I was actually really excited about the Kindle Scribe I ordered, because it seemed to solve two problems I have with using my reMarkable:
I don’t like writing my notes at the edge of a PDF, if there is even enough margin, because my work notes are the preliminary version of the final notes that go into my Zettelkasten. Simply highlighting something is not very useful, as some studies also suggest. I need to be able to write my own thoughts on a text, and that’s something the reMarkable 2 doesn’t allow me to do.
Light 🙂
Light is available, but otherwise, the Kindle Scribe has been a very disappointing experience for me. Of course, I don’t really want to throw money into Amazon’s pockets or store my data in their cloud, but the topics of “working through paper” and “reading” are of great importance to me. Since I don’t jot down anything confidential… one must choose the lesser evil. Perhaps someday there will be a solution that works without the cloud. But how good is the Scribe really?
Update: I have now tested the Kindle Scribe, and you can find the full report here!
I had one of the first Kindles in Germany and even wrote an app for it. I also had one of the first reMarkables and now own a reMarkable 2. Apparently, I’m susceptible to tech gadgets, especially when I hope they could potentially boost my productivity. Now, Amazon is entering this market with the Kindle Scribe, directly competing with companies like reMarkable. Here’s the introduction video from an Amazon event:
With the reMarkable, I became critical when they suddenly introduced a subscription model. While this didn’t affect me, since early buyers could keep the Connect subscription “for free” for life, reMarkable clearly realized that they weren’t getting good karma points for this move and changed their model. With the Kindle, I got one of the devices that had a built-in SIM card for which you didn’t have to pay any fees worldwide. That was really convenient, being able to read my newspaper every day no matter where I was in the world.
Will the new Kindle Scribe replace the reMarkable? I haven’t yet received a Kindle Scribe for testing, but already a few interesting aspects are noticeable. Both devices offer a tremendous advantage: focusing on the essentials. I’m not familiar with the current Kindle devices, but my old Kindle displayed books wonderfully, and it only had a web browser for Wikipedia—pure focus. Annotating texts was easier on my Kindle since it had a keyboard. But, of course, it wasn’t as simple as writing a note with a pen. However, I could easily export these notes using my tool.
Let’s take a closer look at the specs:
Price: The Amazon Kindle Scribe is cheaper. While the reMarkable “only” costs 349 euros, that’s the price without the pen. The cheapest pen variant costs 79 euros, so under 400 euros you can’t get anything. The Kindle, on the other hand, currently costs 369 euros for the cheapest version with the pen.
Storage: The Scribe is available with 16, 32, and 64 GB. The reMarkable only has 8 GB. The 32-GB version of the Kindle automatically includes the premium pen, which is the version I ordered.
Pen: Both systems use pens that require nibs. Not much is known yet about the Amazon Scribe pen, but I suspect it works similarly to the reMarkable pen. It doesn’t need power, and there is a premium version that offers a virtual eraser. Unlike the colleague here, I don’t expect the pen to need charging.
Dimensions: The reMarkable measures 187 Ă— 246 Ă— 4.7 mm, while the dimensions of the Scribe are not yet known. The Scribe appears to be larger despite the smaller screen, as its bezel is wider, especially on the left. We do know that the Scribe weighs 433 grams, which is 30 grams more than the reMarkable 2.
Display: The reMarkable has a 10.3-inch screen with a resolution of 1872 x 1404 (226 DPI), while the Scribe has a 10.2-inch screen with a resolution of 300 dpi. The reMarkable uses an E Ink Carta display, although they say their Canvas technology is only partially based on it. The Scribe has a glare-free Paperwhite display. The Scribe also has a light that adjusts to the ambient brightness, whereas the reMarkable does not. I’m not sure if I would like the light, as I bought the reMarkable partly because I wouldn’t get more awake in the evening. But sometimes it’s annoying to have to find a light source.
Charging: Both devices charge via USB-C.
Battery Life: Initially, Amazon claimed the Scribe’s battery life was “months,” whereas the reMarkable lasts about a week for me. Amazon has since walked back that claim.
Document Storage: Documents are stored in the cloud, and there is no software available yet for the Scribe.
