remarkable-tablet.md (7353B)
1 +++ 2 title = "Quite the reMarkable Device" 3 date = 2021-01-22 4 updated = 2021-08-10 5 [extra] 6 type = "post" 7 +++ 8 9 Lately, there's been renewed interest in clean, simple technology 10 built to help us focus. Protocols like [Gemini][gemini] strip away 11 the chaos of the web. Hardware hackers fit screens in 12 [mirrors][mirror] and build beautiful minimalist displays to 13 [read the news][newspaper], display data neatly in a [picture 14 frame][frame], or provide a [daily summary][dashboard]. Hidden amongst 15 these many awesome projects is the [reMarkable 2][tablet]. 16 <!-- more --> 17 18 I've been using the reMarkable for the past month or so and it is a 19 seriously solid device. I use it mainly to take notes, at which it 20 excels. The e-ink display is the best I have ever seen, barely ever 21 refreshing the entire screen and almost entirely without the temporary 22 artifacts that plague similar devices. The pencil is comfortable to 23 use – slightly fuzzy – and, interestingly, entirely passive: it never 24 needs to charge. Given that it's meant to replace your paper, it 25 shouldn't be too surprising that the tablet's also incredibly thin. 26 27 ## cornellNotes 28 29 In one of my classes, I'm required to take Cornell notes. On what may 30 be a related note, it's a terrible class. Regardless, I need to get an 31 A and so notes I shall take. The reMarkable comes with a built-in 32 Cornell notes template. It's slightly different than the format I'm 33 used to, but it fits the bill well enough. 34 35 It's hard to describe the experience of using the device. I would 36 say that it feels shockingly natural. Using it to take notes feels 37 like writing on a clipboard with none of the usual annoyances – the 38 paper sliding, having finite pages; and all the benefits of a digital 39 device – sending files via email, OCR, a select-and-drag tool, etc. 40 It's convenient, feels nice, and performs well. Most importantly, it 41 makes me *excited* to use it every time I turn it on. 42 43 ## workSheet 44 45 In another class, the instructor distributes worksheets every once in 46 a while to complete during class. Now that we're in distance learning 47 due to COVID, these are `pdf`s – perfect for use with the reMarkable. 48 49 I download them onto my laptop, upload them through the app, and 50 voila. Look Mom, no scratch paper! I can write directly on the 51 worksheet. I've only started doing it this week, and it's amazing. 52 Sure, there are programs on the computer that allow you to write 53 on a `pdf`, but doing math with a trackpad sounds like torture. With 54 the reMarkable, it's enjoyable. 55 56 That's the device's biggest impact. I used to hate writing by hand. 57 I would beg my teachers to let me type assignments so I didn't have 58 to use a pencil – what am I, a caveman? Now, my paper has superpowers. 59 60 ## notKindle 61 62 It's also a suprisingly good reading device, with native support for 63 `epub`s and `pdf`s. It doesn't have a backlight, but to be fair 64 neither do actual books so I'm not too bothered. The default font size 65 is quite large, and the UI is really minimal which makes for peaceful, 66 undistracted reading. I own two Kindles already, but I've taken to 67 using the reMarkable instead for a number of reasons: 68 69 1. There's no ads or tracking. On Kindle there's an ad on the bottom 70 of the homescreen, which expands to the whole screen when you turn it 71 off – plus it sends every move you make to live forever with Big Papa 72 Bezos. Not so with the reMarkable. 73 2. The screen on the reMarkable is physically larger. Though sometimes 74 the compact size of my Kindle comes in handy, like when traveling, 75 having a nice big display is definitely an advantage. My Kindle is 76 closer to a large phone, and the reMarkable is definitely a tablet. 77 3. The reMarkable is a fairly open device. The Kindle, on the other 78 hand, is locked down and dripping with DRM (fairly easy to break but 79 still an encumberance). 80 81 The developers have also made a browser extension for Chromium-based 82 browsers called [Read on reMarkable][rorm], which I would love to see 83 the insides of but is unfortunately closed-source. Basically, it takes 84 any webpage, turns it into an `epub`, and sends it off to your device. 85 I love it and use it near constantly: whenever I run into anything on 86 HN that is either really long, or I just want to save for later, I 87 hit a button and it sends it to the tablet. Again, just incredibly 88 convenient. 89 90 **EDIT:** [Dario Vladović][dv] has pointed out to me that extensions 91 are unpackable, and thus though it's not open source it is, by nature, 92 source available. 93 94 ## jailBreak 95 96 This section is titled "jailbreak," which is actually a bit of 97 misnomer because the reMarkable runs Linux and you can `ssh` into it 98 with ease. It's also not too fitting because I'm not just going to 99 talk about modifying the device, but also about official accessories. 100 My device came with a [Book Folio][folio] and [Marker][marker] in the 101 box, which is pretty good value. I did find out while writing this 102 that they offer a "Marker Plus" that comes with a built-in eraser. It 103 is, unfortunately, out of stock currently but I plan on buying it once 104 it returns in "January 2021," so supposedly sometime in the next week 105 or so. 106 107 Ok now time for the jailbreak-y stuff. There's an active community on 108 Freenode, an unofficial [wiki][wiki], and an [Awesome list][awesome]. 109 All of these are really great resources for cool stuff you can do with 110 your device, and I'm planning to begin experimenting with them in the 111 coming weeks. My first goal is to get [KOReader][reader] running so I 112 can sync my extensive Calibre library to the device. I'm going to 113 avoid adding any [games][games] so as not to add additional complexity 114 to a device that aims to remove distractions, and proceed slowly so I 115 don't brick my fancy new toy. Stick around to see how that goes. 116 117 ## pS 118 119 The recently published fairly viral [Ditherpunk article][dither] 120 by [Surma][surma] gives a really interesting overview of image 121 dithering. After reading the article, I noticed that the reMarkable 122 itself uses dithering to "fade off" your writing and make it look 123 like pencil. Neat. 124 125 Also, comparing the reMarkable to the Kindle makes me want to 126 jailbreak that too – I'll find some time to look into that soon. 127 128 **EDIT:** I ended up jailbreaking one of my Kindles, which I now use 129 daily as my primary book-reading device (as opposed to the reMarkable, 130 which I think of as an article-reading device). I should write some 131 stuff about that. 132 133 [tablet]: https://remarkable.com/ 134 [github]: https://github.com/reMarkable 135 [gemini]: https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ 136 [mirror]: https://onezero.medium.com/smarter-mirrors-and-how-theyre-made-327997b9eff7 137 [newspaper]: https://onezero.medium.com/the-morning-paper-revisited-35b407822494 138 [frame]: https://onezero.medium.com/meet-accent-352cfa95813a 139 [dashboard]: https://healeycodes.com/hacking-together-an-e-ink-dashboard/ 140 [rorm]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-on-remarkable/bfhkfdnddlhfippjbflipboognpdpoeh 141 [dv]: https://github.com/vladimyr 142 [folio]: https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2/folios 143 [marker]: https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2/markers 144 [wiki]: https://remarkablewiki.com/ 145 [awesome]: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable 146 [reader]: https://github.com/koreader/koreader 147 [games]: https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable#user-content-games 148 [dither]: https://surma.dev/things/ditherpunk/index.html 149 [surma]: https://surma.dev/