Writing Away From the Screen

I had written earlier that the first step of my paper reading process is actually printing the paper. I like to physically touch the paper and handwrite and doodle in the margins. For years, a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen loaded with Waterman blue-black ink was my weapon of choice for wrestling with the papers. For thinking hard and for getting things out of my chest (exploring how I feel about something), that I also relied on that fountain pen.

This past year, I served as a Program Committee member for SOSP, OSDI, NSDI, and ATC. This meant reviewing about 15 heavy-duty papers for each conference. My HP laser printer is 20 years old and has finally gotten glitchy (the paper feed is broken, requiring me to feed pages carefully lest it jams). Facing the review workload, I looked for a solution that could save my sanity, and some trees as well.

So I bought a reMarkable Paper Pro (RMPP). This is an e-ink reader/writer with color and 11.8 inch screen. I knew what I was getting into:  muted colors, screen flashing, and UI slowness. There are no software apps on the tablet; it is strictly a digital paper substitute.

The claim is that this forced minimalism is the appeal of RMPP compared to an iPad, which comes feature-maxxed and distraction-heavy. After a year of using the RMPP, I agree.

Beyond focus, the writing feel is a selling point. The RMPP does well here, whereas the iPad still feels like writing on glass (though I hear that PaperLike screen protector for iPad improves the experience by providing paper-like friction). Does the RMPP fully replace the soul of a Pilot Metropolitan? No, it doesn't. But it gets close enough for doing some longhand thinking, and it is editable and searchable (unlike my fountain pen).  

Battery life is another interesting trade-off. E-ink is incredibly power efficient, but since the RMPP screen is somewhat dark (far from a bright paper-white background), I have to use it with the backlight. This reduces the battery duration from weeks to a couple days, depending on use. Well, a standard iPad would also last through a full day of work as well, which makes it also acceptable. While e-ink may be better on the eyes compared to the iPad's LCD screen, and works well under sunlight, let's be honest, how many times are you actually going to use the RMPP outside?

Overall, I can't complain about the RMPP. It solved my paper reviewing use case, and serves as a scratchpad during Zoom meetings. It has also taken over as my notebook for longhand writing. But at the end of the day, it remains a niche product. Considering the cost of RMPP versus iPad, an iPadAir with 13 inch screen is likely a better deal (if you can de-claw its distractions). The RMPP gels really well with some people, but its limitations will rub many the wrong way.

So, do your own research before you get a tablet. But as I wrote in my previous post, having a plan to escape the computer screen is a smart move. It is getting harder to do deep work in front of a glowing monitor, and securing an "analog" escape (be it a digital tablet, or a physical notebook) is important for doing more focused and centered thinking.