Apple ALMOST made this portable word processor!

The AlphaSmart text editing device was originally designed by Apple engineers. When they couldn't get their employer to build it, they decided to do so themselves -- and ended up being a rather clever, long-lived device.
Sources:
Computer lab photo: www.columbia.ed...
Ketan Kothari photo: www.usfca.edu/...
Joe Barrus photo: www.flickr.com...
Apple Infinte Loop campus photo: commons.wikime...
AlphaSmart Pro owner's manual: archive.org/de...
"AlphaSmart: A History of One of Ed-Tech's Favorite (Drop-Kickable) Writing Tools": hackeducation.c...
PC computer lab photo: commons.wikime...
"AlphaSmart Pro 2.1," Macworld, March 1997.
"Smart Keyboard for the Classroom," Computerworld, July 6, 1998.
AlphaSmart 2000 photo: www.journaldul...
3rd-party SmartApplets: www.spectronic...
"Lightweight Note-Taker," PC World, March 2003.
AlphaSmart Neo photo and ad: hackaday.com/2...
"AlphaSmart files $58 million IPO," MarketWatch: www.marketwatc...
Renaissance Learning acquires AlphaSmart press release: www.sec.gov/Ar...
AlphaSmart Neo 2 photo: commons.wikime...
Laptop charging cart photo: commons.wikime...
AlphaSmart Neo discontinued: web.archive.or...
AlphaSmart 3000 with modded keyboard photo: / finished_my_3000_mecha...
LazyDog's AlphaSmart keyboard mod kit (no longer being sold): tilde.club/%7Ej... and geekhack.org/i...
Freewrite devices: getfreewrite.com
---------------------------------------­------------------------------------
Please consider supporting my work on Patreon: / thisdoesnotcompute
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram! @thisdoesnotcomp
---------------------------------------­------------------------------------
Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicso...).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchi....

[@manishkothari3426]

As one of the co-founders, and on behalf of all of us involved at AlphaSmart - thanks for a great overview. We are grateful for all those who helped make it a wonderful adventure, and for the heart-warming comments of appreciation (after all these years). Manish Kothari

[@johnnyragadoo2414]

Thank you for spurring a lot of creativity. My Neo was in constant use. I would not have stopped using it if it hadn't lost manufacturer support and I could no longer run the Manager on my PC. It wasn't just for kids, either. I remember eating at the Schlotzski's sandwich shop next to Baylor University while working on an essay on my Neo. Some college students asked me if I was "that professor." No, I'm am an uneducated hack writer, but I was curious. Who was "that professor?" The students explained there was a professor at Baylor who championed the idea of a portable word processor with nearly infinite battery life, usable in direct sunlight, and without the confining clamshell design of a conventional laptop. Quite true, of course. It's more comfortable to write with a Neo on an airline tray table than with a laptop sliding around on your lap. The Neo fits well on the tray table, the laptop, sadly, does not. Freewrite is not replacement for the Neo. The people at Freewrite are nice folks and I wish them all the best. Unfortunately, Freewrite misses my target. I accept that as a personal failing. I would pay Freewrite prices for a true Neo 3 in a heartbeat.

[@kirklandlake]

The models we had in grade school were also used to help children who had issues with penmanship/dexterity but could easily type. They helped children get their ideas forward in a more equitable manner. Thank you.

[@chetchin]

You're making me want to bring out my Neo for a writing session. An update I would like is bluetooth to send the files to my phone.

[@NathanBowmanMusic]

I found an Alphasmart Pro earlier today, and I'm floored by how much of a community there still is for these devices - congrats on building something so beloved and long lasting! ❤

[@chetchin]

@@NathanBowmanMusic Have you found the group on Flickr?

[@IDONOTKNOWANYMORELMFAOO]

apple engineers were cooking up bangers back then omg

[@guillermoruizbuenrostro9020]

I'm a proud owner of a Dana. I bought one when I was writing my undergrad thesis and used it to type without (too much) distractions. I still have it and use to write short stories, but the lack of Palm support in modern Windows makes it less appealing than before.

[@Retrotude]

These were a godsend for me in elementary and middle school. I used the 3000 model and as someone on the autism spectrum who had trouble with handwriting it allowed me to work on essays and assignments in class at a rate closer to my classmates. By the time I reached high school my district had switched to netbooks but these things have always held a special place in my heart.

[@roystonlodge]

I REALLY could have used this device when I was in school.

