Next thing I know, I come to HN and see this post. I guess it's refreshing to know that I'm not the only software engineer who wants to reject modernity. I love programming, I love CS, I love mathematics; but I hate modern computers, internet and software. They're distracting, addictive, bloated, annoying, slow, broken... I just wish I could make a mechanical computer from woods and program that over the weekends.
https://www.recycledgoods.com/dec-la120-da-decwriter-iii-dec...
Computer distraction is killing my life and I'm currently spending Saturdays as no-screen day (no phone/computer use) but I'd be willing to use a calculator-on-steroids like this as a replacement, which I imagine is not as distracting. (Usual TI programmable calculators are what I'm eyeing right now but their keyboard is not good. I want a usual Qwerty keyboard and linux)
Something like this? "A digital typewriter based on a Raspberry Pi and an E-Ink screen. ... The case has been made from a locally grown cypress. ..."
https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/
The code/build instructions are available on GitHub.
I think it's a much more practical form factor than a cyberdeck, tbh.
I can think of at least some examples from a long time ago where you couldn’t bring in your gear to a customer datacenter as an escorted visitor. They had a room you could use your stuff in on another floor, and would lend your escort a device if needed. It used to be a real pain for our CEs at the time. They’d have to do things like print log files and fax from a nearby kinkos.
It had more to do with contracts in place with mainframe vendors over “trade secrets”.
Tell me more.
For real products, there is also the clockworkpi devterm. But the one I'm really interested in is the ready! 100. I think both have been on HN recently. The Ready is really just a case that you can put most any SBC into: from a raspberry pi to an Intel NUC. The screen hooks up via hdmi and the (mechanical) keyboard via usb. I'm planning to put a ryzen board (or maybe a nuc) into mine, along with an SDR. I also do some programming of '80s era commercial radios, which require an RS-232 and software running in DOS (known issues running under dosbox/vm, though freedos is fine). So I'd be making a triple-boot machine. I know one person mentioned planning to put two different SBCs inside the case, a low-power RPi4 and a higher powered ryzen board. Then they can switch between depending on their need.
DISCLAIMER: I am a backer of the ready100 (neo pledge) and I do hope it meets its funding goal. But I have no financial interest. In fact, if it doesn't reach its funding goal, I get my money back.
ready100: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jlafleur/ready-model-10...
I'm not so sure about this VT-69, either. You could just get a TRS-80 Model 100 off of eBay for $80 and be done with it. The only downside of the 100 is the small screen, but if you're only using it as a dumb terminal anyway, that's not horrible. There's even abandonware to make the TRS-80 display 60 or 70 columns.
In my case, I'm looking to dual-boot and run programs in the field. Most of those can run in Linux, but some will only work in Windows. This isn't to be like my primary laptop where I'm mostly concerned about battery life and writing code. It's a secondary device, dedicated to specific tasks. I almost purchased the GDP Micro PC for this, and may still depending on the kickstarter. What I liked about the Ready is that I can swap out the motherboard and pretty much every other component over time as needs change. The 3.5" - 4" single board computers keep advancing, getting more power and in some cases, getting cheaper. An Intel NUC with 4-8GB of ram today could be swapped out with a 32GB Ryzen w/GPU board in a few years.
It's a niche inside of a niche, so not everyone will see a need. But a stack of antiquated, mostly dead laptops and tablets motivates me to seek out something like this.
First, it has to be designed around a real (non-tenkey) keyboard, with a 25- 40- whatever-line screen chosen for size. That is the minimum footprint. Then stuff everything else underneath this top in as thin a manner as possible, of which the CPU and its cooling would probably be the thickest component.
I'm skeptical that anybody needs these tools to fit in pockets.
It looks enormous, like it was designed by Commodore in the early 1980's when they made the Commodore 64!
It looks like a C64 with a screen and WiFi! And it's not even much bigger than a C64 for the screen, the C64 already had a hefty "forehead".
Most of the stuff that runs over USB in that sector is just a serial port as well.
Computers for consumers mostly stopped shipping with DB9 ports a decade or more ago (although, fun fact, my 3-year-old Dell Precision has a real RS-232 port via the dock) but RS-232 and its TTL equivalent are still in heavy use in industry, datacenters, and embedded computing.
> it runs a full Linux system with an ARM SOC.
So is it a dumb terminal or not?
However, there's an internal 2x20 header that just happens to have the same pin configuration as a popular single board computer. If you plug in that SBC, it becomes a full *nix system. And you'll be able to upgrade when a newer version of that SBC comes out.
Think of it as a VT-180, but instead of a custom Z80 board running CP/M, it uses a Linux board you probably already have sitting in a drawer somewhere.
For instance HTML only is a dumb client, HTML + JS is a smart client.
Even back in the day, dumb terminals could have pretty respectable processing power.
I bought an old minitel for 3€ a year ago, still intending to stuff a pi zero inside to achieve mostly that -- but more bulky, owning to the CRT tube.
It would be nice to make it foldable. Maybe consider e-ink as an option for the screen?
I like the fact that this just charges over USB-C, and communicates over a "full-sized" RS-232 connector. How convenient ! But is it a typo and they meant a DB-9 connector instead of "DE"-9? I know no such connector, and it looks like a DB-9 to me, although I see no picture from the back.
> The DE-9 D-sub 9-pin connector is often mistakenly referred to as the "DB-9" connector. The "E" refers to the shell size. A "DB-25" connector has a "B" size shell, but the common nine-pin connector is smaller and has an "E" size shell.
I think these personal terminals are really cool, and might foster some interesting innovation in the near future.
I thought they'd decided that the BOM was going to be well over $300 and shelved it because they wouldn't be able to make a successful commercial product. They'd settled on one just for themselves.
I guess that's changed?
Anyway, as much as I'm excited about the possibility of it, I don't think it will see the light of day.
Unfortunately for me, that means spending a lot of time getting the code to work, and getting the code to work fast. And writing a TFT driver from a datasheet that is incomplete. That's why it's been taking so long. That, and quarantine miasma and depression or something like that.
Now the BOM is reasonable, and this is something I can sell for ~$100. With some careful component selection, the major items on the BOM will also be in production for the next decade, so there's time for me to amortize how much time I've spent on this.
Give it a few months. I'm hoping to get some prototype units in the hands of testers by April.
Would it be possible, then, to roll your own motherboard for, say, Core i3-8100 all from public information? How hard could it be?
> Reject Modernity, Embrace RS232 with a DE-9 Connector. Charge over USB-C.
I'm sold, take my money.
[1] https://twitter.com/ViolenceWorks/status/1321669741790945281
I bet there's enough space inside the case for some variety of Raspberry Pi, battery pack, and the appropriate interface electronics to connect it to the serial port.
[0] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/2720/Tandy-Portable-W...
I'm keeping an eye on two projects but probably won't actually buy anything (as I've never really used my Gemini PDA)
The Popcorn Pocket PC: https://pocket.popcorncomputer.com/
Pinephone with keyboard: https://www.pine64.org/2021/01/15/january-update-happy-new-g...
One of the giveaways is the keyboard layout. Have that product been ever used even in prototype form, this would definitely and immediate come back as a non-starter for CLI usage.
