Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning.
- UK Bookseller WH Smith has been sold for $98 million.
- It turns out that Trump’s tariffs won’t apply to books printed overseas, but imported paper will be taxed.
- E-ink just launched a 75″ color epaper display. There’s no word yet on price, but I expect it will cost about 10-12 times the price of a comparable flat screen tv.
- Tinker Writerdeck OS can turn your old laptop into a word processor.
- Coincidentally, I just learned a new term for word processor gadgets like the Astrohaus Freewrite: They’re now called Writer Decks. (IMO “Writer Desk” would be a better name.)
Always informative—Thanks
WriterDeck OS is a fun idea — and I love my old AlphaSmarts — but you can accomplish the same thing on almost any device using a text editor, although the siren song of the Internet and other tempations will still linger on many devices.
On my Chomebook, I use Caret (which handles HUGE files without lagging, unlike Google Docs which bogs down once you get above 25,000 words or so).
On my Android device, I use OldSchool Text Editor, with either a Bluetooth keyboard or a standard keyboard using an OTG adaptor cable.
Windows and Apple devices, even ancient DOS devices, have tons of text editors which get the job done.
The nice thing about using .txt format is that it is small, flexible and universal. You can accomplish a lot of Word Processing needs just using Mardown syntax, so that when you pull your file into HTML or a word processor, the formatting is automated.