[@Toonrick12]

Same here. Though I wish I was able to use it in middle school as much as I did int Elementary.

[@LuminalSpoon]

Same, the 3000 got me through Standard Grade and Higher English. It was probably the reason it stopped me from failing that subject for the exact same reasons you point out. Well Done AlphaSmart.

[@rainydaygirlz]

Same!

[@sonicunleashedfan124]

I honestly want to do a comparison. I used various models of “The Writer” from Advanced Keyboard Technologies (AKT), namely the Plus, Fusion, and Forte, and I want to put the Neo from AlphaSmart and The Writer Plus from AKT head to head. Might make a good video for anyone who is interested

[@JoshuaRastia]

I got got an alphasmart awhile ago and it’s still my favorite go to way for distraction free writing! And with its USB cord it’s basically future proof and can sync to literally any computer that can take a usb keyboard!

[@Mac84]

Great video! We had AlphaSmart systems in middle school and I was blown away how the text would transfer to a computer. Years later I ended up getting a few of the later units, they are quite fun to play around with, especially the USB model. A friend of mine used to use the Dana model as a huge universal remote!

[@alext3811]

I almost used one of these around ~2010 in a Maryland public school (one of those counties that people move to for good public schools), but eventually within the grade I got to choose between a iBook G4 and a intel Macbook. I was reading my father's Maximum PC magazines and looking back at it, I didn't remember it as a strange computer, but as just something to type on. The Macbook lasted me till HS somehow and they're using Chromebooks now.

[@ThePCPitStopInc]

As a autisitc person who had terrible handwriting I used a Alphasmart when I was in school as apart of my I.E.P requirements and I loved it. If I had a chance to get a hold of these devices in bulk I would still donate them to kids with autism they were a great tool in the early 2000's and was one of the many reasons I started donating old devices to kids with autism and other disabilties as a charity called Computers For The Autisitc Foundation. Thank you for showing the amazing history of this device brings back so many memories of plugging one of these into my teachers computers and sending what I wrote on the device to Microsoft Word. having one of these even helped me pass the M.C.A.S tests when I was younger. I wish these were still being used in public schools over using Chromebooks. Amazing and Simple device.

[@RisingRevengeance]

Thats really cool. I'm proabably around your age and we didnt have kind of help in my schools, basically just told to do it because others could. Granted I didnt know I was autistic until many years later but my handwriting was always ass. Same with audiobooks, that seems to be more commonly allowed now and its great. I could never remember anything from actual books. Sorry for ranting about my crappy schools. I really am happy kids have better support nowadays.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I was always jealous of the kids who had broken their arm and gotten to use one of these. I was diagnosed autistic early (at 6 or 7) but never really got any accommodations. (I do think my schools could've been a bit more proactive, but I also never knew to ask for anything and my parents didn't raise any issues either. If I'd had more support in general I may well have gotten far more substantial support from my schools as well.)

[@DANKKrish]

WAIT. AUTISM WAS THE REASON HANDWRITING WAS TORTURING ME ALL THROUGHOUT MY LIFE ALL THIS TIME??????????

[@RisingRevengeance]

@@DANKKrish Maybe. We often struggle with anything we dont find interesting and I'm sure very few find handwriting interesting.

[@CarltonSmith45]

All tech should come in transparent light blue, it's just the best.

[@orionmk3]

I have one of these, a Neo 2! Amazing for distraction-free writing, and lasts FOREVER on a few AAs, plus it still talks to my M2 Mac via USB.

[@rhenerlau]

I used to have an AlphaSmart 2000 when I was younger. It was a great machine for its time.

[@camerongray1515]

These were pretty commonly used in my high school in the UK between 2006-2011ish. They were used by students who struggled with handwriting so they could use it as a word processor in classes. There was then a room with a few PCs available with the appropriate PS/2 and USB cables (if I remember correctly there was a mix of older and newer AlphaSmarts) where students would plug the AlphaSmart in, have it "type" the document into MS Word where they'd then print it off. Come 2011 the AlphaSmarts began to be replaced with full size laptops but they definitely looked like pretty interesting devices - significantly more distraction free and a hell of a lot more durable when being carried around by students all day!

[@marsandbars]

I really like all the small details here, especially how the text you were showing in B-roll was the actual script of the episode. I absolutely love the concept of the AlphaSmart, and ran across a few some time ago. I ended up ditching the 3000 because I felt the screen was too cramped, and I want to pick up a Dana at some point to see if the bigger screen makes basic editing a bit more palatable.

