[HN Gopher] My Dream Productivity Device Is Done - and It's Beco...
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My Dream Productivity Device Is Done - and It's Becoming a Kit
[video]
Author : surprisetalk
Score : 39 points
Date : 2025-08-06 23:31 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
| theamk wrote:
| Spoiler: it's PocketMage, home-made PDA based on ESP32.
|
| Github says "custom OS", but it's more like "custom UI", it's
| actually Arduino-based and relies on Arduino libraries for all
| OS-like functionality.
|
| https://github.com/ashtf8/EinkPDA
| WorldPeas wrote:
| why are so many things with "productivity" in the name for the
| opposite? Not that there's a problem with fun but why market it
| this way?
| righthand wrote:
| What is unproductive about this device?
|
| Productivity usually refers to enabling people to be productive
| through planning. Which includes calendar, todo lists, text
| editors, file managment, etc. This seems to fit in that
| category.
| Rotdhizon wrote:
| There's definitely a separation between the definition and
| perception. When I watched the video, my first thought was
| "This device is very cool but I can't imagine myself ever
| using it". There's hundreds, if not thousands of infinitely
| more convenient scheduling/productivity tools compared to
| having what is basically a small raspberry pi in my pocket
| for manual task entry. There is definitely a market for this,
| albeit it a very small, niche one. To me this is akin to
| writing a paper in word compared to pulling out a mini
| typewriter.
| Arainach wrote:
| A workshop full of tools is worthless if you never use
| them.
|
| Modern phones and web browsers are full of weaponized
| distractions with billions of dollars in forces fighting to
| steal your attention. To actually be productive, many
| (most?) people benefit from a device that does less.
|
| It's why reMarkable is vastly superior to eInk Android
| tablets that do "more". It's why some people have switched
| to cameras instead of phone cameras and to other analog
| technologies - be it a paper notebook or what have you.
|
| Fewer tools but fewer distractions beats many tools and
| push notifications.
| righthand wrote:
| I guess it depends on how you like to work. I hate working
| on devices. I have an iPhone Mini, two laptops, a pc I
| built, a Remarkable, a work iPad, a TV.
|
| I use 4-5 of these devices for mostly writing comments
| online and writing various mediums of comedy. I do other
| creative work on my personal devices but I have found I
| enjoy doing more with my hands and body as well.
|
| For example, often when I am stuck on writing I go for a
| walk. I often don't take my phone and force myself to focus
| only on the problem at hand. I often take a notebook and
| write any notes about my conclusions along the walk.
| Eventually the notes make it back into a computer.
|
| I also enjoy cooking and can use my device to look up
| recipes or order food online and avoid cooking all
| together. But I choose to use the stack of throw away desk
| calendar paper to write down my grocery list and go to the
| store without my phone. I choose to chop the broccoli and
| carrots even though I cab buy a bag of pre steamed for
| less. I even keep a passive grocery list on my phone in
| reminders app. But I still do the ritual. Not at all
| because it's productive.
|
| But what I really enjoy about life and creating is not
| sitting at a desk by myself hammering the ideas and
| draining myself reading, reading, reading. And I like to
| read but a lot of reading these days is distraction and
| those devices are designed to be distracting. So much that
| I go out of my way to prevent them from distracting me and
| keeping me in a sitting position.
|
| With a little device dedicated for productivity I gain the
| benefits of computing without all the distracting tracking,
| "use my product!" Side effects.
|
| And do it because you have agency to do it. Living your
| life with productivity doesn't mean being an efficiency
| slave.
|
| At the end of the day I still may be middle/lower class
| consumer cattle. But at least I am cattle with agency.
|
| My first thought was "I'm glad this has progressed and
| looking slimmer, this inspires me to investigate building
| the 4-inch square device of my dreams."
| 42lux wrote:
| Limitation breeds creativity.
| wewewedxfgdf wrote:
| I really love that electronics is at the point that people are
| able to create their dream device.
