Charlie StrossAug 4, 2024

Welp, I have spent the morning playing with/exploring my Pomona DM250, and I have to say, it's proving a LOT friendlier as a distraction-free writing sidecar for #scrivenerapp than I'd expected! Makes the advertised features of the Freewrite Traveller look weaksauce, and it's only half the price.

https://artvsentropy.wordpress.com/2023/08/12/retro-writing-15-pomera-dm250/

Retro writing 15 – Pomera DM250

…and my current writing setup Just recently, our small son began his kindergarten experience, getting used to it at first, just for two or three hours each morning. This schedule allowed me t…

Art vs. Entropy
Show threadCharlie StrossAug 4, 2024

At some point I should probably write up a comparison between the DM250 and my first portable writing deck computer, 1989's Cambridge Z88 (from Sir Clive Sinclair). 35 years on, the DM250 is half the weight, 120% greater battery life, 1000x the built-in storage, CPU is about 1000x faster, screen is infinitely better ...

And less than half the price (adjusted for inflation).

Show threadFazal MajidAug 4, 2024
@cstross ha! I had a Z88 as well. Can’t say I miss it, unlike my work-issued HP200LX a decade later.
Show threadCharlie StrossAug 4, 2024
@fazalmajid It could have been *so much better* (I still have mine)! The membrane keyboard was surprisingly good. The display … they now make e-ink panels about the same size? I'd love to see a revival of the concept: A4 footprint, with modern hardware like a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and micro-SDXC reader, and about 5mm thick. Could even run Pipedream under emulation, considerably faster than the original.
Show threadFazal MajidAug 5, 2024
@cstross just saw this on Crowd Supply (like Kickstarter for hardware projects, much less sleazy): https://www.crowdsupply.com/zerowriter/zerowriter-ink
Seems like it ticks all your boxes: keyboard, e-ink, open-source
Zerowriter Ink

Your open-source e-paper typewriter

Crowd Supply
Show threadCharlie StrossAug 5, 2024
@fazalmajid Noted: the screen is tiny and the wrong aspect ratio for the keyboard. (And I don't like the e-ink lag when typing: it's only good for reading.)
Show threadFazal Majid
@cstross oh, you'd mentioned e-ink in the context of the Z88. I prefer LCDs or OLEDs myself. It would seem like a 8" tablet combined with a Bluetooth keyboard and some distraction-free writing software should do what you need without hunting for niche hardware. Isn't Scrivener available on the iPad? If you're worried about your low saving throw against Shiny, you could always use iOS' Guided Access feature to lock you into that app.
Aug 5, 2024 at 12:12pmWeb
Show threadCharlie StrossAug 5, 2024

@fazalmajid The LCD on the Z88 was very bleeding edge at the time—eye-bleeding! E-ink would be better than that, but a good OLED would be miles better than either.

Scrivener on iOS is a mixed bag—better than nothing. Scriv has increasing sync issues with cloud services these days. Literature and Latte are beta-testing a new app called "Written" that gets sync right AND has the perfect core feature set—it's like iOS Scrivener 2 done right (but it's not file-level-compatible, so a new app).