Any writers out there who want distraction-free writing, like a typewriter, but can easily interface with any computer to retrieve what you type?
I can't recommend getting used AlphaSmart products enough. I got a Neo for $30. Small LCD display, full size keyboard, runs for a year on a few AA batteries.
https://awoo.space/media/oKENvjGEsJH6rLtz7I4
They were all made in the late nineties / early noughties and the company that made them is long gone, but they made a whole lot of them (mainly for schools) and they're pretty cheap used. Built solid too so unless they were thrown in a wood chipper they should last.
@Efi a quick look at mine and I count about 40 characters wide and four lines, variable width font. Can be set to be larger or smaller, with less or more visible characters.
@Efi There's six selectable settings, here's default, smallest, and biggest https://awoo.space/media/j20z9WZsaoVGK869zow https://awoo.space/media/YtotGVAPKgzZ6RuN9nI https://awoo.space/media/-YQI1WEADgkaTW6vtds
We had one of these for my son. He took it apart.
@ThatDamnCat @Mycroft Oh hey, I used one of those in school like ten years ago.
I'd probably take it apart too... that insatiable engineer's curiosity!
Neat thing is its interface - plain old USB, no drivers needed, it emulates a keyboard. Usable on any device that recognizes USB keyboards. Open a blank document or whatever on the device, and push a button on the AlphaSmart, and it "types" out the current file you're working on. Totally OS agnostic, and future-proof-ish as long as devices support USB.