remarkable-tablet.md (7331B)
1 +++ 2 title = "Quite the reMarkable Device" 3 date = 2021-01-22 4 updated = 2021-08-10 5 +++ 6 7 Lately, there's been renewed interest in clean, simple technology 8 built to help us focus. Protocols like [Gemini][gemini] strip away 9 the chaos of the web. Hardware hackers fit screens in 10 [mirrors][mirror] and build beautiful minimalist displays to 11 [read the news][newspaper], display data neatly in a [picture 12 frame][frame], or provide a [daily summary][dashboard]. Hidden amongst 13 these many awesome projects is the [reMarkable 2][tablet]. 14 <!-- more --> 15 16 I've been using the reMarkable for the past month or so and it is a 17 seriously solid device. I use it mainly to take notes, at which it 18 excels. The e-ink display is the best I have ever seen, barely ever 19 refreshing the entire screen and almost entirely without the temporary 20 artifacts that plague similar devices. The pencil is comfortable to 21 use – slightly fuzzy – and, interestingly, entirely passive: it never 22 needs to charge. Given that it's meant to replace your paper, it 23 shouldn't be too surprising that the tablet's also incredibly thin. 24 25 ## cornellNotes 26 27 In one of my classes, I'm required to take Cornell notes. On what may 28 be a related note, it's a terrible class. Regardless, I need to get an 29 A and so notes I shall take. The reMarkable comes with a built-in 30 Cornell notes template. It's slightly different than the format I'm 31 used to, but it fits the bill well enough. 32 33 It's hard to describe the experience of using the device. I would 34 say that it feels shockingly natural. Using it to take notes feels 35 like writing on a clipboard with none of the usual annoyances – the 36 paper sliding, having finite pages; and all the benefits of a digital 37 device – sending files via email, OCR, a select-and-drag tool, etc. 38 It's convenient, feels nice, and performs well. Most importantly, it 39 makes me *excited* to use it every time I turn it on. 40 41 ## workSheet 42 43 In another class, the instructor distributes worksheets every once in 44 a while to complete during class. Now that we're in distance learning 45 due to COVID, these are `pdf`s – perfect for use with the reMarkable. 46 47 I download them onto my laptop, upload them through the app, and 48 voila. Look Mom, no scratch paper! I can write directly on the 49 worksheet. I've only started doing it this week, and it's amazing. 50 Sure, there are programs on the computer that allow you to write 51 on a `pdf`, but doing math with a trackpad sounds like torture. With 52 the reMarkable, it's enjoyable. 53 54 That's the device's biggest impact. I used to hate writing by hand. 55 I would beg my teachers to let me type assignments so I didn't have 56 to use a pencil – what am I, a caveman? Now, my paper has superpowers. 57 58 ## notKindle 59 60 It's also a suprisingly good reading device, with native support for 61 `epub`s and `pdf`s. It doesn't have a backlight, but to be fair 62 neither do actual books so I'm not too bothered. The default font size 63 is quite large, and the UI is really minimal which makes for peaceful, 64 undistracted reading. I own two Kindles already, but I've taken to 65 using the reMarkable instead for a number of reasons: 66 67 1. There's no ads or tracking. On Kindle there's an ad on the bottom 68 of the homescreen, which expands to the whole screen when you turn it 69 off – plus it sends every move you make to live forever with Big Papa 70 Bezos. Not so with the reMarkable. 71 2. The screen on the reMarkable is physically larger. Though sometimes 72 the compact size of my Kindle comes in handy, like when traveling, 73 having a nice big display is definitely an advantage. My Kindle is 74 closer to a large phone, and the reMarkable is definitely a tablet. 75 3. The reMarkable is a fairly open device. The Kindle, on the other 76 hand, is locked down and dripping with DRM (fairly easy to break but 77 still an encumberance). 78 79 The developers have also made a browser extension for Chromium-based 80 browsers called [Read on reMarkable][rorm], which I would love to see 81 the insides of but is unfortunately closed-source. Basically, it takes 82 any webpage, turns it into an `epub`, and sends it off to your device. 83 I love it and use it near constantly: whenever I run into anything on 84 HN that is either really long, or I just want to save for later, I 85 hit a button and it sends it to the tablet. Again, just incredibly 86 convenient. 87 88 **EDIT:** [Dario Vladović][dv] has pointed out to me that extensions 89 are unpackable, and thus though it's not open source it is, by nature, 90 source available. 91 92 ## jailBreak 93 94 This section is titled "jailbreak," which is actually a bit of 95 misnomer because the reMarkable runs Linux and you can `ssh` into it 96 with ease. It's also not too fitting because I'm not just going to 97 talk about modifying the device, but also about official accessories. 98 My device came with a [Book Folio][folio] and [Marker][marker] in the 99 box, which is pretty good value. I did find out while writing this 100 that they offer a "Marker Plus" that comes with a built-in eraser. It 101 is, unfortunately, out of stock currently but I plan on buying it once 102 it returns in "January 2021," so supposedly sometime in the next week 103 or so. 104 105 Ok now time for the jailbreak-y stuff. There's an active community on 106 Freenode, an unofficial [wiki][wiki], and an [Awesome list][awesome]. 107 All of these are really great resources for cool stuff you can do with 108 your device, and I'm planning to begin experimenting with them in the 109 coming weeks. My first goal is to get [KOReader][reader] running so I 110 can sync my extensive Calibre library to the device. I'm going to 111 avoid adding any [games][games] so as not to add additional complexity 112 to a device that aims to remove distractions, and proceed slowly so I 113 don't brick my fancy new toy. Stick around to see how that goes. 114 115 ## pS 116 117 The recently published fairly viral [Ditherpunk article][dither] 118 by [Surma][surma] gives a really interesting overview of image 119 dithering. After reading the article, I noticed that the reMarkable 120 itself uses dithering to "fade off" your writing and make it look 121 like pencil. Neat. 122 123 Also, comparing the reMarkable to the Kindle makes me want to 124 jailbreak that too – I'll find some time to look into that soon. 125 126 **EDIT:** I ended up jailbreaking one of my Kindles, which I now use 127 daily as my primary book-reading device (as opposed to the reMarkable, 128 which I think of as an article-reading device). I should write some 129 stuff about that. 130 131 [tablet]: https://remarkable.com/ 132 [github]: https://github.com/reMarkable 133 [gemini]: https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ 134 [mirror]: https://onezero.medium.com/smarter-mirrors-and-how-theyre-made-327997b9eff7 135 [newspaper]: https://onezero.medium.com/the-morning-paper-revisited-35b407822494 136 [frame]: https://onezero.medium.com/meet-accent-352cfa95813a 137 [dashboard]: https://healeycodes.com/hacking-together-an-e-ink-dashboard/ 138 [rorm]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-on-remarkable/bfhkfdnddlhfippjbflipboognpdpoeh 139 [dv]: https://github.com/vladimyr 140 [folio]: https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2/folios 141 [marker]: https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2/markers 142 [wiki]: https://remarkablewiki.com/ 143 [awesome]: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable 144 [reader]: https://github.com/koreader/koreader 145 [games]: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#user-content-games 146 [dither]: https://surma.dev/things/ditherpunk/index.html 147 [surma]: https://surma.dev/