On Calm Computing

February 18, 2024

career-advice, creative-process, writing

Calm Computing is free of distraction

Forget the flurry of pings from your watch or phone or laptop. Stop relearning complex artificial gestures to expose hidden features previously available in earlier versions. 

More and more people want flow, they want control over their computing. They want calm computing.

• The Remarkable Tablet  has a huge fanbase because it’s like really smart paper. Instant on, no distractions, not even a clock, and an eInk screen that you can use in full sun. It’s a perfect example of a calm computing device.

• As is the Freewrite Alpha, a modern typewriter that does nothing but write.

• Many re-seek single-use devices like dumbphones.

• Or the King Jim Pomera foldable eInk typewriter, it’s awesome! It’s only in Japanese and the Romanji characters are single-pixel bitmap fonts, so it’s kind of ugly, but its somehow really charmingly clunky and distraction free.

• I tried the Daylight Tablet, a ultra-fast reflective display on a tablet that allows you to work comfortably in full sunlight. Sadly, it wasn't for me.

After countless productivity apps, I’ve found the only thing that survives is paper and text files. So I’ve jettisoned all but a few programs and use an interactive text file with custom CSS typography to replace all my apps. It can be stored anywhere as plaintext and is viewable on any device.

This is calm computing.

I think you may see a trend towards devices like this, where they’re designed to work with you, not actively demand your attention elsewhere.

All of these devices command a premium price point, because clear thinking will be a premium commodity for knowledge workers and creative professionals.