[@deterlanglytone]

From personal experience does, but not by a lot. And the Dana doesn't last as long by a mile with its batteries.

[@klwthe3rd]

@@deterlanglytone I'd want the Neo2 which is the last model they produced, has the bigger screen without all that PDA bs.

[@deterlanglytone]

@klwthe3rd I wouldn't say that the Dana's PDA features are entirely useless but they are kinda unneccsary. But From what I recall, and i haven't seen one in person just from picks in comparsion to the Neo2 I own, its screen is angled just a bit better. Which isn't great on any model of these things. The Freewrite Traveller is the only one with a good screen placement. But there are alot of negatives to the PDA stuff. For one, while it has two SD card slots. It is finckly with what cards it will accept. Apparently, its not just card capacity but also classification standards being different. So you want to use those slots, then you have to find particular cards. Which sucks. But it will still otherwise function like the Neo2, which I think can store more documents than the Dana actually, which means you can just connect to a computer and send that way. Though wireless sending with both are a problem these days as the receivers that let you send it through IR are hard to find. I think only schools brought those, so in smaller quanties than the Alphasmarts themselves. A Dana isn't going to be bad, but the Neos are probably the simpler of he devices. (SIde note, they both run with the same series of processor based on the Motorolla 16k chip. Just a note, not alot to say about this pit at all)

[@Uploadingvirus]

My younger brother's class got to use these in elementary school, I was in junior high by them and missed out. I'd have probably liked them for taking notes as I was the kind of nerdy kid who actually knew how to type.

[@Vostok7]

That AlphaSmart Pro came from Battle Ground School District which is here in Washington State and right near where my wife grew up!

[@NathanAllworth]

Same! I live there now, right near one of the schools. I did a double take when I saw that asset tag!

[@HisShadowX]

So, in Chicago Public Schools in the 90s, I could remember, it is true, most schools within Chicago Public Schools used Apple II computers. Now, once we got to, I want to say, 96, 97, you started to see the Macintoshes starting to come in in computer classrooms, but not the general classrooms. Now, once we got to 98, 99, we started to see the older Macintoshes finally making their ways into normal classrooms, just one per classroom. And some of the new iMacs, the ones that you could kind of carry around, and they were colored, kind of when Steve Jobs came back, you got to see one or two enter computer classrooms. But at this point, Macintoshes were essentially useless. As most people, if they were using a computer, it was a PC.

[@unexpecteditem7919]

Just FYI: Alpha is the codename that Apple gives when using third-party suppliers, and also attaches to prototype products before release. It's like their "Contoso" for Microsoft. The name probably just stuck here, because it works quite well.

[@Skeeballman64]

I was offered an AlphaSmart that was out of service in 6th grade by my teacher in my magnet class and of course got it. I have 3 of them now, 3000s, and discovering there is a community for these surprised me to say the least.

[@Love2Banime]

Oh man, this brings me back. I remember the one back in year 2000, these were fun in elementary school!

[@ukmk3supra]

I love the design aesthetic of the original 2 models, they just look like Apple peripherals, fitting perfectly into the platinum design language.

[@BlakeHelms]

I have an AlphaSmart that I use for distraction free writing and they absolutely nailed it! Plus using keyboard emulation means this device isn’t going to become e-waste anytime soon. I bought mine used and have been using it for nearly a decade.

[@Unan1mouz]

Such an intriguing device. I think I'd like dana the most because of Palm OS and the touchscreen! Thanks for making the video. Really enjoyed it as I love these kind of devices since I was young.. :)

[@neilsherin5085]

I was an IT manager at a secondary school here in England and our exams co-ordinator and i purchased a fewcof the Neo"s for pupils who had additional learning needs to use in exams rather than handwriting papers. We ended up moving more towards laptops, but i actually thought the AlphaSmart Neos we had did an excellent job. Cheap, robust, easy to use, low maintenance, and not having to lock the operating system down made them ideal devices.

[@zachswy]

My elementary and middle school had a bunch of these that they would check out to kids who didn't have computers and needed to write papers at home. They were pretty neat! I was just telling my wife about how cool they were the other day, so funny that this is what you covered this week! We had the second version with PC compatibility.

[@Markimark151]

I had the Alphasmart in middle school, we used them in English class for typing essays, because we didn’t need to go to the computer lab for typing essays! Our teacher had the cart for 20 Alphasmart keyboards and we synched our documents to a Macintosh computer or even an HP Deskwriter printer! That brings back memories of my old classroom.

