Yeah, lovely... But can we please stop retconning obsolete technology into something to strive for? The Epson, Tandy, Psion and Nokia almost-like-a-laptop systems of the time were pretty neat, but not magic.

Really: you could lock me into a room with just a pencil and a ream of blank sheets, and nothing of value would come out, and that's not because of the technology or the distractions, but just... well...

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pjdesno 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

This is tempting.

I fairly frequently leave my phone in the office and take a clipboard full of lined paper and a ballpoint to a place where I can write without access to the internet - I've got a number of published CS papers and at least one funded grant where a significant amount of writing was done in longhand on paper.

Of course this would require a bit of software work and maybe a brain swap to make it into the sort of portable typewriter that I'm really looking for, but given this as a starting point it should be fairly easy.

One question I have - what is the finished weight?

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iamnothere 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

To each their own. If there were a Psion that supported modern email, calendar, and task standards, with wifi sync, I would carry it most days. I basically never make phone calls anymore, and I always found the old greyscale LCDs to be very legible.

Caveat: such a device should not be infested with shitty spyware like everything else these days.

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zoom6628 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Unihertz Titan 2 https://www.unihertz.com/ Which I plan on buying next when iPhone dies.

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freetanga 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Isn’t that a Palma from BOOX? And I believe there were 1-2 competitors (Hisense phone?)

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iamnothere 2 days ago | parent [-]

Those don’t have physical keyboards, and all run Android which rules them out. I also prefer old school greyscale LCDs to e-ink, as e-ink has issues with ghosting and slow refresh.

The closest modern device is the Planet Computers PDA, which can run Linux, but it can’t run mainline Linux and it has a modern color screen that uses too much power.

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wowczarek 2 days ago | parent [-]

I was going to mention Planet before I saw your follow-up comment. I bought their Gemini, and it seemed interesting for a while, but being a phone with a keyboard, still effectively a phone, battery life wasn't great and again a phone, my default was never to shut it down, and it would always be out of juice if not used for a while. Eventually it outdated itself sitting in a drawer; just didn't feel right. The external notification screen seemed like a good idea but too clunky for general use, and then the awkward fingerprint sensor position and accidentally touching things when opening / closing. I was actually considering it during my post-BlackBerry withdrawal period, but it just didn't cut it, and while it had the roots behind it and some seemingly nice productivity software, a Psion it just wasn't.

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fmajid a day ago | parent [-]

I wish they made their keyboard into a standalone Bluetooth device, it's far better than anything else in its size class.

	▲	lproven a day ago \| parent [-]
		Bluetooth is a PITA. This is the 21st century version of an axiom: it's an XKCD. https://xkcd.com/2055/ Pairing is a pain, charging is a nuisance, battery life is a constant worry, responsiveness is dodgy... there is nothing good about it. Give me something built-in, cabled, and always-on. Wireless is for fashion victims.

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iberator 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Fun and nostalgia IS value! Same as minimalism.

It's fun to push old hardware to the limits and develop software/hw for it (such us wifi for apple 2 from 1979 hehe)

Clunky hardware has one advantage too: It's usually a single tasking tool. Great for focus and running away from WWW.

Your kid can play pac-man and Tetris without fear of popups, credit cards, scams, hate and porn.

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exasperaited 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I know a few people who would love a device that gave them only the things they need and none of the rest. A great keyboard, enough room for writing.

I use an iPad with a keyboard when I need this kind of “writing room” thing, but I know someone who uses an ancient electronic typewriter.

FWIW when my disorganisation is catastrophic, I go out for a walk, leave my phone at home if I can, sit on a bench, and try to organise my life in one side of A4. And then if there’s a task that I can start by writing, I do it there, with a pen.