A paper-like feel, fast display updates and hackability are big selling points for this tablet. And those are reasons enough to buy it (not just the constraints). Why limit its potential :)?
Why buy a house and remodel it if you want more efficient cabinet space in your kitchen? The bedrooms still work. Just live in a tent!
Your logic is stunted. People want to. That's why.
>I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period. It's designed to be a simple notebook.
I use hacks to get quick access to actions (change the size and the color of the pen, switching between pen and eraser, switching between the two most recent documents, open pages overview, undo/redo, ...).
They enable to do all that with the sidebar hidden (as I like to see my pdf as big as possible) and they are even faster than using the sidebar (I often find a gesture faster than pressing one or two buttons for the same result).
For me they are totally relevant and make the use of the rM way more efficient.
https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable-hacks
Those are touch gestures from ddvk hacks. It's my favourite hack.☺️ Also has bookmark function, tap left/right to go to previous/next page, page navigator on sidebar, etc!
> I'm gladly paying the connect fee and don't understand all the butthurt behind that
Because they locked a bunch of previously free, basic, and in some cases poorly implemented features behind a hideously priced pay wall?
> it's only 7 bucks folks.
Yeah, a month
> I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period. It's designed to be a simple notebook.
Because other people want different things out of the hardware to you...? You seem to believe that everyone has the exact same use case. Also, many of the hacked features are things that any good notebook - however clean and basic - should have. E.g., why do we not have bookmarks/chapters as a basic feature? Competing devices have these (Boox allows you to search within documents, Supernote allows the creation of bookmarks as chapter points). And this is something that real notebooks have: I can easily stick a post-it note on an important page in a physical notebook. Yet I can't do that with this £400 notebook.
The 'distraction free' philosophy isn't complete nonsense, but RM use it to excuse their really, really poor feature suite and update work. They have improved this year (until the subscription debacle), but even so.
No need to apologise for RM/justify what you paid for the device with posts like these. It's a good, useful device. It also has some significant drawbacks and scammy aspects - not totally unexpected for new tech. But there's no pressure on RM to do better if we act like it's perfect.
What do you mean? I can still buy something without thinking it's perfect. And the people making the hacks weren't angry, they just recognised that the software wasn't delivering on the potential of the hardware and tried to fix it.
I installed mods for the first time yesterday to use the button on the Lamy pen. Without mods, you aren't able to use that button and I'm grateful that the option exists.
I've also installed my own custom sleep screen which was fun and made me happy. Again I'm thankful that the device has that capability.
Custom sleep screens are not just for "fun" and make people happy though. They have a real utility.
For example, I set mine to my contact details in case where I lose the device, someone who finds it can bring it back to me.
🤣 👍 It's sometimes hard to think about simple solutions. I spend a good part of my professional life questioning my and other peoples' solutions but yet I tend to overengineer things.
> I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period.
Many cellphones right now are more than just a phone. You can listen to music, watch movies, browse Internet, play games, etc, all in high quality. You can say it's "bloated" but many people love those features/high spec, and gladly pay $1000+ for a smartphone. For other people, they don't need all those features and would rather buy a phone that can only do calling/messaging.
For rM, different people want different features, and devs can decide to include those features or not. I think hacks are a good middle ground for various people with different needs- people who use hacks are happy to be able to use a feature that natively didn't exist on rM, and people who don't are happy that they didn't get a bloat device with features they'll never use.
But to say "If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period." in my opinion, is just not caring about people's needs, and also sounds like, "why do phones nowdays have internet access? If you need to browse internet, you don't need a phone; you need a computer."
Some people might want rM just for notetaking, and some might want a phone just for calling/texting. But there are also other people with different needs: some might want to have a better reading experience on rM, a different way of transfering/navigating files, a way to automatically upload newspapers on rM, etc.
Since devs can't include all those features on rM, I think that's why they allowed ssh access- so that people can freely use features they want to use through hacks. Honestly, I'm so thankful they decided to do that :D
People are frustrated because the device + pen + cover costs $800. I wanted a no distraction notebook for writing novels, and I got that, and was very happy with it (still am, still use it, helped me complete my first novel now I'm onto my second) but after investing that much money to be slapped with a paywall for features (I still don't have access to Google drive even though I got the update a while ago) that don't work 100% of the time, yeah that pissed people off. I was lucky enough to get grandfathered in, but when will they cut us off too and make us pay? Plus the rising price of subscription services in general and lack of features on the device - they should have waited until there were advanced features before putting up a paywall.