|
| I'm wanting to do that too but don't have the skills.
| righthand wrote:
| My second thought was "Will this kind of project be dead once
| tariffs hit in the USA?"
| RajT88 wrote:
| Dream product pshaw, let me click on this ohhhh shit I want one.
|
| Well sort of. I have wanted a Sony Client PEG-UX50 for ages, if
| it had a proper modern hardware and OS. Some of the other Clie
| form factors would make amazing and geeky phones.
|
| I really miss the mobile device era where big names tried random
| shit to see what people would buy. These days, everything is
| basically an iPhone. And to be fair, Apple is now mostly an
| iPhone company.
| wkjagt wrote:
| I recently bought an HP Jornada that I want to explore a little
| further. Cool little Windows CE palmtop with great battery
| life.
| the__alchemist wrote:
| #1: This is fantastic from a conceptual perspective! Focus on
| simple computing tasks that are important, without distractions,
| ads etc. Open source, kit, looks well-designed.
|
| #2: I've programmed and used those EPD displays (The same model
| used here I believe specifically). They are neither a joy to
| program, or use. The programming is much more complicated than a
| normal display because of how you manage refreshes: Partial,
| full, when to do each etc. The latter because, as you can see in
| the video, the latency is high.
|
| I think responsivity and latency are one of the most important
| things for a pleasant user experience. We as engineers and
| developers have failed at this in general over the past ~2
| decades. I think a device like this that breaks conventions is in
| a nice spot to also break this trend. Especially not using an OS
| (Or using an RTOS?), there should be no perceptible latency, if
| he changes to a normal display. I could tolerate a display like
| this for some uses and like a static sensor that runs on battery,
| but for an interactive device like this? No.
| j45 wrote:
| Battery life is a trade off though. The removable / replaceable
| battery is great too.
| PaulRobinson wrote:
| My dream productivity device is a modern take on a Psion 5MX.
|
| I don't mean I want a Psion 5MX with a bunch of hacks to keep it
| running - I've seen that, no thanks.
|
| I want the same great keyboard, same form factor, some
| ergonomics, but with a modern screen (mono/e-ink is fine), modern
| CPU, modern connectivity (wifi, bluetooth, usb-c, maybe 4G/5G
| eSIM if we're being fancy), and improved battery life with usb-c
| charging.
|
| The first thing that goes with all these geek PDAs and mini form-
| factors is the keyboard. I want to be able to type a short email,
| I want to be able to ssh into a server and use vim (so, yeah, ESC
| is needed or ability to remap caps lock or something), and also
| do some basic doc writing and perhaps a spreadsheet or two. A web
| browser would be nice.
|
| I don't need apps. I don't need a compressed desktop. I don't
| need games. It's a productivity device.
|
| Thinking about it as I type this, perhaps a psion-style keyboard
| for an iPhone might hit the spot if I figure out the right focus
| mode setup in iOS for when I need that mode. Maybe.
|
| I'm glad this hits the spot for some people... but that
| keyboard... no thanks.
| spankibalt wrote:
| > "My dream productivity device is a modern take on a Psion
| 5MX."
|
| Adapt it out of the conventions of the inferior form factor by
| making it a detachable, i. e. a UMPC in a smartphone-like form
| factor, and you might have a winner... if you don't skimp on
| all the other good stuff that makes a great ultra-portable
| general-purpose computing platform.
|
| > "Thinking about it as I type this, perhaps a psion-style
| keyboard for an iPhone might hit the spot [...]."
|
| The problem with the iPhone is that it's not a UMPC, but
| locked-down crap.
| theallan wrote:
| Take a look at Plant Computers PDAs:
| https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/planetphones . The hardware is
| a bit old notre and if love to see a refresh, but the Pison
| keyboard is there!
