One of the most exciting trends we’ve seen over the last few years is the rise of truly personal computers — that is, bespoke computing devices that are built by individuals to fit their specific needs or wants. The more outlandish of these builds, often inspired by science fiction and sporting non-traditional layouts, tend to be lumped together under the term “cyberdecks”, but there are certainly builds where that description doesn’t quite stick, including the Cyber Writer from [Darbin Orvar].
With a 10-inch screen, you might think it was intended to be a portable, but its laser-cut Baltic birch plywood construction says otherwise. Its overall design reminds us of early computer terminals, and the 60% mechanical keyboard should help reinforce that feeling that you’re working on a substantial piece of gear from yesteryear.
The Cyber Writer is powered by the Raspberry Pi Zero W 2, which might seem a bit underpowered, but [Darbin] has paired it with a custom minimalist word processor. There’s not a lot of detail about the software, but the page for the project says it features integrated file management and easy email export of documents.
The software isn’t yet available to the public, but it sounds like [Darbin] is at least considering it. Granted, there’s already distraction-free writing software out there, but we’re pretty firm believers that there’s no such thing as too many choices.
If you’re looking for something a bit more portable, the impressive Foliodeck might be more your speed.
The Zero 2 basically has the same processor as the Pi 3, just with half the ram. Good luck hitting the limit on it with anything that isn’t AI or compiling C++. :)
Or loading a webpage with Chromium
Forget loading the webpage, just loading Chromium is enough.
Raspberry PI Zero W is very powerful. It’s bloated interpreted languages like Python/Ruby, JS makes it slow. You might be suprised how much stuff can run and be handled by Zero with software written in C/C++/Rust. Imagine moving from Python->Rust is like getting x20 more powerful CPU and x2-5 more RAM :-)
Sigh If your python code is slow, you’re not using it properly. It’s a glue language for native code. It can do datacrunching just as fast as something bespoke written in C or Rust, without having to suffer writing all the boilerplate as well. There’s a reason it’s heavily used in data science and machine learning.
In any case “X is a shitty slow language” is almost always a sign that the person saying it doesn’t actually know how to use that language well enough, regardless of what X is. Languages are designed to solve specific problems, and the popular ones hang around because they fill their niches well. No one language is the best at everything.
i just don’t believe this phrase “bespoke computing devices that are built by individuals to fit their specific needs or wants.” i think the only specific need being satisfied is a need for attention or a need to have a project for something to do, rather than for a product to use.
Neat project. The Zero is more than capable for task at hand… Even a Pico W or Pico 2 W could be put to work here as well.
Oh, I don’t know…. I build things to fit my specific needs and wants. See no problem with that. Maybe more ‘wants’ than ‘needs’! Like I built a useless box that I wanted rather than just ‘buy’ it. Or I put together a dos (with a basic interpreter) like interface for my Pico projects with an A: and B: drive for applications. It’s going to be used for projects down the road. Or my Star Trek computer that lets me experiment with sound in/out projects as well as detection and status of conditions in the house. May not ‘use’ on a day to day basis, but there to tinker with.
Yes, they all give me something to do too. Hobbies are that way :D .
General purpose computers are always better.
Dedicated word processors were not elegant or civilized.
They sucked balls (or Wangs as the case was).
Just a terrible idea.
What next:
Going to replace your laser printer with a Selectric and an array of solenoids (to hit the keys) to connect it to your computer?
They existed.
That said, IIRC Wang printout porn existed.
You just had to ignore the green bars.
Distraction free working is a software only issue.
Boot you favorite computer with a adhoc OS.
https://tinker.sh/ is an example…
“An Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age”
Hummpph. What’s the latency and jitter from the time you press a key to when it appears on the screen?
How does that compare to, say, an Apple IIc, maybe the epitome of “Elegant and civilized writer”?
This I find an irksome irritant in modern computers: Despite their sheer speed and power consumption, they are awful at being responsive to the user. The stumbling jitteriness of painting letters on the screen is tiring and frustrating and is simply does not need to be this way, when an old machine a thousand times slower does it better.
The Atari ST was similar low in latency (TOS ran in ROM), I think.
At least compared with PCs and Macs of today.
“An Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age”
A pencil?
Bring back Wordperfect 4. Clean simple writting tool