This custom ‘writerdeck’ is a gorgeous digital typewriter from another time
A “cyberdeck” is a portable, handmade computer inspired by William Gibson’s science fiction of the 1980s. It’s basically a cyberpunk laptop. A “writerdeck,” then, is a similar concept but only for writing text. I’ve been dabbling with some commercial options lately. But I think both device categories might just have a new champion: the Micro Journal Rev 2.1. Look at this beautiful thing. Just look at it!
Un Kyu Lee has been designing, 3D-printing, and hand-assembling a series of Micro Journal gadgets for the last couple of years, painstakingly documenting his efforts on YouTube and /r/writerdeck. Rev 2.1 is actually his 10th generation (at least) and a gentle revision of an earlier model. Lee’s choices are eclectic and highly personal—he’s got everything from a full-on mini-laptop design to a device that’s just a 2.8-inch screen you plug a keyboard into. One of his latest projects was creating a new, retro-futurist housing for an AlphaSmart Neo 2, a classic in the admittedly niche category of writing-only devices from the 90s and 2000s.
But having followed his work for some time, I think the Micro Journal 2.1 may be his masterpiece. It uses a 65% mechanical keyboard with a standard layout, which is more user-friendly than some of the ortholinear keyboards in other Micro Journals. It has a full LCD screen instead of e-ink for faster response, and at 8 inches wide it’s relatively huge compared to most of the displays on earlier Micro Journals. It has built-in batteries for portability, though they are AA and need to be swapped out by hand. Documents can be accessed via a web interface from another device or manually moved over from a USB drive.
And it’s powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, so you can keep it running WordGrinder (the focused writing environment that’s loaded on by default) or flash it with a huge variety of other operating systems compatible with the semi-standardized micro-computer. You could even turn it into a classic game emulator if you wanted to. (Please don’t do that. Mr. Lee is a nice guy and I think it might cause him pain if he saw it.)
The design looks like a beautiful blend of suitcase typewriters and classic all-in-one PCs from the 80s, something that would fit right at home next to a Commodore 64 or Osborne 1. And those round knobs on the side aren’t just decorative! They’re up/down and left/right buttons, giving even more satisfying tactility to the gadget.
You can buy the Micro Journal 2.1—along with some of his earlier designs—from Un Kyu Lee’s Tindie shop. (It costs $359 USD if you’re wondering, which is a lot less than some similar, less-capable designs in the Pomera and Freewrite lines.) But these things are quickly becoming hard-to-find collector’s items, as Lee builds each one by hand and only has time for very limited runs.
If you have access to a soldering iron and a 3D printer, and if you’re up to the challenge, you can build it yourself. As a devotee of open-source software and hardware, Lee gives away the print files, instructions, and a bill of materials for all his Micro Journal devices on Github.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
