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Kendall Clark: AlphaSmart Neo's interesting for what it's _not_
Merlin Mann | Sep 21 2005
On the Joys of Primitive Computing: The AlphaSmart Neo I keep hearing rumblings about the AlphaSmart Neo, but haven’t put my hands to one yet. Anybody out there got one? Tried one? Seems a bit steep at $250, but I’d love to play with one Kendall Clark seems to think Neo’s part of a larger trend:
And no internet. Some days, I believe I’d find that pretty appealing. 19 Comments
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 Interesting thread and comments. Like many...Submitted by Richard (not verified) on September 21, 2005 - 12:11pm.
Interesting thread and comments. Like many in this thread I’ve used and/or owned pretty much every battery powered keyboard since the RS model 100 including many that never saw the light of commercial day. It’s a category of writing tool that has always interested me, very much akin to tape or digital recorders. I think many commenting here are being a bit unfair to AlphaSmart products (the Neo is the latest in a line of similar products). All of the AlphaSmart keyboards were designed primarily to support writing in K-12 education. The fact that professional writers have adopted them is a great thing but that’s not where AlphaSmart’s design energy goes. The fact that any model of AlphaSmart or Neo connects to a computer via a standard cable and does keyboard emulation to send into any writing environment, coupled with the fact that they have virtually no operating system to wade through I think make them a bit different and in many ways more interesing devices than competing products. The Neo has a lot more memory than earlier models as well as a much nicer keypad. I think the Neo is a fantastic tool and I use mine in places I’d never take my PowerBook but where a voice recorder might be inappropriate. Disclaimer: I’ve been an advisor to AlphaSmart since it was founded and know the founders well. I simply like the way their products work and I know I can give one to my granddaughter without having to spend a lot of time teacher her what’s what. If the poster would like a Neo, get in touch. » POSTED IN:
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