This Open-Source Retropunk Computer Solves Distraction by Removing Everything Except Writing - Yanko Design

"Your laptop can do anything, which increasingly means it's optimized for nothing. This isn't a new observation, but the solutions have mostly been software-based: distraction-blocking apps, focus modes, website blockers that you can disable the moment willpower falters. The Typeframe project takes a more permanent approach - build a computer that literally cannot do anything except let you write. Jeff Merrick's open-source writerdeck designs come in two flavors."

"The PX-88 is a desktop-style portable with a full keyboard and integrated screen, styled after the 1985 Epson PX-4 that inspired it. The PS-85 shrinks down to a 40% keyboard layout while maintaining that same retro-futuristic aesthetic. Both use Raspberry Pi boards as their brains, and both are documented with the kind of step-by-step detail that assumes you've never touched CAD software or soldered components together."

"For the uninitiated, the Epson PX-4 was a chunky CP/M portable that field engineers actually carried into the field, with swappable keyboards and modular components that could turn it into different tools for different jobs. It ran on batteries and had a tiny 40×8 character display that virtually expanded to 80×25. The appeal wasn't raw computing power - it was that the thing did exactly what you needed and nothing more."

Typeframe produces hardware designed solely for writing, preventing typical laptop distractions through intentional limitations. Jeff Merrick created open-source writerdeck designs in two forms: the PX-88 with a full keyboard and integrated screen, and the compact PS-85 with a 40% keyboard layout. Both designs use Raspberry Pi boards and include step-by-step build documentation for novices. The designs draw inspiration from the Epson PX-4, which emphasized purposefulness over raw power with swappable modules and a minimal display. A community around writerdecks exists alongside the cyberdeck movement, with dedicated software projects and interest in vintage write-only devices.

Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News