[@jdpruente]

Small nit to pick RE: 10:10 Eink is frontlit because it's a reflective technology and the liquid filling the microcapsules in the panels is opaque. The lighting uses an edge-lit gel layer on top of the eink to shine light down at the eink which then reflects it back up and out. Keep up the great content and fantastic editing!

[@awesomeferret]

I am actually a bit angry that I'm the first to upvote your comment. Good catch.

[@ihardon22]

A dyslexic friend of mine had a 3000 while we were at (UK) school to write all of his work - PC/USB version of course. I did think it looked very Apple, right down to the alt key and the translucent green plastic. He really liked the built in spell checker. As you say, I imagine a big part of it was price, and it ran forever on its batteries. He had a different bag to the one you have, though. It was more like a small laptop bag with a zip on three sides I've heard that authors like them because they're a zero distractions experience.

[@millsyinnz]

These are pretty cool. While I never had the privilige of using one, I can see how useful they can be. Even beyond education. Workers can use them out in the field to take notes, etc, and then back at home or the office they can upload the text. The keyboard emulation would make transferring files a hell of a lot simpler. I belive that thier is still a market for these today.

[@toast99bubbles]

One school I attended gave me an Alphasmart NEO on loan to help me with school work in 2008. I loved it. I even had programs set up on there that would log me in on the school computers by plugging it in and getting it to transfer data. I miss those days.

[@hlbatesjr]

Back in 2018 a local school was going to be remodeled and my company got to do the interior demolition. We found about 200 hundred of the Danas that the school left behind for us to throw away. I was able to save one of them.

[@H2Oredfirefox]

That's crazy I had an alpha smart 3000 when I was at College I used it for a few years I'm surprised they're still some floating around 5:16 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@ABCEasyas--]

I was offered to join the “gifted and talented” program in another school in my school district. One of the selling points of that program was that each student (4th through 6th) would be using Alpha Smart devices for their work. This was back in 2003 and I recall the Alpha Smarts were the older generation ones. Also, that school with the GATE program was notorious for fighting and dreadful test scores.

[@kaitlyn__L]

That's completely understandable. It's really a containment scheme, under the surface, and the hyper-competitive environment serves to keep the students at each other's throats. I've never heard of one where there wasn't a lot of fights, both physical and verbal.

[@HeadsetGuy]

I've been hoping for a video from you about AlphaSmarts for years. I used to use one when I was in 3rd grade. Good memories...

[@randomexcessmemories4452]

I grew up on the AlphaSmart 3000. My school had a custom-built metal cart full of them, each with its own slot and charging cable hooked up to a huge powerstrip which had its lead going out of the cart. I typed many an essay back in elementary school on those AlphaSmarts... I wonder what ever became of them...

[@michaelturner4457]

Here in the UK it was only the rich schools that had Apple computers, most others had Nimbus machines, that were much less expensive.

[@spellwasp2579]

i was actually given an alphasmart 3000 in school, but this was in like 2013. wasnt an under funded school or anything so i can only assume the basic functionality was seen as an advantage when it came to the classroom

[@slavprussiaottomanfinlandUSUK]

For all us kids that had horrible handwriting, these were amazing. I used either the 2000 or 3000 and I think the Neo I remember an annoying problem where if you accidentally vibrate it or even press the keys too hard, it'll shut off and lose some of your progress. I also later used a different one called the Forte, which had lots of features like the Neo. The issue with it is that if you type too fast, the Forte has a really annoying habit of adding or skipping characters.

[@elektron2kim666]

I fell in love with the Psion 3 for similar reasons. Without coding and graphics/pixels on/off it didn't say me much. Now I do something odd with Raspberry Pi's and one is good for something and another is good for something else. Kind of confusing and we all become engineers and can't sell any of it to other engineers and experts.

[@petercoen]

found my old 3000, still functional. Great device. Loved the transferring system.

[@wal]

Very interesting history lesson on these devices 👌

[@bluedragon219123]

I remember using these at schools, when they had them, since my handwriting wasn't, and still isn't, the best. I even remember writing, or trying to, books on these too! Still Great Job! :)

[@kirbysuperstaruhh3769]

These were a godsend in elementary school in between the switch from thinkpads to chromebooks when the thinkpads were becoming too unbearable to use, my school had Neos or Neo2s (cant remember which) which we used for every time we had creative writing. Though the alphasmart brand werent the only word processors my school had and the school also had an alphasmart competitor called "the writer fusion" which can be described as in-between something like the dana and a more traditional alphasmart, having more apps and features while still being a word processor at its core. My class switched to majority using those over the actual alphasmarts myself included because of the extra features and the fact that it had easy to activate TTS, which helped with the flow of my writing ALOT as a kid. I wonder if anyone else had experience with using competitor/alternative devices like this back in the day?

