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Kim Stanely Robinson is one of the most influential authors in the sci-fi genre, with a literary style that many find to be elevated a step above what is typical for genre fiction. The Mars trilogy in particular, which begins with Red Mars, is very popular, with millions of copies sold. Redditor Jiadarola likes building “writerdecks” for their own work and found inspiration in Kim Stanley Robinson’s novels when they tackled this project, appropriately called the Robinson Writerdeck.
The term “writedeck” is relatively new and describes a sub-category of cyberdeck optimized for word processing. Typically, writerdecks minimize distractions by cutting the hardware down to just a display, keyboard, and a system-on-chip (SoC) or microcontroller, in order to promote productive writing sessions. They prioritize the practical aspects of churning out words, while discarding most of the “general purpose” functionality we see in modern computers, smartphones, and tablets.
But even so, Jiadarola did start with something kind of like a smartphone: the BOOX Palma 1. It is an interesting device that is usually marketed as a phone-sized e-reader (it has a 6.13” display). It doesn’t have a cellular modem, but it runs Android and has apps, so it is kind of like a tablet. But the display is ePaper, which allows for long battery life and great text readability.
Aside from the potential for distractions thanks to its internet access and apps, the BOOX Palma 1 is pretty perfect for a writerdeck. It is self-contained and ready to go, so Jiadarola didn’t need to spend a bunch of time on cobbling together hardware, which would have been necessary with a microcontroller development board or single-board computer.
Still, there was one other piece of the puzzle that was very important: the keyboard. Jiadarola chose a Keychron V2 Max keyboard, which is a mechanical keyboard well-regarded among people who care about these things. It connects to the BOOX Palma 1 through Bluetooth and Jiadarola customized the keyboard with Drop MT3 keycaps.
The final step was designing a 3D-printable enclosure to join the BOOX Palma 1 and keyboard. Jiadarola took some design cues from the TRS-80 Model 100, which was a portable computer from the early 1980s. They then merged that with the feelings (and red color) evoked by Robinson’s Mars trilogy. The result has a kind of cassette futurism vibe that looks great and should be very functional.
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