/lit/ - Literature

>>16014657
multitasking was a mistake, just install FreeDOS

>>16014657
>writing device for poors or ADDs

>>16014657
ive got an electronic typewriter with line editing and its way more functional i think

>>16014657
i PROCESS MORE WORDS IN ONE DAY THAN YOU DO IN 2.

>>16014687
>MORE WORDS IN ONE DAY THAN YOU DO IN 2.
you're being far too generous

>>16014678
>looking up typewriter prices
yikes. That's a much better idea though, thanks.

>>16014657
Haven't thought about those in a while. Back in elementary school, they gave these to retards and autists whose handwriting was illegible so that they could complete assignments.

>>16014696
I disagree.

>>16014678
I actually got mine at a thrift store for like 5 bucks (it was marked for $10 but 50% off that day). I think I got pretty lucky with that find though. It didn’t even need new ink or anything.

>>16014723
i can't say you'll find an electric typewriter for sure, but I've seen numerous working typewriters in the past for dirt cheap while scoping out thrift stores. i was in a smaller midwest town though, so that could have made it easier, idk. but give it a shot if you're interested, I scored the typewriter I've been using for 10+ years for 3 dollars at a salvation army.

>>16014820
I'm also in the midwest, surrounded by nothing. Should probably find one of those "antique" shops that are basically an elderly woman's house full of the junk she's accumulated over the last 150 years.

>>16014657
I think it could be a good idea if you're accustomed to writing on a keyboard but find yourself distracted by the allur of the internet. It's not a fault admitting it; we literally have swaths of articles dedicated to how our entire society is being re-wired because we can't resist the shit. Jonathan Franzen disconnects his network and writes in a basement with cloth shoved in his ears. DFW staunchly refused to have a TV in his house and I imagine, were he alive, he'd exhibit the same discipline about internet access.

>writing on a used and old piece of hardware
>with God knows what sort of retarded file system
>so unpopular and antiquated it's the equivalent of driving a steam converted Ford T to work
>with God knows what possibilities to recover files and information in case of sudden death
It's like you faggots don't lead very practical lives, eh? Just turn off your phone or the wifi or something.
Just imagine being 5000 words away from finishing your masterpiece only to be lost forever because this clunky piece of shit fell to the ground or some capacitor farted.
It's like you're asking for reasons to live the tragic literary life.

i find that typewriters do somewhat affect my productivity and dedication to a writing session. they've been a real boon

>>16014657
Just get an old thinkpad bruh

>>16014657
>Do any good ones exist
they did, once

>>16016081
thinkpad reporting in

>>16014723
You can unironically get one cheap off Etsy and other types of sites. eBay sellers tend to know what they're actually worth. Cheaper if they're slightly broken. They're not hard to repair.
You will look like a hipster douchebag, but they're honestly tight.

This Japanese one has an e ink screen and can be folded and pocketed. I'd have invested in one if it wasn't so pricey. If only there's one with normal digital screen I bet it would be much cheaper.

>>16016081
Those are so expensive but I want one so bad. I already have a laptop too.

>>16016184
>expensive
bruh, you can find a lot of thinkpads for like 80 bucks, just add a new HDD.

My dedicated word processor is called penil and paper

>>16014657
>PEOPLE DONT JUST GET A LOW SPEC CHEAP LAPTOP FOR 400 AUD
When will they learn? I just wrote 1000 words of criticism and edited a fictional piece, adding about 500 words, all in one afternoon. I don't even have much space for games so I never play more than ten minutes of Nidhogg a day.

>>16016163
this would be my choice if I wasn't fucking dirt poor and didn't already have a laptop

>>16018829
It's $200. Can't you save up for a year or even just sell your laptop?

>>16018795
Post criticism so we can criticise it

>>16018917
It's for university, so no. I kind of have to not collude with others or even show people what I write.

>>16016188
>go to an HBCU for pharmacy school
>everyone has to bring their own laptop because the school is too poor to have enough for 80 students.
>see one of the poorer and more insecure looking black dudes wielding a thinkpad
>his always takes several minutes to boot up
>mfw professor is impatiently standing next to him, watching and waiting for his thinkpad to boot up

This was way before I browsed /g/, so man— I really felt bad for that guy.