[@klwthe3rd]

I didn't even know this product existed back then. Sounds like it was exactly what school systems on budget would love but i had never heard or seen one till this video. I love that you have the matching carry case bag for yours. Really awesome.

[@headwerkn]

Reminds me of the Amstrad NC100, which was probably much more common in the UK and Commonwealth than the US. Psion-class sort of mini portable computer that we had at school in the early 90s for basic word processing of school essays, reports and the like. Very cool piece of tech.

[@Rebelnightwolfe]

I remember using the AlphaSmart 3000. I remember using one only once ever so I do not remember why we used it, what grade I was in when we used it or what class we used it for. I think it may have been a demonstration of it to see how well we could use it.

[@envie.mi.obadia-wong]

I honestly love my neo2 and have been using it for distraction free writing of first drafts for years. The only thing I've ever wished it had was a backlight but as much as I've been tempted to mod it, I haven't found the time and a simple reading light has worked just as well all this time. I actually discovered it because I was really unhappy with my Freewrite. I'm a professional writer and I don't know anyone who uses Freewrites - they have the most cumbersome interface for one of the most essential parts of writing up a first draft (pretty much the main and only use case for distraction free writing devices in a regular daily workflow). That's the ability to quickly navigate through your text to add things in earlier as what you're writing develops or even to select and move sections to cut and insert sentences or paragraphs where they make more sense on the fly. When I write by hand, which is much slower for me, this is the equivalent of being able to physically cut a section out with scissors and tape it where it makes more sense so I can make what I'm working on make sense enough by the time I get to editing a second draft. The Freewrite makes the process of what should be fast edits while drafting pretty much impractal or impossible in some instances . I was actually so frustrated with mine that I sold it as soon as I got my Alphasmart. It just makes me wonder what actual writers, if any, the makers of the Freewrite consulted when designing the thing; to this day I honestly can't figure out who those machines were even made for. The fact that my neo2 is just as usable in my workflow today as it was five years ago and still as efficient and practical as it was when word processors were still commonplace machines is a real testament to well-built retro tech. I absolutely love your videos and, as someone who's a bit too young to never have gotten to see these in her classrooms growing up (yeah, we had those carts of MacBooks and iPads when I was in public school), it's outrageously radical getting to discover cool tech like word processors today!

[@ForrestBobHD]

Never realized how big of a deal and how well loved these were, and still are. Like quite a few of the people who commented, I was issued a Neo during elementary school due to handwriting issues. Although for me, it only made me dislike the device. Imagine being the only kid in the class with one, because you were *different* and was the only one who couldn't handwrite. So these were a little sore for me, before learning what their original intent was. Glad everyone else here had a more positive experience than me though.

[@yarbsemaj]

I remember using a 3000 in the early 2010s to sit my exams in a British high school, there lack of internet connectivity made them perfect for this purpose

[@FredWallace18]

I collect old computer stuff i find nostalgic, and bought an AlphaSmart 3000 a few year ago on eBay. I remember using them in middle school and entering repeating patterns of text to scroll through just for fun.

[@CF542]

I recall that Radio Shack had something similar with a built in modem that was a favorite amongst journalists in the field. I don't recall the model name but it too was a compelling mobile word processor.

[@Vexe]

WAIT I REMEMBER THESE! We had these at my elementary school in the mid-late 90s. Wow that memory was buried deep.

[@JD3Gamer]

When I was in elementary school we had a cart of Alphasmart 3000s specifically for learning how to type. This was in the early 2000s. Now I work in the district and while the Alphasmarts are gone we do still have the carts and use them for Chromebooks and iPads.

[@serhiirudenko6183]

I don't think I'd ever need one of those, but I like the idea of interruption-free digital writing device. but it can be done with an old Thinkpad laptop with some ancient OS.

[@Banzai8th]

We totally used these in my elementary school classrooms. They were always fun to use.

[@Edward135i]

I remember using one of these in grade school. I also remember the only time I ever used a Mac computer was at school. Nobody had Mac’s at home in the 90s unless their parents for artist or journalist.