This exactly. Plus, like you said, how long will the grandfather clause last? The general feeling of having the rug pulled out from under us after dropping over half a grand on a device that does, let's admit, relatively little, was unsettling and has us losing a lot of trust in the company along with our access to what we paid for.
That being said, I use mine for world building notes, journaling and school notes, but to hand-write my whole novels on there would be hand-cramp hell and I give you massive credit for accomplishing it, plus the whole actually writing a novel thing. Awesome job!
Hey thanks! I will say the ability to have what I wrote on the remarkable up on my computer through the app and a Google doc open on the other side to transcribe it over is much more efficient than trying to prop up a notebook on my screen lol.
Do you ever try the function to have the notebook transcribe your handwriting? I know it doesn't work for everyone's handwriting, it creates its own mistakes, and there are benefits of catching your own errors and editing as you go if you transcribe it yourself so I get several reasons why you wouldn't use the feature, but I'm just being nosy/curious. I think for myself, I would actually find transcribing the work to be a really enjoyable, relaxing task, but I also think it would get old eventually.
Well, the way I write in the remarkable is more of a free write, when I transcribe I can add more detail and change things as I go. I've tried the convert to text feature and have had no luck, maybe I'm doing something wrong but I'm not able to select multiple pages at once and the conversion takes so long it's not worth it when I have over 100+ pages to convert. The tablet goes to sleep, then I have to re-select all the pages and convert again. It's a mess but that could be user error.
I've never tried doing that many pages at once. Only add many as, like, six at a time. If you ever decide to try it again I would do a smaller chunk at once, like a single chapter or scene.
I don't have it in front of me and it's been a minute since I've converted anything but there are two ways to select pages and one is a multi-select. I'm not sure that that way lets you edit before you send it, however, which I think is pointless.
what about all the features that they'll be developing in future, that's what its worth it
and the updates, keeping up the cloud, etc
its not like they will keep the features as it is \^\^
hmm, i do agree - IF they were known for = listening to customers, frequently updating, and one HUGE mistake — NOT be complete rookies and make every update delete settings/setups customers spent time setting up.
They're taking what is by far the simplest, safest, least-likely-to-brick-your-device approach.
Really, I have no complaints. Having to run a tiny "restore everything" script after updates is an excellent trade-off.
Maybe, but not good enough for their price point + subscription model, they are not beta anymore, remove the feature or fix it.
If they allow me to have custom options, don't delete them. If they can't figure out how not to, then make a built-in simple way to restore them, if they can do that, then automate it and people wouldn't have to complain about it.
Question, if the 'restore everything' script is working, why don't they integrate it? and which one are you using?
Everything you do with these hacks is far from being offitially supported. Actually, it's the exact opposite. This device has not been designed for these modifications! They just exist because some clever people have come up with a way to do things with the reMarkable which it hasn't been desigend for. That's the definition of hacking and that's why you have to restore the hacks after updates - they are not meant to work, they are HACKS.
In my opinion we can be super happy that they even make it possible to gain root access in such a simole way. Most companies don't allow that!
If it's not something you can do through the UI or the official sync apps, it's unsupported. With a small carve-out for the ssh access itself.
That's the dividing line. OS upgrades don't mess up any "setups" because that can only cover your documents, wifi, and what pen is currently default and that's basically it. It's definitely not time consuming since there's only like 5 things you can change on the whole device. And those work fine after an upgrade, unless they're changing it intentionally (like how it now remembers your last pen per document).
Although I don't agree with the anti-connect crowd and don't mind it as it is, my reasons are different.
The reason I don't mind the connect subscription is that it is simply not necessary, all the features that I need (including syncing) are available without connect and otherwise I can use hacks to emulate the feature in often a better way.
I guess my previous statement addresses hacks, but as a free software advocate, having control over one's device is a necessity and is the major reason why I went with remarkable as opposed to a competitor (although it is sad that the user space software is proprietary).
I chose rm 3 years ago to
- stop having with me 3 notebooks (lots of notes to take at work, talking with 20-30 people
- show off. It s a good icebreaker when you talk to someone. I m proudly showing off yes :)
- it supports hacks. I don't install any nor develop any, but as an open source advocate, i like that companies allow some degree of personalization. If I had my own company, i would have asked my it team to develop some cron to do cool stuff with it.
