Over at O’Reilly, Kendall Clark writes about the joys of what he calls primitive computing — specifically, the AlphaSmart Neo. Clark writes,
The Neo is interesting not because of what it does or what features it has, but what it can’t do and the features it’s missing. It’s all about one thing and one thing only: writing. I’m most comfortable turning any task into a writing task (when all you have is a hammer…), which means I’m super comfortable with a primitive device that’s really only good for writing.
Specs? I don’t even know what kind of CPU this thing has, and I couldn’t care less. I think the OS is some variant of PalmOS, but I don’t really know. The word processor, the only app it has, is brain dead. Which means no distractions; it gets out of my way as well as venerable Word Perfect 5.1 for DOS used to — a writerly experience I’ve only come close to replicating with Emacs.
The keyboard action is passable; not great, but no impediment. The screen is a measly six lines, and I’m finding it perfectly acceptable. Especially when it means that battery life — powered by 3 AA batts — is a remarkable 700 hours. Yes, 700 hours! The damn thing weighs all of 2 lbs, though it feels lighter. It’s the ultimate road warrior’s tool, at least if you think of a road warrior as a writer.
I bought my AlphaSmart Neo about a year ago, and like Clark I am still very happy with it. Over at 43Folders.Com, however, some folks are missing the point by dissing the Neo for essentially not being a laptop.
Certainly, the AlphaSmart Neo is not a replacement for a laptop. A better way to think of it is as an accessory to a laptop or desktop machine. I have a very nice, ultralite laptop that gets a nice 6 hours of battery life that I take pretty much everywhere. But I also take my AlphaSmart Neo with me in the same bag. Why?
1. Battery life — after a year of pretty heavy usage, I am still using the set of AA batteries the Neo shipped with when I received it last October. There have been numerous times when my laptop battery died and I did not have easy access to power where the Neo was indispensable.
2. Weight and temperature — Even at less than 4 pounds, my laptop is still pretty hefty. Plus it looks and feels pretty fragile. I’ve dropped laptops from more than a few feet before and the result was not pretty. The Neo weighs about 2 pounds and feels much lighter. I can stick it in its case and run off to a meeting without having to carry along the laptop, the power cord, an external mouse and similar accessories that I find indispensable. Moreover, even my tiny laptop puts out a tremendous amount of heat, whereas the Neosmart simply doesn’t generate any heat at all. I can type with it on my lap for considerably longer than I ever could with my laptop.
3. The lack of distractions and instant on/off — no Internet, no games, no IM, e-mail and the dozen other applications that are constantly distracting me while I’m using my laptop. The AlphaSmart Neo reminds me a lot of Google. Whereas the search engine has a wonderful site because it has a simple text entry box to enter a query, the Neo has a text entry area simply for word processing.
Moreover, simply press the power button and its on in about 2 seconds. Press the button again, and its off in even less time.
Of course the Neo does have limitations. Its got a small, non-backlit screen that only lets you see about 50-60 words of what you’re writing at a time. The lack of a backlight means you can forget about using it in rooms that are dark (when the lights go out for the PowerPoint presentation, good luck making out the screen.
Which means its ideal for some tasks and lousy for others. You’re not going to edit the final version of a 30 page report on the AlphaSmart Neo. But it’s great for grabbing your notes, heading off to a secluded space, and hammering out the rough draft. It is also great for taking notes at meetings, especially where using a laptop might be frowned upon or might offer too many temptations (too many meetings I attend have half the people busy working on other things on their laptop). I typically write many first drafts of blog entries on my Neo and then transfer them to a PC for final editing and then posting.
Is it worth $250? That really depends on how much writing you’re doing everyday and how important portability is to you. I write enough and do so much traveling between buildings and offices every day, that it is a great boon to have this device to tote along and have ready at a moment’s notice.