Document Editing: On the Scribe, it will be possible to edit Word documents. However, I don’t expect integration with Dropbox and Google Drive, as with the reMarkable. Overall, managing documents with the reMarkable is a bit cumbersome. You can send files via email, but otherwise, you always need the app.
What interests me about the Scribe? Over the last few months, I’ve been exploring Luhmann’s Zettelkasten method and now have such a system at home. With the reMarkable, it bothers me that I couldn’t get the notes I wanted to make, not the permanent notes, but my working notes. So I always carry index cards with me, which is pretty unwieldy with the reMarkable. Writing on virtual index cards would be possible with the Scribe, as you can attach a note to a text snippet and export it later. For me, that’s the killer app. I also hope that importing and exporting documents will be easier. I’ll test it and report back here.
For reMarkable, Amazon’s entry into the market means this technology will reach the masses, but reMarkable won’t benefit from that. Quite the opposite. Because Amazon offers a convenient way to access content through its store, and its awareness campaign will convert potential reMarkable customers.
The question for power users will be how convenient it will be to manage notes and books on the Kindle Scribe. reMarkable offers folders that can also be created and managed on the desktop. The tags functionality, which reMarkable recently introduced, is really good, but unfortunately, it only works on the device itself. On the Kindle, the software on the Mac is, at least, a disaster; there’s no recognizable organization.
Apple’s new macOS version, Ventura, as well as the new iPadOS version 16, which will be released in the second half of 2022, bring many new features. One of the most hyped tools is the new multitasking feature, Stage Manager. Let’s take a closer look at it here.
Stage Manager provides a completely new multitasking experience, where apps and windows are automatically organized, allowing users to quickly and easily switch between tasks. For the first time, users can create overlapping windows of different sizes in a single view on the iPad, drag and drop windows from the side, or open apps from the Dock to create groups of apps—enabling faster, more flexible multitasking. The window of the app the user is working in is displayed in the center, while other open apps and windows are arranged on the left side in order of their recency.
Apart from the marketing fluff, there are three key pieces of information here:
On the left, apps and windows are arranged in order of their recency.
You can group apps and windows.
On the iPad, you can now use overlapping windows of different sizes (we’ll cover the limitations below).
Let’s first take a look at the macOS version. In the following screenshot, we can see 5 apps/windows on the left side. If you look closely, you’ll notice even more, as two apps/windows are already grouped (at the very bottom).
When you click on these windows, you’ll see them stacked on top of each other, here with a different example:
On my rather small 14″ screen, this doesn’t make much sense. While I can still switch between windows using Command-Tab, I can’t see the windows related to my task in the way I need to. With such a small screen, it’s probably better to place each window needed for a task separately in Stage Manager.
The organization of windows still doesn’t work all that well. For example, RStudio opens a new window when I commit code. This is not assigned to the main RStudio window but instead opens as a completely new window. This is also visible in the screenshot above with a Mail window. It doesn’t seem fully thought through to me.
However, what’s kind of nice: If you’re watching a YouTube video in a browser window, it will continue playing in the left sidebar. Not that you’d be able to see much, but in YouTube’s Theater mode, you can still follow the video a bit. How this benefits concentration is another matter.
What are the advantages?
At first, I was a bit disappointed with Stage Manager. What’s supposed to be better about switching between different apps for a task? For me, the advantage lies in something completely different, which Apple probably didn’t intend.
When you switch from one app to another today, you lose sight of the previous app. This can lead to forgetting what you actually wanted to do (“Quickly check what exactly was written in the email… oh, there’s a new email, I need to read that first”). However, because the previous apps are still visible, you’re quickly reminded of what you were actually supposed to do. This has worked quite well for me in the few days I’ve been using Stage Manager.
How does Stage Manager work on the iPad?
Stage Manager is also available on the iPad, but only for iPads with an M1 processor. My less-than-a-year-old iPad Air cannot use Stage Manager. Nevertheless, I was able to test Stage Manager on another iPad.
First of all, I wondered how much sense Stage Manager makes on a small iPad screen. Of course, iPads can also be connected to an external display, and it likely works well in that case. Otherwise, I see the same advantages and disadvantages as with the macOS version. Here’s the screen with grouped apps on the left:
The stacked windows on the iPad make even less sense to me here, though I only have an 11″ model.