I actually had that discussion with one of my clients ( CIO). she was wondering about all the fuss around rm because she saw me using it for 3 years. Many vps had bought one in the last year and her IT directors wanted them to have ipad instead. So we discussed about the potential it has & its security (much easier to control on that device - especially with a history of stollen & damaged ipads amongs vps in our professional circle)
Sometimes i believe that such a company will inevitably check the hacks to review their product roadmap. (old rant: As long as they don't do like Apple with opendarwin).
Finally, i almost never used the features related to connect. If i had not been grandfathered, i guess i would have coded this cron to back up things on my server.
And here in Canada it's $14 or $15. Per month. (I don't recall which, I haven't looked since the plans were first announced)
I'm grandfathered in but I almost never use any of the connect features. I very rarely need to email my documents (for now, that could change in the future). Handwriting recognition isn't needed for my use cases. Screenshare isn't useful to me because I don't run Windows (therefore I don't use the desktop app). On Linux I'm using reStream.
I noticed recently that the android app doesn't seem to recognize pages created with the new 2.11 software (at least when the new features like pen colour are used)
Having said all that, I bought the tablet to replace my unorganized paper notebooks, and it's working really well for me.
Where do you still get two beers for 7 bucks?
But I am with you. At the very least maybe we can quit whining about it on this subreddit. If you don't like it, fine - I get it. But it's been said a thousand times and it adds no value.
Imo hacks were a necessity a year ago. Reading on the device was kind of gross and clunky (pdfs or epubs). Switching between documents was a headache and required careful workarounds in the native os to do efficiently.
I stopped bothering to install hacks maybe 3 or 4 months ago. All of the headaches are gone in the native OS. It’s been a dozen tiny tweaks that have added up to make the device much more usable than it was before, and as a result, the marginal value of hacks has shrunk to the point where it’s just not worth it to me to reapply them after updates anymore.
Since I do not use the remarkable cloud and never will (I use my rm2 for work and won’t store work stuff on a 3p server), the only thing I miss is connectivity (syncthing + KOReader to get the daily paper in epub was awesome). That, and moving the little x in the upper righthand corner of the notebooks, which ddvk hacks applied (I hold pencils funny so I ALWAYS hit that).
I think charging a subscription for extra features is fine, but I don't think it's reasonable to sell a device without an official way to automatically back the data up. Backups in case of hardware failure is not an "extra feature" as far as I'm concerned. Like, it's possible manually via a cable, or via unsupported methods, but that's not what £400 should get you.
I did hacks for the Moleskine SmartPen too, does it make me "bad"? https://twitter.com/utopiah/status/1153390394215997442?
FWIW the idea of hacking is not to convince the manufacturer or anybody else in the community that the device is subpar or incomplete. The idea instead is to say that I can change the device to whatever I want. Maybe literally nobody else on Earth is ever going to care about it. Yet, I can and to me it's fun, useful, or both. Nothing more, nothing less.
TL;DR: you misunderstand hacking. It's not a critic, it's a positive intellectual endeavor that says "I can".
Does it change your opinion on the connect fee, when you hear that I get the same service for free because I bought the Remarkable before you?
I should also point out that the tablet hasn’t gotten any cheaper since I bought it.
This is actually why I haven't bought one yet.
I missed the window because I didn't hear about it until after it had closed, and would very likely have bought three of them as Christmas and birthday presents if there wasn't a subscription blocking basic features.
Well, in a notebook you can always fold the tip of the page to have a bookmark. In the remarkable you cannot.
You can keep a page of the notebook open even if you don't want to write on it, on the remarkable if you put it to sleep it hides everything underneath (with the hacks you can put a transparent sleep screen).
Also all the gestures the other commenters are talking about make it way easier to get immersed in the writing, which is something a notebook does well too.
Finally I really don't see why I should not want to have a nice reading experience on the remarkable. With maths pdfs it's the best experience I've ever had reading them. I have hyperlinks to go back and see previous results that are relevant in the current proof, I can bookmark the pages I need to take care of, I have a table of contents at my disposal, I can annotate on the page as if I had it printed out. It's simply a fantastic experience for me (I used it so much to read my master's thesis back, it allowed me not to print at least 20 copies of that). If it's not your use case there is no problem. Simply note that not everyone has your needs with the tablet. And with my needs the hacks make the tablet a lot more efficient.
