Freewrite Smart Typewriter, by Astrohaus, c.2020

Marketed as “the world's first smart typewriter”, the Freewrite is a distraction-free writing tool with modern technology including a mechanical keyboard, e-paper screen and cloud backups such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Evernote. The device, which has Wi-Fi, a 5.5-inch e-ink screen (designed to give users a break from eye-straining LCDs) and a mechanical keyboard, is designed to be a single-purpose writing tool. The Freewrite combines the simplicity of a typewriter with the functionality of modern technology.

Made of Aluminium (body, power button, handle), ABS/PC plastic (base, knobs, handle grip, keycaps), Steel (keyboard frame), Rubber (feet). internal Lithium Polymer battery

The Freewrite Smart Typewriter — initially called the Hemingwrite — raised nearly $350,000 on Kickstarter at the end of 2014. The project received press attention and “went viral”, in part because – unlike most modern electronic devices – it offered limited features and was a simple, albeit relatively expensive, way of users managing their attention and limiting their screen time. The Freewrite was designed to remove as much friction from the writing process as possible. The goal was to keep the writer moving forward because in the case of drafting, quantity is more important than quality. Anything that did not directly contribute to the creative writing process was left off with the acknowledgement that every new feature in some way dilutes every other.

The machine is a throwback to the days of the word processor, but with two major differences. One, it has rudimentary Wi-Fi features that save documents to the cloud. Two, there are no arrow keys. As such, the user experience of writing on a Freewrite is more akin to a typewriter than a word processor, even if the device looks and feels like the latter.