I do agree that the fanciest tool in the world won’t help if the attitude and the effort to write aren’t there, but I do think that you’re unfairly judging the Alphasmart owners community as a bunch of poseurs who don’t have the attitude and effort to make it as writers.

The fact is, a good tool can help, both with the practical issues of making time to right, and even give a slight boost to a writer’s attitude if it’s NEARLY at the level of enthusiasm it should be. That’s all I’m really trying to say.

I do not have a problem with using an AlphaSmart for taking notes or any other writing activity. Z88, AlphaSmart, Moleskine (funny how Microsoft Word 2007 on my laptop changes Moleskine to Moleskin but Microsoft Word 2003 on my workstation leaves it alone), spiral bound notebook or a marker on the back of your hand, the tool you use is irrelevant.

If a person cannot get past the “right tool” mindset, give up! The AlphaSmart won’t help! The only way I distinguish between “real writers” and “wannabe writers” is that those that do, do, and those that don’t, aren’t. Real writers write, they will be writing on clay tablets, pen & paper, typewriters, laptops, AlphaSmarts or cell phones.

Wannabe writers just carry the tools of the writer. I have yet to talk with anyone at a conference (several hundred, I even sat in on a workshop specifically for the AlphaSmart and less than 10% of the audience truthfully admitted to using the AlphaSmart regularly at a conference) carrying one who actually uses it for anything other than a badge of honour. Perhaps I am attending the wrong conferences.

Cory Doctorow has said the same thing, and I am paraphrasing here, but if someone is waiting for the perfect tool before engaging in the activity, they are a wannabe.

I have used the AlphaSmart, it is a fine tool, but I could not see how it could replace either my Z88 or the various laptops I use for my writing. I gave my AlphaSmart away to an audience member at a conference, whilst sat in a panel, to someone who craved it on the promise they would use it productively. I do not know if they ever made use of it. I am never without my laptop, I am never without something I can write with, it makes the people who hang around with me crazy and I suffer ridicule for it from people who do not know me, but it does not matter.

Writers write, you cannot stop us. You and I, we don’t look for silver bullets.

I agree that the gadget alone isn’t a silver bullet. And there are too many writers out there who think if they just had the right pen, paper or writing tool that it would magically become an easier process. If it helps them get started, more power to them. But if they can’t get past the gadget, they’re not going to get anywhere. And you can tell who those people are at the conferences — and they’re not always carrying alphasmarts.

P.S. You can read comments at the bottom of each article. If you mean, “where can I read comments that I just wrote?” then you can read them after I have clicked on “approve.”

And a note on your blog design – where can I read comments??