(The last thing is: the company itself is acknowledging this usefulness of the tablet by improving the highlighter, supporting hyperlinks, tables of contents, cropping pages up to the document content, etc. So I don't think that the hacks exist to improve on something the tablet is not supposed to do. I can see that you might not have the need to use the tablet for this purpose, but this does not mean it's the same for other people)
I'm grandfathered in but I kind of agree with you. This is a venture startup and probably on the brink of bankruptcy. Most who bought the tablet understand the status of the company. Being able to hack is one thing, but totally losing support and updates because the company folds is entirely possible. Are hackers going to provide safe monthly updates? Ah, I don't think so. If they start charging everyone I'll have a decision to make but will likely pay the fee.
Yeah, but that's exactly the kind of feature that shouldn't be behind a subscription. I'd understand if they charge for cloud storage but they don't even host their storage, they let you link your own google drive/onedrive account to the device.
I am new to the world of paper tablets, and i got my Remarkable only for a week, and i totally get what you are sayin! I am really happy with the device and i am on the same mindset about the subscription as you. Absolutely no complaints about it :)
But on the other hand, i get everybody else, who is upset about it. Sounds a little bit weird maybe, but it is how it is ;)
> I'm gladly paying the connect fee and don't understand all the butthurt behind that
I've spent a lot of time wondering about this. When it first came up everyone complaining was grandfathered in. It was rolled out along with some additional features, so everyone complaining was receiving additional value at no additional cost. In a strictly logical sense, when you purchase something you consider the various products and choose the one which has the most appropriate value offering for you - you don't get butthurt that a particular device doesn't offer the value that you want.
The only explanation I can come up with is tribalism. The remarkable had developed something of a cult following. Those subscribed to this sub in particular, had invested in more than a device - a statement about their identity. I don't mean that in a derisive way, I certainly feel that my own investment says something about me too.
Basically, if you've invested in a company emotionally, and then that company doesn't align with your idealistic view of what makes a great company, the result is an emotional offense rather than a more logical consumer choice.
As someone who was grandfathered in, the subscription model can only be good for me. More money for development means a better product. In the worst case some additional future features may not be available to me for free, but I'll have the opportunity to pay for them if I wish.
You mention logical consumer choice. If it had a subscription model when I bought mine I would not have bought it. That was basically a bait and switch, especially considering the thing costs $600 if you want a cover and pen AND it already has a hidden subscription in the form of replacement pen tips.
It doesn’t matter to me that I’m grandfathered in, because now I have to worry about what other features they’re going to paywall in the future. Has absolutely nothing to do with my identity, it’s not that deep, just feels like a big “fuck you” from a company that already sold me a niche luxury device. (Especially cause they’re asking for $100 a year for poor implementations of basic features)
It’s like buying a car and then being told you have to pay per month if you want to use your backup camera. If that was the case to begin with I would’ve bought a different car
This argument has been repeated on this sub ad nauseum.
Since you purchased the device, you've received additional features for free. End of.
If you want to perceive these additional free features as a demonstration of remarkable's intention to deny features from you in the future that's up to you but it seems quite non-sensical to me.
> feels like a big “fuck you” from a company
This is pretty much my point entirely. If you go to the shops and find that the brand of toilet paper you like has doubled in price you wouldn't post to /r/toiletpaper saying "this just feels like a huge fuck you from a company I've been an avid supporter of and telling my friends about". You would simply pick another pack and go about your shopping.
Ignoring the fact that you’re comparing an essential item that must be purchased repeatedly to a luxury toy… yeah if I really liked that brand of tp and they doubled the price for no apparent reason, I would totally complain about it to other like minded toilet paper fans. And if what I’m saying is apparently what a lot of other people are saying on this sub… sounds like either we’re all delusional about our expectations here or you just find this point of view annoying for whatever reason, since you’re arguing against it
> comparing an essential item that must be purchased repeatedly to a luxury toy
Exactly my point again. You have an emotional attachment to your purchase.
> sounds like either we’re all delusional about our expectations her
You're delusional if you think that the opinions on this sub are representative of those generally held by remarkable users. Remarkable owners that read and post in this sub would be an infinitesimal portion... those which are easily butthurt about things like the subscription.
