Mind the airgap: Why nothing focuses the mind like a bit of tech antiquing
- Reference: 1594110609
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/07/dyspraxia_and_the_ibook/
- Source link:
The goal was to have a dedicated writing workstation, where I could do my best work without any distractions. This early-2000's iBook fit the bill. With a sleepy 800mHz PowerPC G3 processor and 256MB of RAM, this machine is many factors slower than my iPhone. Although it comes with a built-in AirPort Wi-Fi card, modern wireless networks confound it.
[1]
Click to enlarge
Despite coming with an ancient mechanical ATA hard drive, the laptop cold-boots in less than a minute. AppleWorks 6.0 opens almost immediately. It's weirdly nifty for something from an older era, often feeling more nimble than the 2019 MacBook Air that I otherwise work from. And the old-school Apple keyboard it includes is delightfully lovely to type on. It's spacious. Comfortable. Loud. And there's heaps of travel.
The absence of working Wi-Fi isn't a deal-breaker. Once I've finished working on some writing in AppleWorks, I'll save it as an Office 97 file to a USB flash drive and bring it to my main computer. Overall, I was surprised at how such an old piece of tech could still be a viable work machine.
Apple walks tightrope with budget iBook strategy [2]READ MORE
To most people, this iBook is an obsolete relic, worthy of either being placed in a museum or sent to a landfill. My perspective, however, is somewhat different. For some, when they're in the zone, it's easy to find themselves plucked out. All it takes is an instant message or a phone call.
For once, this iBook has allowed me to work effectively free from the noise of the modern connected world.
[3]
iBook
That's a beautiful feeling. There's something quite gratifying about being able to write something in an hour without finding yourself trapped in your mind's hinterlands.
I know I'm not the only person who struggles with the new way of working. And that's not just speaking about the condition of dyspraxia (see boxout below). For all the newfound emphasis on productivity, driven by apps like Slack and Trello, you can't help but feel as though they're anathema to actually getting stuff done.
There are, of course, less drastic ways of getting a distraction-free working environment. For one, I've used [4]iA Writer — a minimalist markdown editor available for macOS, iOS, and now Windows. But while that helps, there's always the temptation to open up Twitter or check one's email.
For me, the only option was to create an air-gapped workstation. And, in the parlance of eBay, where I bought it: A++++, would recommend.
What is dyspraxia?*
When I was four, my parents watched in concern as I struggled to fasten the velcro straps on my shoes, and repeatedly put my school uniform on back to front. When I got to class, my teachers noticed that some things didn't come to me straight away. My handwriting would start straight, but would quickly angle downwards, sharply veering to the bottom of the page in a 90˚ angle. A diagnosis of dyspraxia soon followed.
Dyspraxia — or developmental co-ordination disorder — is the little-known sibling of dyslexia and dyscalculia. Its calling card is an overall lack of physical co-ordination. Those with the condition often struggle with things that require fine motor control, like handwriting or playing sports. The condition also presents with neurological symptoms, such as poor concentration and time management.
You learn to work around those shortcomings. While it would be helpful for a writer to know shorthand, I manage just fine with a dictaphone. And despite living in Liverpool and coming from a die-hard Evertonian family, I couldn't care less about football. Some traits aren't hereditary, it seems.
It's hard to tell how many people suffer from it. Estimates put the prevalence in the population as high as [5]10 per cent , with males up to four times more likely to have it than females. However, given many of the symptoms can be dismissed as poor academic engagement, it's likely most with the condition go undiagnosed.
There's no cure. Early interventions can help, and I spent a lot of time in primary school working with an occupational therapist, learning how to trace the shape of letters with a plastic mould and a marble. Nonetheless, my handwriting remains completely illegible, putting even the most hurried of medical professionals to shame. And I'm still woeful at football. You wouldn't want me for your five-a-side team.
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/07/06/editor.jpg
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2006/01/07/budget_ibooks/
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/07/06/ibook.jpg
[4] https://ia.net/writer
[5] https://dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/dyspraxia-adults/workplace-employees/
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: What looks like gobbledegook
I don't think just because you can learn something and understand it properly makes you an "Oddball".
Re: What looks like gobbledegook
I beg to differ...
Re: What looks like gobbledegook
2 thumbs down from people who think it's OK to be stupid and it'll grow because apparently it's normal to be thick
Distractions...
For all the newfound emphasis on productivity, driven by apps like Slack and Trello, you can't help but feel as though they're anathema to actually getting stuff done.
Add MS Teams to the list - upvote 1,000,000. Bane of my life ever since it's been introduced to the org.... ooh, we'll just see if X is available and dial them in.
Re: Distractions...
Teams is terrible. I was hoping the work from home thing might lead to LESS disruptively common team meetings.
Instead it's just, I dunno, sort of a way for people to reach other team members, or for managers to "check" on us or whatever.
