Maker Un Kyu Lee is revisiting an earlier incarnation of his Micro Journal distraction-free transportable writing machine undertaking, designing a brand new clamshell housing for the Raspberry Pi-powered gadget with a hidden scroll function: the Micro Journal Rev.2.ReVamp.
Lee has been engaged on the Micro Journal undertaking for a while — we coated a few of his earlier revisions earlier this 12 months — however the newest mannequin, dubbed “Rev.2.ReVamp,” is arguably essentially the most spectacular. A clamshell form-factor opens to disclose an ultrawide display screen and an ortholinear mechanical keyboard; there is no pointing system, because it would not want one: the entire concept behind the system is distraction-free writing.
The place earlier Micro Journals have been based mostly on a mix of single-board computer systems, upcycled smartphones, and microcontrollers, the Micro Journal Rev.2.ReVamp opts for a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W single-board laptop and a full-fat Linux working system — however boots into the WordGrinder minimalist text-editing setting by default, to offer an identical distraction-free setting to the unique fashions. It is based mostly on the Micro Journal Revision 2, as you’d count on: a Penkēsu-inspired clamshell whose hinge turned out too wobbly.
Maybe essentially the most fascinating change within the system, bar a revised hinge system that provides much-needed stability whereas typing, is noticed at both aspect of the hinge, and will initially be mistaken for adornment: a pair of knobs which might be truly fully-functional, serving as vertical and horizontal scroll controls for speedy doc navigation — impressed, little doubt, by the mechanical paper feed of a conventional sort author.
The unique Micro Journal Revision 2 had its personal “revision 2,” pictured, which ditched the wobbly hinge in favor of fastened stability. (📷: Un Kyu Lee)
Anybody constructing their very own Micro Journal Rev.2.ReVamp, or buying one once they turn into obtainable, is more likely to be in for slightly studying curve, although. To maintain the scale down, Lee has opted to make use of a compact keyboard based mostly on the Planck structure — which means solely alpha, navigation, punctuation, and modifier keys are seen. The remainder of the keyboard is hidden on higher layers, accessed by holding a modifier to shift layers — one thing which provides Lee himself slightly bother as he hunts for the place the numeral two is hidden throughout a stay demonstration.
Particulars, and 3D print information, for all Micro Journal fashions can be found on Lee’s GitHub repository beneath the Inventive Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Worldwide license; the Revision 5 and Revision 6 are up on the market on Tindie at $139 and $179 respectively, however the brand new Rev.2.ReVamp was not but listed on the time of writing.