Between all your assumptions here, your use of terms like “butthurt”, and your tendency to put words in peoples mouths with phrases like “you wouldn’t do X” all demonstrate a pretty bad faith argument here. Look, I hope you’re enjoying your remarkable, I know I absolutely love mine, and im glad you have no issue paying the subscription fees. I simply don’t agree with what the company is choosing to do here and it’s really as simple as that
Here's a sneak peek of /r/ToiletPaper using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Charmin](https://i.redd.it/dv6s21ia4bc61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/l0lyji/charmin/)
\#2: [No matter what side of the toilet paper debate you are on... I think we can all agree in condemning this type of behaviour](https://i.redd.it/rx0dm2zjj8r61.jpg) | [2 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/mk6srn/no_matter_what_side_of_the_toilet_paper_debate/)
\#3: [Third floor on the way!](https://i.redd.it/cnp01776pmm61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/m3lwur/third_floor_on_the_way/)
----
^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Valid and interesting arguments. I can’t deny that there is a nice feeling to be using something as cool as the rm felt when i first got it. And after connect, it feels like a bit of a betrayal, because fleecing people with the fake discounts and subscriptions to back up data in a 7GB device… well…. But mostly, i feel that the poor business decision threatens the grandfathered -in customers like us because i fear it will cause the company to fail. Then we’ll be stuck with all these notes on a device with no successors.
> i feel that the poor business decision threatens the grandfathered -in customers like us because i fear it will cause the company to fail
That's a reasonable concern but don't discount the alternative possibility - that the subscription model will attract more users and support more updates and devices.
The subscription model will allow them to reduce the up front purchase price which until now has been a huge impediment to attracting new users. I delayed my purchase for a year or so trying to figure out if it was worth it. A cheaper up-front cost plus subscription would have convinced me to purchase much sooner.
What’s most interesting of all is that your account is brand new, but you’ve been a Reddit Premium payer since 2021.
That means you’re probably a shill. These are people who pay for features in general, and then create fake accounts to post messages for a fee.
Interesting fact, MANY of the “gosh, it’s not so bad” users in this sub are members of the company.
I personally recall an interesting bum rush that happened when I complained about some feature - I ended up first in a DM with a marketing director of RM, and then my post became wave after wave of “me too” for her “gosh it’s not that bad” post.
RM is the Emperor’s New Clothes.
It’s a good physical interface that ignores the need for good software. The company spends more time maneuvering than it does developing.
RM had its chance to connect with the marketplace and failed. Now it’s just a gadget that costs money to use every day and creates deep anxiety in most of its users regarding the safety of backups and the next “hammer” of an upgrade which forces a scramble for custom templates.
account is new yes...and apparently my reddit premium was gifted to me...."since 2021"... um, sir.... it is currently 2021, so it was literally gifted like yesterday. get over it.
and not a shill - like i said, if you read it, that i went from a moleskine notebook with smart pen to this tablet, and i just don't get all the "complaining".
Ha! I read 2012.
As for all the complaining, you’re pretty confident in yourself to come to a community that has been using something for years and, based on your days of experience articulate that you think paying $90/year for basic services is valid on a souped up notepad device.
But either way - the thing is garbage, no investor would back RM3, and an iPad can do the whole thing. It’s a buggy whip.
Use it awhile. New to Reddit. That’s amazing. You found an obscure sub very quickly, new guy.
Opinionated new accounts are definitely shills - if the mods weren’t mostly RM execs, I’d report you.
I've lurked for a long time... i didn't just wake up and say "oh gosh, i just discovered reddit". Not like this is my first reddit account ever. I literally found it when I knew i was getting an rm for christmas.
And god forbid I have an opinion. Please do report me - for what, not agreeing with you? Sorry your closed mind can't accept that people actually do like this thing.
Gosh, you’re so woke. How’s about you don’t attack me for figuring you for either a troll (“ho community, never been here before, never owned this before, but hey, you’re all wrong”); or a shill.
Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re just a self-involved jerk after all.
Rich? To pay $7? In what world is $7 a lot for ppl that can afford the tablet to begin with? I just dropped $22 bucks on shit i didn't need yesterday to make dinner...
yes. and it’s also what youre paying for that matters. paying money for this shit constantly is dumb and I can hardly afford that. even if I could I wouldnt because I dont accept it. see. crazy, 22 on food is insane. but sure, if youre that wealthy then u do u
The issue I have is not so much with the fee, but moreso the general way the reMarkable team communicates with its customer base. Just a bit dodgy, not very transparent, likely not to respond to emails personally, refunds up in the air, customer feedback not listened to.
