Are You a Writer Who’s Easily Distracted? This Is the Computer for You

Hemingwrite digital typewriter is for writing only

Writers looking to minimize distractions and get work done have come up with some unorthodox ways of staying focused. Whether it's a New Age writing retreat full of picturesque cabins out in the middle of nowhere, Amtrak's write-on-a-train scholarship thing, or George R.R. Martin working on a DOS computer that might as well have belonged to Aristotle, writers will do almost anything not to check Facebook every 10 minutes.

Now, we have another option: Hemingwrite, a digital typewriter with single-use functionality that's glorious and simple. The device was invented, and is currently being Kickstarted, by Adam Leeb and Patrick Paul, who claim the battery can go for a month without needing a recharge, and that it can remember over 1 million pages of text. How would you even test that?

The Hemingwrite can be had for less than $400, which is loads more expensive—and only somewhat more convenient—than writing with pen and paper, which has worked out pretty well for humanity over millennia. Plus, it can't connect to the Internet, either. But if you're a pretty serious writer, one of these things would pay for itself before long. Those old-school keyboards are weirdly satisfying to type with, too.