Unfortunately my webcam has "broken".
Re: Distractions...
Try working somewhere that has,
Teams
Slack
Zoom
BT Meetme
ServiceNow
Confluence
Jira
Sharepoint
Outlook
For all its sins email is still the only Ubiquitous messaging platform.
Old school is cool!
Indeed. Might have to go rummaging in the loft for my white plastic iBook now.
I have a few of these babies!
I have lots of old Apple gear, (all free of cost!) My fav is the PowerBook 12". I have G3s, G4s and G5s... Call me Mr. Peabody!
I was suspected of Dyspraxia...
After multiple tests it was concluded that my nervous system hadn't fully formed and for the most part I would grow out of it. Didn't help one bit with the dyslexia though (hate that word. It's cruel to have to try and remember which letter goes where in it).
I too have a retro laptop because it's much nicer to type on than newer machines (lenovo x200t, the thing is a tank and has my second favourite keyboard to type on).
I do wonder if there is any new machines with really good keyboards anymore? (the wife's new asus lappy isn't terrible but it's still not got enough key movement for me to be happy).
Re: I was suspected of Dyspraxia...
Try learning a foreign language with it. In German, it isn't any easier: die Legasthenie.
I have mild dyspraxia and dyslexia. A real pain for somebody who spends all day writing. I've taught myself to cope with it in most things and generally have to re-read everything I write 3 - 4 times. One of the things I hate with the Register forums, I'll come back after an hour and find I have written total nonsense, despite re-reading it, but I can't correct it.
Re: I was suspected of Dyspraxia...
I've tried.. My dad also had a thing for Welsh ofr a while as well which was madness inducing.
On the flipside I married a girl who can speak in 6 different languages which is a feat I could never achieve (though I can at least order food in Spanish, Italian and Malay.)
As for the down votes, would the commentard care to explain?
Re: I was suspected of Dyspraxia...
" Didn't help one bit with the dyslexia though (hate that word. It's cruel to have to try and remember which letter goes where in it)."
Until someone pointed out that it is an anagram of daily sex (with sex being the only thing written forwards) neither could I...
Does it smell?
Apparently a lot of iBooks smell like sweat, something to do with the glue used in the keyboard: https://lowendmac.com/2006/a-stinky-old-ibook-that-smells-like-sweat/
I've got a 2007 BlackBook (MacBook 2,1) which is about the easiest machine to install Libreboot on (all done in software), now running Trisquel Lite.
Re: Does it smell?
It doesn't! And very few marks, either. The previous owner clearly took care of it.
At a loss
I don't understand this. The author of this piece has spent £40 plus carriage to by an old laptop that doesn't connect to his home network and this allows him to work without interruption.
Wouldn't the same effect be achieved by simply turning off the wifi at home?
Re: At a loss
I don't know why, but it just doesn't work like that for me. I've tried, but I need to physically distance myself from my "main" laptop and work from a completely distraction-free computer.
It may not make sense to you, but it does to me!
Re: At a loss
"Wouldn't the same effect be achieved by simply turning off the wifi at home?"
It might be too tempting to turn it on again :)
Anyway, a lot of professional wordworkers like a change of environment (room, PC, etc.) if they want to really concentrate on a job, or if they're revising work done in their usual environment. Seems to help reset/focus the little grey cells.
Re: At a loss
That change of environment can be incredibly important in all sorts of ways - I used to do it myself, with an ancient monochrome laptop.
I think of it as similar to what anthropologists call 'liminality'. It's a different space with different rules. The lack of liminality is also why some people don't get on with home-working - they have lost the spatial and mental borders or boundaries that normally define work and home (or not-work).
Re: At a loss
Or in my case just pulling the USB WiFi adaptor out of its socket...
I find it easier to focus on things if I set up a special environment for the activity. E.g. when preparing maths lessons I have an old shoebox with the regulation scientific calculator, the maths instruments, a clip board and white paper, pencils, blank 'short' lesson plan templates and the recommended textbook and revision guide. This box is kept in a bureau of the kind where a flap folds down to provide a work table. Once planned up and written out, I hit the laptop and assemble/edit the resources and check the Web sites for video snippets. That way I'm selecting the resources that fit my plan for a specific class and not letting the available resources drive the plan.
Perhaps it is the same for writers who compose on the screen. A physical device associated with a specific location may be the mind trick that drops them into the 'flow state'. £40 might not appear expensive in that case.
I miss three pieces of software from my MacOS days: Preview, Textedit and Eastgate systems' Tinderbox. Preview could copy diagrams and snippets from a PDF file and paste them into textedit as vector images . Textedit was 'rich' enough for my needs. You could probably project manage something like a feature film with Tinderbox.
Re: At a loss
Turn off wifi on the machine or your Mrs and the Children will be must upset!