[@tom5677]

This was a great blast from the past, the one thing school did right, I got given one of these in school due to the fact I can’t write well and I’m good with computers which greatly helped improve my academic scores afterwards

[@blackrippin]

We had Dana at my school. Kids used to the instant messaging during class but you couldn't exactly control 100% who would get the message lol

[@marksterling8286]

I purchased a pair of alphasmarts a 3000 and a Neo. The 3000 needed some repair, my son used one at school and found it invaluable. I now use it with a custom rom using it as a serial terminal on my raspberry pi4

[@lawrencemanning]

The Tandy 100, released in 1983, look similar technically, but was released a decade before? Obviously the price and target market were very different.

[@rmcdudmk212]

I think Sinclair had something similar at around the same time.

[@lawrencemanning]

@@rmcdudmk212 ah yeah, the Z88. That was 1987. I used a Tandy 200 back at college (early 90s). It was long in the tooth then, but I loved it and wish I still had it. Excellent machine for writing up a few dozed printed pages on, proper keyboard, reasonable screen and a decent battery life out of 4 AAs.

[@rmcdudmk212]

@@lawrencemanning Tandy made some good stuff. The first PC I got to learn on was a Tandy 1000. 👍

[@Droidiak]

I used the 2000 alot in elementary school and then the 3000 alot also throughout my years in middle school. Honestly I never thought I'd have such nostagia or care for this thing but I really do.

[@sonyericssoner]

Consider making video about PSION mini laptops, i once had the model 7 as a teenager. Got it as ewaste 20yrs ago, i also threw it out back then sadly. Now i would discover everithing about it if i kept it. I Remember it had quality construction.

[@trailg19c]

Tandy had a similar approach with their TRS 100, with even more oomph, as well as s modem. I liked and still like the concept of no battery limit, hammering at the keys with plain old words, just plain writing on the go. Used a Psion palm pc for a while for that purpose.

[@keyboard_g]

This reminds me how amazing the Commodore LCD Machine would have been if they actually went into full production way back in 1985.

[@6581punk]

Yep. For all the people lauding over Apple's history they didn't do a fraction of what Commodore and others did. When they did release things it was ill-advised, for example the Apple Newton basically killed off interest in what General Magic were doing which set the smartphone and handheld industry back a decade. The only good thing to come out of that was Apple forcing Acorn computers to spin off the ARM chip into a separate company.

[@tarstarkusz]

Tandy had the TRS 80 portable, which is very similar to this in 1983.

[@duncansnowden6857]

It reminds me a lot of the Cambridge Z88 from 1987, the only unambiguously *good* machine Clive Sinclair ever made. (The others have their charm - I'm a huge fan of them - but I've never heard a single complaint against the Z88.)

[@Cooe.]

​@@6581punkThis is just as much of a biased horseshit fanboy take on history as from the brainwashed Apple fanboy's, just from the other side of the fence. Apple's innovations in the 1970's and 1980's were MASSIVELY important and easily a match for Commodore's if not more important. There's no Commodore 64 breaking sales records without the Apple II coming first. Same thing with the Mac and the Amiga, only the Amiga sold like absolute fucking dogshit.

[@tarstarkusz]

@@duncansnowden6857 The Spectrum is a cool machine, but it ridiculous in its cheapness. It doesn't even include an on/off switch! That keyboard!!! OTOH, it was less money than the competition.

[@DavidPlantz]

I had an AlphaSmart 3000 that I used in college in the late 1990s as a laptop alternative in class. It was awesome to type notes on a lightweight device that lasted to for ages on a few AA batteries and then upload the text to my Mac. It was a great educational tool. Sadly I ended up recycling it when it went unused for a number of years.

[@bcupp15]

This brought back so many memories from school. My high school had these and allowed us to take them home. I took one on one of my first Amtrak trips and have fond memories of just being able to sit in the Amtrak Sightseer Lounge and just write about things that came to mind.

[@Zero]

I had one of these as a kid for school and was allowed to use it. I had very bad handwriting and was given permission to use this to take notes. this was before laptops where common in classrooms even pcs where not even thought about for class room settings. I really missed it in high school.

[@_guillermo]

I had the 3000 model in elementary school and loved it dearly. I have fond memories of creating ascii art with friends during recess and showing off our creations feeling like videogame programmers.

