Yet Another New Tool!

As a writer, I find the biggest problem with modern technology is all of the potential distractions. I love writing on my iPhone, iPad, or laptop, but it's too easy to get distracted by email, IMs, Google searches, etc.

For example, I'll need to check Wikipedia for information. I find it, but there are so many interesting links in the article, and 30 minutes later I'm down the rabbit hole with Alice only to discover when I surface that I've lost my original thought.

Enter the AlphaSmart Neo. Originally designed as a basic word processor for schools, it's found a new following among writers. It originally cost $200 per unit, and it's no longer being manufactured. But you can find them on eBay--which is where I bought mine (brand new) for $20.

So what's the big deal? it's really quite simple: it's a word processor. It doesn't connect to the Internet, so it affords me hours of distraction-free writing. Once I'm done, I can connect it via USB cable to my laptop, open a Word or Libre Writer or Scrivener document, and send the file over from my Neo.

It powers up almost instantaneously, relying as it does on 3 AA batteries which folks I've talked with say will give me about a year's worth of power, or roughly 700 hours.
Mine arrived today, and so I'm still getting used to it. I'll be giving a more thorough review in a week or so, after I've had the opportunity to put it through its paces.

Oh, yes: I wrote this article on my new toy! It's more like writing on a typewriter than on a computer. And another thing: it only displays 4 lines at a time, so there's no temptation to go back and edit as I write.

It has a spell-checker, with the option to add new words to the built-in dictionary, as well as a (very primitive) thesaurus.

When I turn it on, it returns to my last position in the last file I was working on, which is handy.

I also like being able to add to a file without caring about where it fits best: I just write without editing, and then edit the document once I've sent it to the laptop.

The display is bright enough to use the Neo out of doors--at least in the shade.
Indeed, as I'm writing this I'm sitting outside in an Adirondack chair, enjoying the fresh air.

I thought about buying a protective case for it, but I'm not about to shell out a hundred bucks for a case for a $20 item!

I don't think I've been this excited about a new tech item since 1981, when I bought my first computer--a Kaypro CP/M computer.