devices either promise everything or promise one thing done perfectly.
the reMarkable paper pro is the latter. an e-ink notebook. nothing more.
we never complained when a novel couldn’t double as a notebook. but digital devices justify themselves only through versatility now. quantity over quality in features works for companies, not always for us.
the remarkable costs £700. leuchtturm notebooks cost £20, last a month. add the £3 monthly subscription. you need 39 months before the remarkable becomes cheaper than buying notebooks.
my real question isn’t about the math. it’s whether the device lasts longer than 2.5 years without issues. people on reddit report eight years with the original. that changes everything.
the subscription was unclear. the free trial started counting the moment i turned on the device, not when i agreed to subscribe. small things like this matter.
their marketing talks about “deep thought” without defining it. name drops famous productivity people. says nothing. the only undeniable advantage is replacing a lifetime of notebooks with one device.
they won a calm tech institute award. buried in press pages. meanwhile the shallow marketing gets the spotlight. they think deeper truth doesn’t sell.
i was convinced within days it was indispensable for me. also convinced it would be pointless for most others.
academia means reading and writing daily. the remarkable excels at both. but if you’re not in that space, it’s nice to have, not necessary. at this price point, nice to have isn’t enough.
it’s not an ipad you leave around to watch films. no apps, no ecosystem beyond sync tools. just google drive, onedrive, dropbox.
programmers and designers need ipads. their work jumps between apps as it takes shape.
but if you write enough, annotate enough, read enough… you’re in the sweet spot. for me it sits among my most-used devices now.
the vague marketing targeting people on the fringes makes sense. they need more sales beyond the niche. but shallow words can be done away with. keep it simple like the device itself.
“technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” christian lange in 1921
this one stays a servant.