evolved? Since 2018, the first time I ever had my own multibedroom rental. After I had established my second desk, I was hooked. I have since moved, and the new location was a smaller half-renovated location... so I spent Summer 2024 building an "office" / shed (120sqft no-permit legal; after reading Michale Pollan's A Place of My Own), which has its own two desks, on opposite walls (12ft apart). No internet available in my shed (by design). In the main house, I split the larger bedroom in half, which created three separate work areas (plus hundreds sqft of storage / shelves). The smallest desk is dedicated entirely to laminating (internet memes, mostly) =P Both my typewriters are on custom-built stand-up desks (barstools work, but normal chair-height is too low). My tax and music-streaming computers are also stand-ups. Main browser (this computer) is a seated 48" AORUS, which admittedly has four work-stations on a single display (counter-intuitive to multistation, but never use any connected machine simultaneously). >falling into disuse and accumulating crap that gets set on them The secret here is to create even more horizontal spaces, without any technology atop, for the simple purpose of setting all your crap. Having a box / closet labelled "Box(es) for unique one-off items that I cannot seem to throw away because I know I'll eventually need it" — is also helpful. So is throwing anything away after its sits within, unused, for over (e.g.) a year. >typewriters / machines? My oldest desked computers: two 2006 Core2Duo (x86): a 20" iMac running MacOS Snow Leopard (taxes only, USB printer, offline); the other is an online Win7 Pro machine that is solid, used for anything with a login (e.g. government paperwork, e-file, direct stock purchases) My favorite computers are all modern Apple Silicon (M2/M3/M4) — I held-out with a MacPro5,1 for over a decade of daily-driving... until the M2Pro Mini came out early 2023. But my favorite composing machine is a Smith Corona Super12 Coronet (it's a bulletproof typewriter). Aside from using a proprietary ink cartridge (readily available online, even Amazon), and not traditional ribbons, you just can't go wrong with an electric-strike typebar. The G.O.A.Typewriter is generally considered to be IBM's Selectric II — and I'll agree, but only if you own two and can service them both full-time (i.e. don't depend on them to always work). This is the only typewriter that can "keep up" with 100+ wpm [theoretically 220+ wpm is possible] because there are no individual typebars to clash/interfere/sieze [just a typeball]. Mine sits unrepaired, after its commonest deathknell: broken drive belt, requiring full dissassembly. My daily correspondence typewriter is a thick&wide-platen Smith Corona Secretariat, which can handle paperweights up to 65 lb (without creasing; typical platen can handle up to 45 lb), up to 12" wide. This machine requires no power, and minimal maintenance — you can take it out of the attic, after years of dust/rust/siezing... "force" each typebar a few times, and then be typing in no time [obviously you need an undried ribbon]. ---- One of my favorite gifts is helping intellectuals get offline (if you can't tell, typewriters can play a big part in reconnecting with your world). A recent convert is a judge that has always commented about my typewritten communications (for years, a casual relationship)... now uses a Selectric II professionally (just a brilliant machine, if you can maintain it; interchangable fonts, 10/12 spacing, re-write™). It's a distinguishing correspondence composer, if you can work without red-squigglies/AI (and afford maintenance). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric https://typewriterdatabase.com/1973-smith-corona-coronet-sup... https://typewriterdatabase.com/1958-smith-corona-secretarial... Also, if you haven't (and are type-curious): watch California Typewriter (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWfgpL1X_oE ...RIP California Typewriter =(

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BeetleB a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> The best method for keeping my tech/writing/life simple has been to establish multiple workstations ("desks") that each have their own machine & purpose

A few years ago I had an important realization. Up to that time, half of my time with computers was pre-Internet (or at least pre-broadband). And virtually all my memorable experiences with computers was from the pre-broadband era.

I spoke to a similarly aged tech friend, and he said it was the same with him.