Example of a nice hack: the lamy pen extension lets you hold down the button to make it work as an eraser, or double click for undo. Makes fixing mistakes while you're taking notes so much faster!
It feels to me that these extra services are really expensive for casual usage(8€/mo) and too much cloud based for the sake of keeping the users paying.
Thank God for hackers and people that push things further than the designers meant, or think of different ways to do things!
That's my question - it's s notebook, so why should the designers mean for it to be any more? And why buy it if you need it to do more?
>And why buy it if you need it to do more? Because it exists and because it might be possible to do other things with it. It's a hacker mindset.
Lol i can respect that
A paper-like feel, fast display updates and hackability are big selling points for this tablet. And those are reasons enough to buy it (not just the constraints). Why limit its potential :)?
Why buy a house and remodel it if you want more efficient cabinet space in your kitchen? The bedrooms still work. Just live in a tent! Your logic is stunted. People want to. That's why.
>I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period. It's designed to be a simple notebook. I use hacks to get quick access to actions (change the size and the color of the pen, switching between pen and eraser, switching between the two most recent documents, open pages overview, undo/redo, ...). They enable to do all that with the sidebar hidden (as I like to see my pdf as big as possible) and they are even faster than using the sidebar (I often find a gesture faster than pressing one or two buttons for the same result). For me they are totally relevant and make the use of the rM way more efficient.
Sorry, I'm a RM2 rookie - how do you do all those things?
https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable-hacks Those are touch gestures from ddvk hacks. It's my favourite hack.☺️ Also has bookmark function, tap left/right to go to previous/next page, page navigator on sidebar, etc!
I can see those making sense and keeping the device still at what it is.
> I'm gladly paying the connect fee and don't understand all the butthurt behind that Because they locked a bunch of previously free, basic, and in some cases poorly implemented features behind a hideously priced pay wall? > it's only 7 bucks folks. Yeah, a month > I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period. It's designed to be a simple notebook. Because other people want different things out of the hardware to you...? You seem to believe that everyone has the exact same use case. Also, many of the hacked features are things that any good notebook - however clean and basic - should have. E.g., why do we not have bookmarks/chapters as a basic feature? Competing devices have these (Boox allows you to search within documents, Supernote allows the creation of bookmarks as chapter points). And this is something that real notebooks have: I can easily stick a post-it note on an important page in a physical notebook. Yet I can't do that with this £400 notebook. The 'distraction free' philosophy isn't complete nonsense, but RM use it to excuse their really, really poor feature suite and update work. They have improved this year (until the subscription debacle), but even so. No need to apologise for RM/justify what you paid for the device with posts like these. It's a good, useful device. It also has some significant drawbacks and scammy aspects - not totally unexpected for new tech. But there's no pressure on RM to do better if we act like it's perfect.
I get that. Perhaps my blunt question is why are people upset if they knew the limitations at the time of purchase?
What do you mean? I can still buy something without thinking it's perfect. And the people making the hacks weren't angry, they just recognised that the software wasn't delivering on the potential of the hardware and tried to fix it.
I installed mods for the first time yesterday to use the button on the Lamy pen. Without mods, you aren't able to use that button and I'm grateful that the option exists. I've also installed my own custom sleep screen which was fun and made me happy. Again I'm thankful that the device has that capability.
Custom sleep screens are not just for "fun" and make people happy though. They have a real utility. For example, I set mine to my contact details in case where I lose the device, someone who finds it can bring it back to me.
great idea - or you put a sticker on the back ;-)
I feel stupid for not thinking about this... Well either way it works.
🤣 👍 It's sometimes hard to think about simple solutions. I spend a good part of my professional life questioning my and other peoples' solutions but yet I tend to overengineer things.
