AlphaSmart

Hello all, this is Ketan Kothari (one of the co-founders of AlphaSmart). First I am honored to see such fans to a product that is over 25 years old. But every now and then I think, it would be awesome to create a modern version of AlphaSmart.

Does anyone know of a similar tool but for programming/connecting to a remote terminal? Electronic ink display with week or even month long battery life? CPU doesn't need to be super fast, just enough to do some fun coding would be sufficient :]

I have a Neo 2 that I use for writing, as I find laptops/tablets are way too easy to get distracted with. It's light, rugged - as you'd expect for something designed to be used by schoolkids - and lasts a ridiculously long time on 3 AAA batteries. I just did an entire Nanowrimo on it, on a not-fresh set of batteries, and it's still going strong now.

There've been attempts in recent years to create something similar but more modern - with an E Ink display and cloud sync - but they cost a fortune compared to the pittance I paid for my Neo second-hand.

I bought one of these on eBay about a year ago. I use it for writing down ideas and notes when I'm off the grid and battery power is at a premium (I live in an RV and travel a lot). I thought I'd also use it for distraction-free writing even when power is not at a premium, but the display is too small and dark and interaction with the keyboard is a little too limited for that.

I would love for there to be a modern variant of this, however. I tried figuring out how much it would cost to produce and the screen is definitely a big limiting factor. Ideally, one would use an e-ink or similar display, so you get very high resolution and readability but also very good battery life. While computing and storage have gotten massively better and cheaper since this thing was new, displays that use nearly no power are still pretty pricey.

I used to have a netbook with an SSD and a tiny Linux OS installation that I used for similar things, but the battery stopped holding charge and replacing it seemed too expensive. And, it never had battery life comparable to the AlphaSmart, which seems to run forever (literally, like weeks or months) on three AA batteries.

There's an author I remember reading about that religiously uses one of these to write at cafes and whatnot. I can't remember who.

We had a few sets of these in my high school in the late 90s. English instructors would hand them out for essay writing, and you could plug them into the PS/2 or ADB ports on the full size computers in the lab to dump your early drafts into a full-time featured word processor for markup and formatting. Probably cut down on the number of computers they needed per student as most didn't yet know how to touch-type yet. Anyone who had fine motor function difficulties was given one for daily writing tasks as well.

I had an Amstrad NC100 Notepad, a similar beast but dating from 1992: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_NC100

In turn this was a near clone of the 1988 Cambridge Computer (Clive Sinclair) Z88: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Z88

An ultraportable word-processor, much like the AlphaSmart. The hassle in copying documents across from the NC100 (via a shonky RS232-to-AppleTalk cable) is what killed it for me. But a lovely piece of kit nonetheless.

Today, for a portable, affordable writing machine, I use an HP 11in Chromebook running GalliumOS and FocusWriter - as light as a MacBook but costs just £200.

I went to a school which had a department helping visually impaired kids. I couldn't see enough to use one but partially sighted students would bring one to every lesson before we moved onto laptops. Presumably it was the AlphaSmart 2000, as I do remember them having a PS/2 port.

Ah! I have one of these in my basement!

(The kind of "battle scar" you have from being involved with educational software long enough.)

Palm, for me, illustrated the possibilities of mobile computing the first and best for the time. In the educational space, the alphasmart was an incredible promise.

Through the educational software company I worked for at the time I did some work on software for the Alphasmart, Newton, and emate. Unfortunately, this stuff didn't really take off, though in hindsight it was clearly just a matter of an idea being ahead of itself.

BTW, there are still some things modern devices can learn from the alphasmart. E.g., it's not indestructible but generally you can drop/throw one around pretty casually without breaking it. likewise, the OS and user environment wasn't "delicate".

This reminds me of the Apple eMate I used at [high] school. A large screen Apple Newton in an indestructable polycarbonate clamshell with a nearly-full-size keyboard. It was perfect. A great word processor (also drawing, spreadsheet), designed for instant on and concentrating on one thing at once, with enough Apple tech (not sure how much was borrowed from the Mac OS stack) to get online and to print full b/w graphics to Mac compatible printers.

Steve jobs killed Newton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMate_300

I just bought one, used, on eBay last month. I'm pleased with it, although the keyboard action is very stiff -- and I speak as an IBM Model M fan.

As a modern version, some kind of enclosure for a Raspberry Pi would seem the obvious answer. Then all it needs is a text-only Linux distro -- easy enough -- and a decent editor with a modern standard UI, such as TextGrinder or Tilde.

ErgoEmacs with a facelift and modernisation might do, but not without it. Ditto Vi. Seen the joke?

"I've been using Vi for a couple of years now. Mostly because I can't work out how to exit."

These devices were used a fair bit when I was in secondary school here in the UK during the mid-to-late '00s. They were primarily available for pupils with special needs, however they were also used by those who had injured their arms and found it difficult to write.

I hadn't realised they had since been discontinued, though I suspect the increasing affordability of laptops may have played a part.

We had those at my elementary school. I think they liked that you could only use them to write, not to play games.

I remember using something similar called the Fusion back in elementary school. It had a built-in typing "instructor" and we were supposed to use it to learn touch typing.

We still use these now in the UK secondary school where I teach. Generally they are given to students who have a short term inability to write (broken arm etc).

I was taught to type on them in 7th/8th grade. 2009/2010ish. At a parochial school.

I think I had one of these for a while at school in Canada! Much nostalgia.

Not to turn HN into ebay, but if anyone wants to buy my Freewrite (modern version of AlphaSmart, as the developers point out below), hit me up: iqdupont.com

Neo released "August 2004" - from that to iPhone in 4 years ...

What is the relevance of this post? Just a link to a Wikipedia article with no description?