Do you really need Stage Manager?
I’m a bit concerned that Stage Manager will meet the same fate as Mission Control: hardly anyone knows about the feature, and most users probably only stumble upon it by accident. Additionally, Stage Manager needs to be activated first. My guess is that most users install the new OS versions simply because they are installed automatically, not because they really want them (unlike in the past, when people eagerly awaited a new macOS version, like macOS 8 in 1997, for which you also had to pay nearly 200 euros). On the other hand, sometimes you only realize how good a feature is once you have it.
The other new features in the latest OS versions are cosmetic. The system preferences on macOS now look exactly like those on iOS and iPadOS. I’m really curious about Freeform, but unfortunately, it’s not included in the beta version yet.
In 1945 publiceerde Vannevar Bush zijn artikel “As We May Think“, waarin hij schreef over een systeem genaamd Memex. Memex voorzag systemen en benaderingen zoals HyperText en stelde voor om verschillende soorten materiaal te koppelen en doorzoekbaar te maken op basis van trefwoorden, “als een vergrote intieme aanvulling op zijn geheugen”. Gezien de technische mogelijkheden van die tijd zouden de gegevens nog op microfilm opgeslagen moeten worden, maar verder was het een vrij coole constructie.
Bush’s gedachten hadden een grote invloed op de ontwikkeling van het World Wide Web, en zeker heeft Wikipedia vandaag de dag veel van het idee achter Memex. Maar hoe zit het met ons eigen kennismanagement? Hoe slaat u uw gedachten, materialen, ideeĂ«n en notities op? Een probleem is dat niet alleen kenniswerkers worden blootgesteld aan enorme hoeveelheden informatie, die gefilterd, gesorteerd en doorgenomen moet worden.
In de jaren ’80 had Apple HyperCard, een propriĂ«tair multimedia-hypertextsysteem dat ook populair was in het onderwijs. Tegenwoordig komt waarschijnlijk notion.so het dichtst in de buurt van zo’n systeem, en ik weet dat sommige van mijn studenten deze app gebruiken. Vroeger was het Evernote, vandaag Notion, morgen weer iets anders. En elke paar jaar zet je je gegevens over naar een ander systeem, of niet, omdat het veel te veel moeite is. Wie heeft notities uit oude Moleskines (die in de jaren 2000 populair waren) omgezet en gebruikt die nog steeds? Ik ben geen fan van constant nieuwe apps installeren, maar probeer ook hier niet meer te installeren dan nodig is, want gelukkig wordt de bijgeleverde software van Apple steeds krachtiger.
But this is not the only new feature that Apple Monterey brings. The Quick Notes, already known from portable devices, now offer the ability to save text from websites and then refer to it. When you visit a website again later, the extracted text is highlighted. I haven’t tested what happens if the text on the website has been changed. Overall, this feature greatly helps in organizing a collection of saved URLs, bookmarks, reading lists, quotes, etc. (The following screenshot is from a Monterey beta:)
The fact that you can now extract text from images and screenshots on the Mac without any additional software—and actually even better than with third-party tools—makes my workflow much easier. If I find a passage in a physical book that I find interesting but don’t have a pen to mark it, I often take a photo of it with my phone. I’m not sure how many of these photos I have on my hard drive, always with the guilty feeling that I really should clean this up soon. In the new macOS version, the cursor in Photos automatically turns into a text cursor when you move it over text, and you can select and extract it right away. However, you have to be careful to hold the book in a way that this works, unlike in the photo below:
Unfortunately, this feature still doesn’t work in Notes, but I’m sure it will come eventually. You also can’t yet extract text from highlighted passages in Preview for Instant Notes with a reference; you can only copy the text, which, of course, is still very useful.
Despite all the criticism, Apple’s Notes, with its many links to other software on macOS, is getting very close to the concept of Memex. The question is increasingly whether users understand how to leverage all these features for their own use, and how to create a symbiosis between their workflows and such software. But Apple is definitely making notion.so a competitor, especially because of the team functions now available as well. Much like with Apple Reminders, there are fewer and fewer reasons to pay for a subscription to other software, which, in the worst case, is also less well-integrated with other Apple services.
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.