[@saffirechanning7286]

I'm posting this in February 2024. I am HAPPY to announce that I own an Alphasmart Neo 2 and LOVE using it! Just the FACTS that it much CHEAPER than any of those Freewrite devices and features a LARGER typing display, to ME, make it a SUPERIOR product. THANKS to the ORIGINATORS!

[@eilidhmm]

Seeing the 3000 in the video flashed me back to primary school here in Scotland - I never used one personally but there were a few other kids in my class who needed them and they looked so cool.

[@tammydreamwriter2877]

AlphaSmarts need to make a serious comeback- And the Freewrites do not compare! Even though I am almost 40 now, I still regret not buying mine after I graduated high school!

[@pseydtonne]

Two weeks ago I picked up an AlphaSmart 3k for five bucks at VCF Midwest. I figured it was dead: nope, works perfectly! I only needed to bend the metal backing the PCB back into shape, as it kept the right-arrow key from rising correctly. You're right as rain that it's fun to type on one. Mine even has a built-in NiMH battery that can be charged from the USB port. Is that dead like a LiPo? Nope! It's groovy. My normal goal with old tech is to mod it just enough to run Linux on it. I don't even need to do that here. I'm building a USB to Bluetooth module so I can use it with my smartphone as a keyboard. I highly recommend finding one cheap if you want to get more writing done without losing money. Thank you for making this video just in time!

[@williamharris8367]

I am much too old to have used these in school, but I love seeing videos about interesting, non-mainstream hardware. Thank-you, Colin.

[@chaburchak]

I still use mine all the time. Mainly at work -- these days I have to keep track of all my service calls and how much time I'm spending on each one, etc. Tried to do this with a notebook but then I had to spend extra time transcribing it later, and my handwriting is so bad I can't pawn that off to someone else. Tried pairing my phone with a Bluetooth keyboard but it was more clunky than useful. Tried talking into my phone but the transcription was never quite right. So I pick out one of my two old Neos and press it into action and it makes every difference in the world. Carry it around with me all week, then plug it in and dump all my notes at the end of the week. And it helps that the keyboard is pretty darned good. Maybe I should buy one or two more, while they're still available...

[@itdepends604]

I remember using these back in primary school back in around 2015 or so. Soon after the school brought chromebooks, but I wouldn't be suprised if they are still in use

[@DanielSmith-yp3rb]

Great video brings back a little nostalgia for me. I remember using an alpha smart 2000 in the the late 1990’s going in to the 2000s as I was in my senior years of elementary school. As in around that time they were encouraging us to type documents rather than handwriting, and with the big push on learning typing, these were what made it feasible for us to do that. I honestly completely forgot all about the alphasmart as it’s been well over 20 years since I’ve seen one.

[@sumrakdievca]

Oh my goooooood, I remember the AlphaSmart! I used the 2000 and the 3000 at my school, and I LOVED them. Getting to use them was always such a good time. I may have to get my hands on one of the retro models, for writing purposes.... Regardless, I'm SO glad that they're getting something of a renaissance!

[@HayleyAnjuna]

I used one of the white / beige ones but I remember it having a Serial port that could be plugged into the back of the AlphaSmart. I used the beige one in 7th grade and the green one in 8th.

[@Inkling777]

Many thanks for offering a history of my Neo 2. You're right about them being popular with writers. I know of one who bought three and wrapped two in foil, putting them inside her refrigerator. She wanted to make sure she'd always have one. And for the record, they're still interfacing with other devices. With a Lightening to USB adapter, my Neo 2 can serve as a full-size keyboard for my iPhone 12 Pro Max and even sent files to it.

[@AcidicThought]

Our school was poor, and had these for a long time. We would have one computer in a classroom, and everyone would use the AlphaSmart 2000s (and the odd 3000) and take turns syncing and printing.

[@rndincircles]

I was diagnosed with dysgraphia in middle school, had a 3000 assigned to me to use to type out my assignments. It was a game changer. I picked one up for my kids to practice typing on.

[@colinstu]

We used AlphaSmart 2000s in 4th grade to learn keyboarding. This would've been 2002-03. I always found it odd that they had ADB ports, as we had no macs, and never plugged them into computers.

[@mibnsharpals]

A very nice text capture terminal, at a time when mobile computers were extremely expensive. What just surprises me is why they haven't installed a basic interpreter as well. The hardware is already there and suitable for this. The basic would have meant extreme added value. So it would have been a much more elegant Cambridge Z88.