Re: At a loss
Circa 2000, my university library invested in a fleet of type-only devices (might have been called an "AlphaWriter" or something like that).
These things had a 4 line by 60(?) column LCD display and amazing battery life. You could type as much as you want anywhere you wanted, including many symbols. You could even choose between 8 different "files" -- for some reason with different allowed character counts -- and every keystroke was saved. No drives or any moving parts: it was about as robust, and as "dumb", as a non-graphing scientific calculator.
When the typing was done, you hooked it up to a PC using a PS/2 cable or Mac using ADB (cables came with it in a little carrying case), hit send/upload/whatever, and it essentially re-typed your entire text stroke by stroke, just way faster than mechanically possible (the speed was settable in case of compatibility issues).
Not having my own laptop -- or even my own computer until about the same time -- I like being able to take it around the libraries for research. In November 2001, I started writing a creative piece on a bus ride home for Thanksgiving. Sure, the keyboard was terrible and overall it was too light and kept moving around -- even on a lap -- plus the display was very limiting, but it filled a need at the time and was convenient (and free for a week at a time).
I wouldn't mind letting my kids bash on one instead of watching cartoons on their fancy-schmancy touchscreen full-video tablets. I personally would use one for work if all I did was type, but my job needs are different than those few assignments back in college.
Re: At a loss
"Circa 2000, my university library invested in a fleet of type-only devices (might have been called an "AlphaWriter" or something like that)."
The brand you're looking for is AlphaSmart. I used one of those in high school. It was a slightly newer version that used USB instead of PS/2. My original plan was to buy one, but they're ridiculously expensive now, partly due to the fact that they're no longer made, but also because they've become hugely popular with writers.
I had my eye on one that ultimately went for about £100 on eBay.
Re: At a loss
Briefly. The temptation to turn it back on, "Just for a few minutes," is too much.
My late wife was a Learning Support Assistant for a child with dyspraxia, about 15 years ago; the child must now be in his early 20s! It is a strange one - the child was quite normal in many ways, but the things they find challenging are not always obvious. Physical clumsiness and inability to concentrate are the usual things that get noticed, but there's also a lack of connection between thought processes; it's difficult for the mind to make cross-links between topics. I suspect that what we call "lateral thinking" would be difficult for a person with dyspraxia.
I have a decade old mid-2010 13" MacBook Pro.
I can install Office 2019 on it, connect to modern Wifi networks, and so on. The latest games will get about 1 frame per second, but apart from that, you can do pretty much everything you would want a modern laptop to do, just a bit slower.
It is interesting how little technology has advanced in the last decade, compared to how much it advanced before that.
I am typing this reply on a brand new 16" MacBook Pro. It is a better machine than the 10 year old one, just not that much better compared to any other decade in computing history.
My MBP is of the same vintage: Mid 2010 17" with CTO processor bump to the i7 option and the anti-glare screen. The keyboard has proper travel while ignoring the dust and pet hair my office throws at it. It's since had a bump to a 2TB SSD and 8GB RAM. It's on 10.11 El Capitan because the macOS quality went down hill too far after that and it isn't supported beyond 10.13 High Sierra anyway. All it needs to run is Firefox, iTunes and Office 2003 when I'm away from home and it does this admirably.
Fond memory
I worked at a publisher, and I remember that particular iThing fondly. The [1]toilet seat predecessor even more so.
The comments about its speed confirms what I've long thought. The OS and application developers are persistently throwing away all the benefits of Moore's Law. (Don't even get me started on doing everything in the browser.) /VERY BIG SIGH.
[1] https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/specs/ibook.html
Another me too
My family is touched with all that. When I was looking into my nephew's diagnosis of dispraxia one line jumped off the screen at me. "They often won't dance, because it feels so awkward." Oh, that's what it is!
In hindsight, perhaps motorcycling was a less than optimal choice of hobby. After many years of near misses it turned into the only time I ever felt graceful though.
[1]Jasper FForde wrote that dyslexia should be renamed 'O.'
[1] http://jasperfforde.com/
What looks like gobbledegook
to supposedly normal people, makes perfect sense to us odd balls.
We just see the world differently to others but far too refuse to accept that people can be different to them.
Well done for describing dyspraxia. I have that and dsylexia and I'm a leftie to boot.
In some places that alone is a sign that you have been touched by the devil himself.
We manage and mostly we are able to hide our problems from the world at large.
As for the iBook... Indeed. I have an old Macbook that has a duff wi-fi (it is a 2008 model) and the RJ45 port is iffy but it runs CentOS 5.x perfectly. I can't remember the last time I actually even tried to connect it to the internet. I guess it was around 2017 as that is the date of the kernel.
It is my go to device for working offline. No distractions means that I can get work done.
Great article. Not everything we do is a step forward.