| criddell wrote:
| I want an updated Psion too. Either that or a modern TRS-80
| Model 100. Something that can run for hundreds or maybe
| thousands of hours on 4 AA batteries (the original could do 30
| or so hours). Something without an app SDK and definitely
| without a browser.
| cosmic_cheese wrote:
| Neat concept. It'd be interesting to do a spin on it that expands
| it to a 12"/13" footprint, allowing it to have a full keyboard,
| making it thinner (since components can be spread out), and
| making it more practical for tasks like writing. Think something
| like the defunct 12" MacBook, but with a minimal UI reminiscent
| of an 80s Mac on a grayscale display.
|
| There are e-ink tablets that can have a keyboard attached to them
| that kinda approximate that, but I've always found the KB-tablet-
| stand form factor clunky at best, and they tend to run some
| Android derivative which is going to feel slow compared to "bare
| metal" software running on an SBC.
| tra3 wrote:
| I remember seeing flexibl eink displays maybe 15 years ago.
| iirc it rolled up into a toothpaste sized tube. That would be
| super cool.
| keyringlight wrote:
| The larger alternative that comes to mind is the ClockworkPI
| [0] uConsole and DevTerm devices, although they seem to have
| poor availability or long and variable lead times. Beyond that
| you're into touching distance of x86 laptops with the GPD Win
| type micro PCs.
|
| [0] https://www.clockworkpi.com/
| qwerty456127 wrote:
| This looks amazing except the number of keys seems too small.
| danielheath wrote:
| I have been amazed by how few you can get away with once you
| start using modes/layers.
| ZiiS wrote:
| Need a price to know if I will buy. I doubt you would cover R&D
| at >$1000, could easily be >$100 unit cost for a short run, but
| more complex watches can be <$10 strait from China.
| Waterluvian wrote:
| Something I've noticed in a few friends and family members is
| that there's this whole hobby of setting up to be productive but
| not actually being productive. One person has a brilliantly laid
| out workshop with so many custom built shelves and cleats and
| jigs and tables, but about 90% of the woodworking they've done is
| the workshop itself. Another spends ton of time figuring out the
| absolute best way to organize her recipes and todo lists and desk
| and organizers and pens and finding the right foot rest, but
| that's about it.
|
| And I can see her being _really_ into this device as an idea, but
| I would bet all the money in my pockets that she'd never actually
| _use_ it.
|
| None of this is a critique on these individuals, or how well this
| PDA performs at being a productivity device. It's just this meta
| layer of productivity I'm noticing around me more and more.
| danpalmer wrote:
| I notice this a lot too, and try to avoid falling into this
| trap. But also, if it's a hobby, maybe it's ok? Maybe the
| organisation is the fun part for some people.
| doubled112 wrote:
| Sounds similar to a lot of discussion around note taking and
| other productivity software.
| Rodeoclash wrote:
| Lots of music producers fall into this trap too. So much so
| that I'm convinced nearly the entire synthesizer industry is
| setup to exploit this.
| code_biologist wrote:
| As a person who easily falls for "preparing" over doing the
| work, I committed to the hipster PDA [1] as an antidote to this
| for many years: "the Hipster PDA comprises a sheaf of index
| cards held together with a binder clip."
|
| My pocket index cards haven't run out of VC money or instituted
| a new subscription model yet!
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA
| magicmicah85 wrote:
| Congrats on making a product. I see the appeal of these products
| because they embrace the productive aspects of technology and
| prevent the intrusive attention seeking technologies from being
| involved.
|
| The reason I would not get a device like this is because the
| device I have is already capable of doing all this. The problems
| that hamper my productivity are psychological and unless I'm
| going to completely get rid of all the devices and thoughts that
| are distracting me, I don't see how another device is going to
| help me. In fact, I can see me being more unproductive just
| trying to get every little thing right with synchronization and
| using the product versus just doing the thing I should be
| productive at.
|
| I really do like the aesthetic though. It's a hell of a thing to
| build your own hardware and software and I hope it helps others
| and can grow.
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