First of all, it doesn’t make much sense. And for many people, it really doesn’t make sense to buy a reMarkable tablet when they could just have an iPad and use its features. The reMarkable tablet is expensive—not as much as an iPad Pro, but in comparison to the features of an iPad in the same price range, the reMarkable looks extremely poor. Yet, despite all this, I’ve come to appreciate the reMarkable in the few days I’ve owned it. The version 1, which I snagged for under €300 on eBay, will likely drop in price soon since the second generation is already being advertised. But before I spend €500 on a device I’m not sure will really suit me, I’d rather use a second-hand one to test the concept. Because with the reMarkable, you can only read and annotate PDFs/eBooks and create notes and sketches. No emails, no web browsing, nothing. Black and white. E-Ink display. Writing with the pen feels almost like writing on paper. You don’t need to charge the pen, but you do need to replace the nibs occasionally. And the device costs anywhere from €450 to €600 depending on the accessories.
What’s my use case? I had bought an iPad Pro with the pencil and everything to work and read with less luggage, anywhere. Reading and writing are, alongside programming, communication, and creating PowerPoints, my main activities. I have to read a lot, especially academic papers, but also articles from journals, etc. Additionally, I write a lot. The split-screen feature on the iPad was a killer app for me: PDF on the left, my notes on the right. It often worked well. But not always. However, the Apple ecosystem with iCloud allows me to keep all my files synchronized across all my devices.
But even then, it’s not perfect. Sometimes, I find it hard to focus because, as often happens when you try to focus on something, you get distracted by reminders of things you absolutely need to do and write down. Then you see those reminders and realize you forgot something urgent, etc. The iPad enables all of this with one device. And so, you quickly get distracted, especially when trying to work on something difficult. The temptation to quickly check emails is very strong. With the reMarkable, this doesn’t happen. And that limitation is what you pay for, at a steep price. Apps that restrict you or help you focus better were something I looked into and used over 10 years ago.
Do I generally have a problem with concentration? No. But it might be the medium. I wrote my most successful book (3 editions) almost entirely on paper, as incredible as that sounds. In a notebook on a terrace in a bay in Sardinia. I had no computer with me, just my thoughts. I wrote them down, crossed them out, rephrased them, etc. Later, at home on my computer, I added screenshots and other materials. Just me and the paper. I’m not sure I could do that today with an iPad. Because even though almost all my notifications are turned off, my brain knows that something new could pop up, and our brains crave that. The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin describes how every interruption stimulates our brain, preventing us from focusing, because thinking is exhausting. I was particularly impressed by Sting’s preference for having the same room set up wherever he is in the world, so that nothing new could distract him.
Tranquility is the new luxury of our society. (The 5 AM Club, Robin Sharma)
This quiet is undoubtedly a luxury when you pay so much for a device with fewer features, just to have peace and be able to focus. Perhaps my preference for paper comes from my socialization: I grew up with paper, wrote everything on paper—my final exams, my university exams, etc. Writing books on a computer, at least exclusively on a computer, is a torture for me. I have to have my…
But the iPad has other drawbacks. If I want to read outside with the iPad, it’s better if the sun isn’t shining. With the reMarkable, that’s not a problem. The iPad doesn’t handle that as well. Besides, the device is quite heavy (653 grams “naked” with the pencil / 1060 grams with the case including the keyboard). It’s not really suited for prolonged reading or holding in your hand. The reMarkable weighs 362 grams “naked” with the pencil / 505 grams with the case, though that’s a bit unfair since the cases are very different. For the reasons mentioned, I don’t like taking the iPad with me when I go outside for a bit. It’s not only heavy and unwieldy, but I’ve also had the experience of how quickly the glass can break (and how expensive the replacement is).
And what the iPad lacks in light during the day in the sun, it has too much of in the evening. I notice it when I’ve been staring at the screen for too long in the evening. The iPad isn’t suitable for me for extended reading and writing of academic texts, partly for ergonomic reasons, but also due to occasional lack of discipline. Following the 5 A.M. Club philosophy, electronic devices really shouldn’t be used in the evening, and the reMarkable helps with that, if you turn a blind eye.
However, the reMarkable has some shortcomings that are rather unacceptable for the price:
- The Wi-Fi module seems quite weak; in my office, it shows only 1 out of 3 bars, while all my other devices have at least 2 out of 3.
- The battery lasts about 2-3 days with moderate use, which isn’t much for an e-Ink display. Charging takes forever.
- Large PDFs (such as Springer non-fiction books between 3 and 30 MB) are a real burden for the reMarkable tablet, and it can take a while to flip from one page to the next. Especially with large PDFs, the reMarkable often freezes or crashes.
- The reMarkable can’t open password-protected PDFs at all. That’s quite suboptimal.
- The search function is a joke. You can either search for book titles, but only within the book you’re currently viewing. You also can’t directly jump to the location from the search result—you have to remember the page number and then awkwardly navigate through multiple steps to get to the page.
- The plastic feels cheap and sometimes a bit dirty, even when it’s clean. For the price, that’s really not acceptable.
- The pen seems to have two different types of plastic, at least there’s a noticeable difference in the whites:
What I also don’t like is the lock-in. I’m trapped in their cloud—what if they go bankrupt? I’ve asked myself that several times with tado, but at least you can supposedly still operate the thermostats manually (though they’re still way too expensive). With the reMarkable, you’d be lost if the cloud were shut down. It’s likely that, eventually, you’ll have to pay a subscription, just like tado switched to. However, what helps a bit is that supposedly, you can also access your documents via USB. I haven’t tried this yet, but it means I could potentially build an application like my Kindle Clippings Manager, which syncs a folder on my computer with the reMarkable’s storage. That would be better than this double organization.
Overall, the device is hopelessly overpriced for its technical features, quality, and software. But still, I like it. It serves my use case better than the iPad, and unlike the Moleskine, it’s not a first-class idea graveyard. It has proven this very well in the few weeks I’ve had it so far.