M102: Changing Expectations of Writing

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One of the reasons that I wanted to get my hands on a Tandy 100/102 model was the ease of writing. I have always written a lot (some people have enormous collections of mail from me, though oddly enough my WIFE threw a lot of them away... she said there were just too damn many...), and one of the appeals of the eMate (when I first heard about it) was how easy it would be to write on a full-size keyboard with instant-on capabilities and all that.

Like I've said before, the only problem was that, well, annoying price range. I can always buy pen and paper, people. I don't have to make it electronic. The only way I'm going to go electronic is if it's cheap enough for me.

The Model 102 that I got most definitely fit THAT requirement.

Anyway, with its instant-on, its ability to instantly save everything that I type, and its easy transfer capabilities, I've loved it. Of course, it's tiny file size has been annoying as shit. I wish I could type more, but that's something that has actually changed my writing style...

Positive effect number one

It's really odd, but the small file size has led me to change the way I write. In a sense, it's the same compactness of style that you get to when you write by hand. Who wants to be verbose when you have to write all of this by HAND?!? Yeah, right, uh-huh, that's what I do. Okay, people who have read my mail can disagree, but you know what I mean, right? On a desktop with limitless memory, you don't really pay attention to your verbiage, and eventually you end up with the Micro$oft problem: bloatware and bloatwords. Crap, in other words, that's usable, readable, but not really efficient and enjoyable.

So, on the Tandy, I've had to cut down on how I say things, and it's been nice.

Positive effect number two

I can't get enough of this idea, but the instant on ability has really helped me out. I don't know how many times I've had an idea while around the house, and I've picked up the Tandy, flicked it on, and just plain written. I can outline, I can type out some notes, and I can do it easily!

My wife finds it funny that I rely so much on the machine, but it's just easier to do it electronically in a plugged in world. That way, I can just tranfer files (like this one...) and run a macro or two (easy enough to write) or do some quick find/replace commands, I can put everything in order.

Positive effect number three

One of the more important parts of my non-working, non-married life is doing a radio show. It's an addiction, and it's something that I try to share with the world. As time has passed, I've gotten more and more anal about the music that I play and the things that I do behind the scenes. I haven't written music reviews for public consumption in quite a while, but I have been doing my playlists while on the air and posting those on the web.

I do it with the Tandy (duh). By entering the data in a really simple form (so that the artist, the album, the song, and the label are listed on a line each, with a simple return/tab pattern), I can write what I'm doing, then download the text file later on, do a find/replace that takes less than a minute, put the whole thing on top of a previous html template, and upload the sucker so that it's on the web. Total time outside of the radio station? Less than 5 minutes.

It lets me share the music (even though it is akin to writing about modern dance or abstract art), and that's been really nice.

Positive effect number four

I've taken two trips recently, one to New York, one to Minnesota, and on both I could have used my laptop. Why bother? During the trip, I mean. While on the bus to NYC or on the plane to Minnesota, I just pulled out the Tandy and was able to work. It wasn't a hassle, I didn't worry about battery life, I didn't worry about recharging (I did have to change my NiCads in the middle... ooooh, pain and agony, but I keep a spare with me for just such an occasion), I just wrote. That's easy, that's simple, and that's the way it SHOULD be. Also, I was able to turn the machine on and off immediately after they said those dreaded words: turn off the machine within ten minutes of landing, you guidance system distorting workaholics!

Another fringe benefit? My notebook wouldn't have fit in the space for half of these flights. There wouldn't have been enough room to open the damn thing, let alone read the damn screen (I'm a tall guy, and invariably the people in front of me are, too, and we all try to contort our ways into those seats...). The Tandy won again.

The only problem was on the home flight, when I literally filled the thing up. I was about 200 bytes from the end (200 letters, about a sentence or two). That was a problem.

But then again, that would be why I'm getting my hands on a WP-2 with 64k rather than 24k. Hmmmmm, I'll have to tell you more about that, won't I...

(written 1 May 98)

Ciao,

Michael Wittmann