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If you combine an e-ink screen the size of an Amazon Kindle to a desktop keyboard, you get something like the Freewrite, a redesigned typewriter that seeks to free serious writers from the ########################################################################## 39, an avalanche of distractions on the Internet.
Now, Astrohaus, the start-up behind Freewrite, introduces a second product – a laptop in some way – that aims to remove some less than necessary attributes of Freewrite and combine all that is good about it into a much larger package small that you can easily carry with you in a purse or backpack.
This is called the Traveler and, at first glance, you might think that it sounds absurdly silly. The entire laptop shares the keyboard footprint, which makes it long and slender when it's closed. Open the lid as you would any other laptop. A white plastic plate is waiting for you instead of a color LCD that you expect to find.
In the center of the white plastic rectangle is a square screen with electronic ink, the same type used by electronic readers like the Kindle. It is divided into two parts: the larger upper part corresponds to the input area of your manuscript, while the lower part can display basic information, such as a word count or a timer, in order to follow the time you have written.
As you type, your words are automatically downloaded via Wi-Fi to your Dropbox, Evernote, or Google Drive account. In addition to typing, the Traveler feature is limited to selecting a cloud folder in which to save your work, setting Wi-Fi settings, and viewing basic information in the bottom half of the screen. screen. That's all. There is not even an option to copy / paste, check the spelling or format the text, such as italic or bold.
This deliberately limited feature is the major asset of Freewrite, said Astrohaus co-founder Adam Leeb at PCMag. The company estimates that Freewrite users have written more than 45 million words since the start of regular production in 2016.
But this device is essentially a modern typewriter. It's big and bulky, with almost giant levers to adjust the Dropbox folder you are currently using or to turn on and off the Wi-Fi radio. Leeb has considered the possibility of designing a more portable folding concept that retains the essential elements of Freewrite while dropping some of his stuff and gadgets.
As a result, the Traveler weighs less than 2 kilos, much lighter than classic ultraportable notebooks such as the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro., which revolve around the mark of 3 books. During the weight reduction process, the Astrohaus designers abandoned the giant levers by replacing them with quieter buttons to browse through the folders and adjust the Wi-Fi.
No mechanical keyboard
Unfortunately, they also had to give up one of the main selling points of the Freewrite: its mechanical keyboard, featuring Cherry MX Brown key switches. Instead, the Traveler uses a scissor switch design loosely modeled on iconic Lenovo ThinkPad keyboards. During a brief demonstration, the keys were comfortable, with a lot of movement, but not as pleasant to write as the autonomous mechanical keyboards.
There is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, similar to that of conventional notebooks, whose approximate lifespan is about four weeks, provided you enter your Traveler account for about an hour a day. In addition to cloud synchronization, you can also connect the device to a computer using the supplied USB cable to drag your files.
Much of the rest of the Freewrite technology remains the same, including the e-ink display. It's a strange typing experience because its pokey refresh rate means that there is a noticeable lag between the moment your finger hits a key and the one where a character appears on the screen . If you have already turned the page of an eBook on a Kindle, you see what I mean. Leeb also admitted that the screen is rather small compared to the body of the traveler, but making it wider to fill the rest of the screen lid would have meant "supply chain issues", as he said.
In other words, the Traveler is expensive to manufacture, which means that, like the $ 599 Freewrite, it will be ridiculously expensive for what it is. Astrohaus plans to use a crowdfunding approach to assess interest. Pre-orders for the Traveler will start at $ 269, but the total price will be $ 599 identical to that of his big brother. When you consider that you can get a full Windows laptop for less than $ 500, the Traveler starts to look like a terribly dubious proposition.
On the other hand, if you are tempted to laugh at the device as an overpriced hipster equipment, you are missing the problem, according to Leeb. "We are getting writers from MacBooks," he explained. That is, people who are frustrated by the annoyance of keystrokes on a laptop and are distracted by their excellent web browser, email client, and social media applications.
Getting rid of all these software while dramatically improving the typing comfort (although, admittedly, not as much as the original Freewrite software boosts it) could be worth a lot more than $ 599, especially if your income is directly related to your productivity in writing.
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