I sat and thought of why that may be. There are several reasons, but I'll highlight one here: Browsers as an interface really degrade the computing experience. The fact that everything we do online is via the browser means everything is competing with each other. Reading the news? That other tab with Youtube open beckons. Or the one with some social network feed.

In the old days, we had separate programs. The equivalent would be a separate SW for Facebook. A separate one for HN. A separate one for BBC.

And if you go far back enough, you did not have multitasking, so you could do only one thing at a time, and it had your full focus.

When people read a physical newspaper, they would do not suddenly get the urge to drop it and watch TV, or check some feed, or whatever. Everything was in its place, and you could dedicate yourself to it.

Today, you could argue that phones/tablets create a similar experience - everything is its own app. For me, though, the form factor just sucks compared to a proper desktop machine.

My hope is WOOB (https://woob.tech/). Have not yet given it a try.

Edit: Oh, and the fact that it could take well over a minute to load a piece of SW made one less likely to whimsically switch between apps. If you're doing one thing, and you know it will take, say, 2 minutes to Alt-Tab to another application, you are usually going to do it only if it's fairly important.

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sunrunner 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Oh, and the fact that it could take well over a minute to load a piece of SW made one less likely to whimsically switch between apps.

The key point here I think is that there's a cost and some kind of friction to making the change.

It's easy to think that reducing friction is always a good thing, and for people in positions in companies trying to maximise user clicks on the Call to Action that does make sense, but for one's own personal attention and focus some kind of friction can actually be a good thing as it can imply and even reinforce deliberate action, which I believe is what's sorely missing from environments that promote multitasking.

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ProllyInfamous a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Some of my favorite early-tech, non-browser memories was the 90s WaReZ Hotline scene — you manually pointed your desktop application to a host and then participated in each community's trust/forum/reputation system.

I stopped streaming services years ago, and mostly just rip DVDs from the public library.

I've only spent about a third of my life "pre-internet," but it was my favorite years (even as an early internet adopter / user [e.g. eBay PowerSeller in early 2000s])... and not just because of childhood recollections — it was literally Simpler Times™.

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BeetleB a day ago | parent [-]

Yes. I used to be on local BBS's, which was way better than anything I've experienced on the web. More of a community feel and fairly local.

Even the pre-Facebook phpBB boards were quite good.

But mostly, I think it was not having broadband. When I (and most others) did not have it, our online behavior was fairly different, and what we did was more intentional. Imagine you have a quota of only 1 HN comment per day. You probably will be a lot more careful on what you reply to.

But, you know, you'd just spend a lot more time in applications that are not your browser. Programming, producing art on the computer, playing games, etc. When doing any of these, you were not thinking "Hey, let me just switch tabs and check my Twitter feed".

	▲	ProllyInfamous a day ago \| parent [-]
		I see my life of tech primarily as Pre-Facebook & Pre-Tinder & Pre-ChatGPT. The further back I recollect, the happier I become =D >local BBS's Austin, Texas, was a wild place in the 90s. I remember Alex Jones came on PublicAccessTV, right after the toilet-bowl-seat guy, before the late-nite sex doctors. Lots of online discussions were had outside of walled gardens.

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opan 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Is anyone making modern non-qwerty typewriters (I've heard some existed in Dvorak, but I'd want Workman), maybe also split/spaced apart and with thumb keys for stuff like backspace and space? My computer keyboard is just too good to use the typewriters of old. Maybe it would be better to have some sort of middle man hardware that could take the USB keyboard signals and move the mechanical parts in response, so you could plug in any keyboard.

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tartoran a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'd consider analog electronics as tech free in a sense. They do serve a purpose but don't in your way.

	▲	ProllyInfamous a day ago \| parent [-]
		The Selectrics (1960s technology) feature a Whiffle-Tree, an early digital-to-analogue converter =D https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/RTtKaqIpOJc Just ¡look at that Selectric working perfectly!

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a day ago | parent | prev [-]

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