Me and My Scribe

The Kindle Scribe is niche e-ink technology that pays off in productivity

As an early adopter of many technologies, my desk, office, and house are filled with the detritus of tech past and their promises of life changing productivity. I have iPhones going back to the original, digital recorders, iPads, special microphones, earphones, RAID drive, keyboards, video shuttle, transcription equipment, document scanner, and about a bazillion dongles, dingles, and doodads that were needed to connect all those to the multitude of Macs that have crossed my desk.

Yet the one purchase that I’ve recently made that has had the biggest impact on my productivity in more than 15 years is the most analog piece of tech I could have bought: a Kindle Scribe.

A frickin’ e-ink Kindle.

My hero, with the initial notes for what you’re reading now.

So, let me say right now it’s more than just a frickin’ Kindle, although Kindles are amazing (I’ve owned many, going back to the original origami-looking Kindle Oprah promoted). The Scribe is a Kindle that’s also a notepad.

I know, you’re yawning. But stick with me here for a minute.

The Scribe is an an e-ink notepad that lets me take notes by hand on an e-ink screen that feels remarkably like paper. Except rather than having to tear off page after page of paper, I just swipe and start a new page. The pen never needs charging and I can flip it over to use as an eraser, just like we did in olden times. I can create as many notebooks by topic as I want and organize them into folders and subfolders as needed. I can email them to my Mac and even have my handwriting translated to editable text (it actually works).

Is it color? No. Can I check my email on it? No. Will it run video? Hell, no. Does the browser work? LOL, no.

And thank god. One of the main reasons I love it — and the main reason I’m getting so much writing done — is that it does absolutely none of those things. It does two things and only two things: it takes handwritten notes and it lets you read books. No sneaking over to YouTube to watch some cake decorating videos when I hit a small writing block. No texts popping up begging me to donate yet again to a political campaign. No doomscrolling social media.

It’s just me and my notes. It’s heaven. And I’ve only had it a month.

I’m claiming this thing is super productive, so what have I done with it?

First off, what you’re currently reading. I’d been kicking around the idea of launching my Substack newsletter for months. Now here we are, The Back Half is up and running and my idea for the Flashback section on science fiction (long gestating in my head) is part of it.

I’ve eliminated the morass of yellow legal pad sheets from my desk, which is a relief to me and the forests of the world.

I’ve written a complete first draft of a screenplay treatment I’d been fruitlessly noodling on for two years.

I’ve fleshed out multiple column ideas for my real estate writing.

I’ve written some pitches for different publications that have also been rattling around in my head for ages.

And I’ve been reading an incredible amount. And I already read a lot.

I’ll be honest, I can’t credit my Scribe with everything that’s been coming out of me these past few weeks. Obviously, I’ve had a lot of ideas brewing in my head for a long period of time and I’ve been feeling a creative period coming on the horizon for a while now.

But a lot of this has come from being able to write by hand, something I do enjoy but that has proven impossible for me to organize on paper. Other solutions have just never worked well for me. Taking notes on iPhone frankly sucks balls, regardless what app I’ve tried. The iPad is just as bad and trying to write with a pen on those is a laggy, slippery experience that goes nowhere for me.

Taking notes on my laptop is fast but I run into the same organizational problems I do with paper plus my typing is so loud that it annoys the hell out of people when I do it in public.

The Scribe is the perfect mid-point between digital and analog that I needed. Writing on it is like a holding place, where nothing is set in stone and I can explore my thoughts, but they are right on hand when I’m ready to start writing on my Mac in Scrivener (which is the other software tech that changed my writing life, but that’s a story for later). The blank page on my screen doesn’t feel daunting in its emptiness anymore.

I suppose I should offer some quick nuts-and-bolts here. I picked up the 16 GB Kindle Scribe during Prime Days using a trade-in, so I got it way cheaper than the listed $369. I can’t see needing 32 or 64 GB on one of these things — the only thing they store is notebooks, Kindle books, and any PDFs you send to it.

The screen is gigantic (10.2 inches) for e-ink and at 300 dpi looks great. Unlike other e-ink tablets out there (particularly the Remarkable, which you’ve probably seen advertised on YouTube and if you haven’t, you will now because algorithms) it has a lighted screen so you can use it anywhere, anytime.

The battery life is phenomenal — if you just read a bit daily and write occasionally, it’ll last more than a month without a charge. I use it for hours a day and I’ve only charged it twice since I got it.

As an e-reader, I’m loving the hell out of it because, um, well, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be and I like having a bigger screen dammit. Still, I wouldn’t recommend buying it if you’re just looking for an oversized e-reader, Kindle has other options for that.

That’s the story of me and my Scribe. I’ll re-visit in another few months and see if I’m still in love and if Amazon continues to upgrade the software to add better functionality. As it stands, though, if you’re a massive reader and at least regular writer, I would recommend the Scribe more avidly than I’ve recommended anything in years. It’s that good.