[@extrajava9175]

Ugh, I remember the Dana. What a wonderful machine. I bought one in high school (circa 2013) and the first thing I did was load Moria on it, haha. I loved the screen. I didn't love how much the battery drained while it was off though

[@Trekeyus]

I loved my alphasmart 2000 in Middle School. I had an IEP as well that let me use it for writing assignment and oh boy was it useful being able to transfer text directly to computers via the ps2 port.

[@dglcomputers1498]

We had a few similar devices over here from Cambridge Computers, with the Z-88 and various Amstrad NC machines, all with built in programs. I believe the Amstrad ones specifically did quite well.

[@hippowafflesify]

They really need to bring these back. This is a godsend every nanowrimo time

[@annoythedonkey]

I had an alpha smart as a kid, it was a godsend because u had a stroke as a toddler and couldn’t write by hand. It was literally the only way I could complete assignments.

[@ACrownofFlowers]

I'm disabled and the AlphaSmart 3000 was how I did most homework from age 6-9.

[@CattoRayTube]

We had 3000s in my Australian government primary school at least until 2004! The school only had one computer lab (full of eMacs, actually!) and a handful of older macs in the backs of rooms, so these were a cool thing to have.

[@techmantim7036]

The company I work for used to make the Y cable for these, I must have assembled thousands of these over the first couple years I worked there. We stopped making them I would say in the early 2000s.

[@suprshin]

I have a freewrite and I love it!!! I use it for writing school papers and journaling.

[@javierortiz82]

Back between 2002 and 2006 I used to work in an small computer business and one part of our operation was selling and buying second hand handheld devices like pocket PC and Palm devices along with more traditional desktop and laptop devices. A couple of these landed in our hands and they were a very interesting idea, the Apple one wowed us because of the elaborate animations it had but overall having Palm support was a clever implementation. God I miss Palm... The implementation of Palm handwriting helped us a lot actually, being in Latin America, we use a bunch of special symbols and accents that were not considered when designing this kind of devices (¿¡ç) and it was an easy way to enter them. They also knew when to pull off from the market, which gave a dignified death to the product instead of just let it rot in a market in which it did not belong (it was around the time the first iPhone launched). Should I travel to the states I might look up for one of these, I love my iPad but it has a bigger focus on content consumption and the constant inflow of notifications is distracting... Good video.

[@jrc774]

I bought an alphasmart neo 2 for the first time as a college student in 2021. I didn't think I was going to stick around in college, i honestly thought I'd only try for one more semester and then give up. The alphasmart is not the only reason for why I'm going to graduate, but damn did it make it so much easier. It's the perfect investment for any student, let alone one with ADHD and Dyslexia. It's saved me so much time and truly allowed me to just write.

[@ckildegaard]

I just bought one online and it's on its way. I used them back in elementary school and somehow re-discovered them (or remembered them?) relatively recently. I have been finding ways to experiment with technology minimalism and, while I'm not entirely willing to give up my smartphone yet, for instance, I do think there could be uses in my life for these types of very simple devices.

[@SonicManEXE]

I used the Dana in 5th grade. I used to hate writing in school (which is ironic because one of my college majors ending up being English). But when I was young it was a real challenge for me, so my teachers decided to let me have a go at typing instead of writing. I loved it. I used to write stories in my free time about Sonic and characters in Smash Bros. I’ve always loved technology so getting to print my work at school was so cool to me. I was given another couple Danas when I got to middle school, but neither of them worked. Honestly, it was probably for the better because I had a rough time in 6th grade and the last thing I would have needed was something for kids to make fun of me for having. Thank you so much for making a video on this. This really unlocked such fun memories and I think now I’m going to go looking for one of my own.

[@andrewlonghofer]

I wrote a good chunk of my grad school papers on my Dana in 2014-2017, using Markdown for formatting, and dumping into Ulysses for editing and export.

[@roystonlodge]

It wasn't just schools that had to have people share computers. I had a job as a writer that assigned one computer per two employees. One of us could write while the other one was out conducting interviews.

[@trandinhvietdung9357]

Such a nice, calming and interesting video, Colin!

[@AlecSilvaWX]

I use to have an alphasmart neo 2 in the early to mid 2000’s. Growing up I had a hard time writing so my school district gave me an alphasmart neo 2. Funny enough I was suppose to return the Alphasmart back to my school district but they never asked for it back. I still have it to this day.

[@Ekasmer549]

I remember my school setting us up with these around 1996-7 but they just showed us how to log into them and then I never saw them used again!

[@erikalvarado6080]

I loved my alpha smart as a teenager. I miss it.