Buying Tech!
I was looking for a device to use as a text editor. Preferably it would be offline and single functionality to prevent distractions.
The first device I considered was a Raspberry Pi type device – but the Raspberry Pi would have a full operating system with the accompanying distractions and would run me around 200.00 when all accessories were considered.
I then considered the Raspberry Pi Pico, less cost and could run a program to a 16 character by 2 line display. But that would set me back around 80.00 when accessories were considered. I also was a bit wary for sustainability reasons of buying a new computer.
I considered a typewriter — 150.00 where ink and the machine was considered and the optical character recognition would have to work to transfer it to digital formats. Also the question of paper.
I even looked at old PDAs from the 90s but those might stop working given the age of the tech and there’d need to be a complicated setup to get the info off the PDA. And it would still run me around 125.00. The memo functionality on those devices seemed also to be limited to short missives, at least from what I could find from googling around. The manual I was looking at didn’t have a confirmation either way.
What, you might be asking, did I end up going with? I picked up a Logitech keyboard for around 40.00 used online and am using it with an old phone with all the apps removed except word processing. The keyboard has a slot for the phone so there’s not the question of propping it up. As long as the battery lasts on my phone — I figure I’ll keep cycling through my old phones for this purpose — I should be good to go.
No new devices were acquired — just the used keyboard at minimal cost — and I am writing this blog post on that setup with minimal (so far) distractions. The one thing I’d say is that online research-intensive writing might get more complicated, but for drafts off the top of my head it seems to work. Get in touch with your own stories of acquiring new (or new to you) tech. Love to hear them!
