This is the BYOK, billed as a ‘distraction-free’ writing device for those who need pure focus in order to channel their productivity as effectively as possible. The procrastinating writer oftens torments themselves with the idea that there’s a simple and effective solution to their woes, usually one that involves buying something – the perfect notebook or pen – or some studious or trivial ritual that helps get the words flowing. It’s an approach that does little more than perpetuate the procrastination and kick the idea of getting something done even further down the road.
BYOK stands for Bring Your Own Keyboard. Detractors and pessimistic scribes will point out that having to find a keyboard is in itself a barrier to entry, there’s no doubting this device’s good intentions. BYOK consists of a simple screen capable of displaying up to six lines of text. To use it, connect your aforementioned favourite keyboard, whether full-size or folding – there are hundreds to choose from – and get typing.
Keyboard connection is via Bluetooth or USB-C, and the onboard batteries only have to power a simple LCD screen giving a maximum usage time of 20 hours. This drops to 5 hours if you’ve got the screen backlit to maximum brightness (there are three settings). At just 16.5 x 8cm, and 1.4cm thick, the BYOK is easily pocketable, making it an instantly usable device to jot down some ideas without the need for a power supply or internet access (and all its accompanying distractions).
With that said, all text can be backed up over WiFi to popular cloud platforms, including Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox, or you can simple sync over USB. Text is rendered in three different font size, and while the 16mb of onboard storage wouldn’t even stretch to a short social video, in the efficient world of text-only operation, it’s more than enough for several epic novels – around 1 million words. These precious pearls of wisdom will also survive the event of a totally dead battery.
BYOK comes in black or white, and the simple rectangular case incorporates a magnet for attachment to commonplace phone stands. The operating system is navigated by three simple buttons on the rear of the case. It’s not all perfect – editors might baulk at the absence of easy cut and paste facilities – but as a way of hitting a word count without falling prey to online diversions it can’t be bettered.
BYOK is available to order from Prelaunch.com
