Windsor Independent - March 2016

product
review
SMART STROKES
printed space bar and a Raspberry
Pi microcomputer.
The typewriter was
invented in the 1860’s
and fast became the
most widely used form of
drafting type. By the turn
of the last century it had
almost completely fallen
from favour.
BY JAY VERSPEELT
It was in the 1980’s that the word
processor began to succeed its
mechanical counterpart. Today
there are only a small handful
of companies who make them.
Two Detroit expats are taking the
typewriter into the 21st century.
Adam Leeb and Patrick Paul are cofounders
of the Astrohaus Freewrite,
formerly called the Hemingwrite,
a smart typewriter with all the
distraction free aspects of an old
machine and all the connectivity of
a computer.
“We believe that writers deserve
their own professional tools to
maximize their success,” said Leeb.
“For the first time ever, writers are
able to have a pure, distraction-free
environment while retaining all the
benefits of digital documents.”
In January 2015 the pair launched a
Kickstarter for their project which
sported a video of the prototype
model. It had been hobbled
together from kindle parts, stock
mechanical keyboards with a 3D
“[It was made from] all sorts of
crazy things to try to get something
to look like it worked,” said Leeb. “It
did, but now it’s a custom board and
chipset running our own version
of Linux. We’ve optimized it for the
screen and for the keyboard. It’s
much more streamlined”
Their proof of design netted them
$342,471 in funding, well above
their goal price of $250,000, a presale
of over 1000 machines and a
Core77 Design Awards honour.
“The thing that’s hidden is that this
is a very high powered computer
hidden in the cloak of a typewritery
looking thing. We’re using all the
latest technologies in terms of
processors and power management,
memory and everything in
that regard. The technological
requirements are significant.”
So significant that in the last year
they moved to New York to be
closer to the the literary scene, and
grew their team from two to six,
two of whom are based Europe
and helped to write the code for
the machines OS, and multiple
trips to China to work with the
manufacturer.
As of February 23 the machines will
be available online, with a $450-
$550 USD price tag. Available in any
colour, as long as it’s black.
It’s worth noting that the machine
costs more and does less than a
normal computer but that is Paul
and Leeb’s aim. They state writers
tend to have quirks in their forms of
writing such as George R.R. Martin
using a DOS computer, or Jonathan
Franzen destroying the Ethernet
ports on his laptops.
The Freewrite can store up to
one million pages, has Wi-Fi
connectivity to Dropbox, Evernote,
Google Drive and eventually
iCloud, and can hold a charge for
approximately a month.
The Freewrite is the newest form of
this idea however similar products
have existed in the past. In 1992
ex-Apple engineers created the
Alphasmart, a keyboard with a
screen that was able to log up to 200
pages worth of keystrokes that could
be exported to a computer later.
Before that the Tandy Corporation
made a word processing computer
that was enjoyed by journalists in the
80’s because of their early internet
connectivity. Even today conversion
kits exist for turning old mechanical
typewriters into keyboards which
can be connected to any USB device
while still retaining their original
functionality.
“We are excited to launch a new
tech product for writers that focuses
exclusively on providing the best
writing experience,” said Paul.
14 MARCH 2016 Vol. 04 | Issue 03