>>16014873
sensible post.

pen and paper is always an option as well. you'll just need to work on your hand writing

>>16018957
he needed to replace the hdd with an ssd

>>16018884
how much dirt is $200?

>>16020137
get a job

>>16014657
Oh hey, an Alphasmart. I have one. It's not a meme. But I have lost data on it more than once, so it is not reliable.

I shelled out money for the Astrohaus Freewrite and it has boosted my production enormously, which is great because I try to pump out a story every week on Amazon. It paid itself back long ago.

>>16014723
You just gotta luck out, I found my 50's Remington with no major issues at a Salvo for $20 and I've probably put a good 500 pages through it in the last year and a half. You can find typewriters all over the place for relatively cheap at flea markets and such, but the main issue is that they basically all have at least one defect that renders them more difficult to use than its worth.

It's my preferred method for first drafts because I'm an ADD retard and I get a massive hit of dopamine from slapping keys and watching the work I do occupy a physical space. Still, def not worth it to drop hundreds on a refurbished model from a collector or anything, unless you're a fanatic and can justify the cost.

If you're really looking you can probably find a good one for cheap, but if not I wouldn't bother.

>>16019028
i've been trying to improve my handwriting because i feel like writing by hand is a lot more intimate and intellectually stimulating, but holy fuck is it frustrating. cursive is so slow when you'rr first learning it, and my posture is all fucked. i don't know if i should be trying to learn full-arm movement or not either

>>16020408
>But I have lost data on it more than once, so it is not reliable.
this is true. It made me never trust it again because it had erased all my notes and diary that i had been writing for months. be careful, backup if you use those

>>16021242
I switched back to it because I'm traveling back and forth now and it's easier to lug around. Wrote a whole story before heading out to be with family and when I got home and turned it on I had an error and there was no way out of it except switching the batteries, which then dumped the memory. I left home thinking I was ahead of schedule and suddenly I'm out of a story and have to write another one last-minute. Couldn't even trust it for three hours. Never again.

>>16019153
yeah nothing beats nuking an SSD in 5 seconds flat

>>16020300
too black for that

>>16020408
I'm tempted to get an alphasmart. They're so cheap it's hard to resist.

The new portable freewrite is looking sexy. Its preorder price is almost acceptable but 600 bux retail is inexcusable. The designer blamed the e-ink display (glorified etch a sketches) which are getting very cheap wholesale and the "kindle chipset" which just means "we're getting screwed and have no hardware engineers."
I hope they get some competitors because it's a great idea.

https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/
this guy built one from scratch for under 200 dollars, without the advantages of a wholesale supplier or a chinese factory.

>>16023111
seems like too much hassle i'd rather pay the extra 400 to have some chinese kid do it for me

>>16014747
>tfw was one of those tards
and now i'm here
what does that say about this place, i wonder?

>>16016163
Has anyone used one of these? I might get one.

>>16023111
The Traveler would be nice but it won't have a full mechanical keyboard because portability, which is fine, the Alphasmart doesn't have a mechanical keyboard either, but it's still pleasant to type on. My hands fly along so easily on the Freewrite's Cherry keys, though, that I'm about to swear on mechanical keyboards for writing. The Traveler also doesn't have a light, I believe, and that seals the deal for me.

And yeah, Astrohaus is a poorly-managed company and they are taking advantage of dumb hipsters with money. I forgot to mention that I bought mine off of Ebay.

>>16014657
I can get this for a fraction of the price of a word processor, and it has no distractions other than the mighty sound of keys thwacking.

>>16024739
Thought about getting one but if I have to transcribe it anyway then what's the point?

>>16024912
Some anons say that if you write on one device, then edit on another, then that will create a distance in your mind between objects, giving you a fresh perspective. It's like writing in hand then typing it when you transcribe, editing while you go.

Why not use a cheap laptop? Just install linux and remove X.

You new remember that retard in middle school who brought one of these to school every day

Overpriced memes, I would get a regular (even electrict) typewriter or an old thinkpad with freedos if you want to avoid distractions.

>>16024739
an alphasmart like in the OP is old ass out of production technology that costs like $50 lol

meanwhile you have to buy that click clack bullshit, plus regularly buy reems of paper and ink off the internet

>>16014657
if you're going to go to that much effort why not just write with a a pen and paper?

>>16025566
because typing is way faster