Addventures with Writing Devices, Part Two, by Neil McGowan

 

The search for tools to make my writing easier continues. I’ve put the idea of a custom built word processor built around a Raspberry Pi to one side for the time being, partly due to time (or, more accurately, my lack of it) and partly due to practicalities – realistically, I’d need a 3D printer to design a case for the hardware, and some way of connecting a screen and keyboard. It’s doable, but I don’t have the time or money to invest in the equipment, or learning how to use it.

Instead, I’ve gone in a slightly different direction. My wife recently changed her phone – she went to the dark side, as I call it, and now has an iPhone. Of course, this doesn’t play nicely with any of the existing kit so the Garmin is going to be replaced by an Apple Watch, and she’s already got an iPad.

This is often something we joke about – I used to teach on Macs, many years ago, and tried an iPhone once – their stuff is not for me, as I like to tinker and do things my way; but I’ve recommended it to people for whom that model of use fits.

Anyway, long story short, this meant there was a Kindle Fire 11 Max going spare, so I thought I’d take a look.

First problem – it’s locked to the Amazon App store. This is, quite frankly, crap – mostly games and stuff that holds no interest to me. It also has apps you can’t remove (no, Amazon, I don’t want your music or movies or games – possibly because I’m a grumpy old git, according to my children.) I also don’t really do social media either. (And yes, I’m aware of the irony in writing a blog on a social platform – well-written, and thought provoking long-form content on a subject I’m interested in appeals to me; random photos of someone’s dinner, or even worse, sports news, does not.)

No problem, I can work around that. Despite dire warnings of impending doom, I’ve managed to side load a few different note taking apps to try out.

Next problem – some apps just won’t work. I’m kind of used to this with my phone – banking apps, for example, won’t work unless you have an unrooted iOs or Android device. The claim is for security, although how a phone running Android 7 is more secure than mine running Android 15, I’m not sure – the only thing I don’t have is any Google services.

So, I have a tablet, can get most of the apps I need (Libre Office direct on the tablet, with Joplin for note-taking, and a shortcut to Murena Workspace (Kind of like Google Docs but more privacy focussed). I’ve also managed to muzzle their godawful AI as well, and popped a decent browser on – in fairness, I tried Silk and found it somewhat lacking, so I’ve added Waterfox. Get rid of the default search options, add some privacy extensions and ad blockers and I’m good to go. I’ve even grabbed a wee stylus to play around with handwritten notes.

It’s early days yet, but so far it’s a surprisingly capable device once all the background processes are tamed. I found an old, bluetooth mini keyboard that connects – not the nicest to type on but good enough for a wee half-hour session at lunchtime. I’ve even managed to get an ebook converter installed so I can edit that way and highlight typos, changes, etc. And all for the grand total of nothing!