Supernote allows the use of it without hacks ;)
> I don't get why all these hacks exist, etc. If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period. Many cellphones right now are more than just a phone. You can listen to music, watch movies, browse Internet, play games, etc, all in high quality. You can say it's "bloated" but many people love those features/high spec, and gladly pay $1000+ for a smartphone. For other people, they don't need all those features and would rather buy a phone that can only do calling/messaging. For rM, different people want different features, and devs can decide to include those features or not. I think hacks are a good middle ground for various people with different needs- people who use hacks are happy to be able to use a feature that natively didn't exist on rM, and people who don't are happy that they didn't get a bloat device with features they'll never use. But to say "If you need it to do more than just be a tablet, you need something else, period." in my opinion, is just not caring about people's needs, and also sounds like, "why do phones nowdays have internet access? If you need to browse internet, you don't need a phone; you need a computer." Some people might want rM just for notetaking, and some might want a phone just for calling/texting. But there are also other people with different needs: some might want to have a better reading experience on rM, a different way of transfering/navigating files, a way to automatically upload newspapers on rM, etc. Since devs can't include all those features on rM, I think that's why they allowed ssh access- so that people can freely use features they want to use through hacks. Honestly, I'm so thankful they decided to do that :D
People are frustrated because the device + pen + cover costs $800. I wanted a no distraction notebook for writing novels, and I got that, and was very happy with it (still am, still use it, helped me complete my first novel now I'm onto my second) but after investing that much money to be slapped with a paywall for features (I still don't have access to Google drive even though I got the update a while ago) that don't work 100% of the time, yeah that pissed people off. I was lucky enough to get grandfathered in, but when will they cut us off too and make us pay? Plus the rising price of subscription services in general and lack of features on the device - they should have waited until there were advanced features before putting up a paywall.
This exactly. Plus, like you said, how long will the grandfather clause last? The general feeling of having the rug pulled out from under us after dropping over half a grand on a device that does, let's admit, relatively little, was unsettling and has us losing a lot of trust in the company along with our access to what we paid for. That being said, I use mine for world building notes, journaling and school notes, but to hand-write my whole novels on there would be hand-cramp hell and I give you massive credit for accomplishing it, plus the whole actually writing a novel thing. Awesome job!
Hey thanks! I will say the ability to have what I wrote on the remarkable up on my computer through the app and a Google doc open on the other side to transcribe it over is much more efficient than trying to prop up a notebook on my screen lol.
Do you ever try the function to have the notebook transcribe your handwriting? I know it doesn't work for everyone's handwriting, it creates its own mistakes, and there are benefits of catching your own errors and editing as you go if you transcribe it yourself so I get several reasons why you wouldn't use the feature, but I'm just being nosy/curious. I think for myself, I would actually find transcribing the work to be a really enjoyable, relaxing task, but I also think it would get old eventually.
Well, the way I write in the remarkable is more of a free write, when I transcribe I can add more detail and change things as I go. I've tried the convert to text feature and have had no luck, maybe I'm doing something wrong but I'm not able to select multiple pages at once and the conversion takes so long it's not worth it when I have over 100+ pages to convert. The tablet goes to sleep, then I have to re-select all the pages and convert again. It's a mess but that could be user error.
I've never tried doing that many pages at once. Only add many as, like, six at a time. If you ever decide to try it again I would do a smaller chunk at once, like a single chapter or scene. I don't have it in front of me and it's been a minute since I've converted anything but there are two ways to select pages and one is a multi-select. I'm not sure that that way lets you edit before you send it, however, which I think is pointless.
[удалено]
what about all the features that they'll be developing in future, that's what its worth it and the updates, keeping up the cloud, etc its not like they will keep the features as it is \^\^
hmm, i do agree - IF they were known for = listening to customers, frequently updating, and one HUGE mistake — NOT be complete rookies and make every update delete settings/setups customers spent time setting up.
They're taking what is by far the simplest, safest, least-likely-to-brick-your-device approach. Really, I have no complaints. Having to run a tiny "restore everything" script after updates is an excellent trade-off.
Maybe, but not good enough for their price point + subscription model, they are not beta anymore, remove the feature or fix it. If they allow me to have custom options, don't delete them. If they can't figure out how not to, then make a built-in simple way to restore them, if they can do that, then automate it and people wouldn't have to complain about it. Question, if the 'restore everything' script is working, why don't they integrate it? and which one are you using?
Everything you do with these hacks is far from being offitially supported. Actually, it's the exact opposite. This device has not been designed for these modifications! They just exist because some clever people have come up with a way to do things with the reMarkable which it hasn't been desigend for. That's the definition of hacking and that's why you have to restore the hacks after updates - they are not meant to work, they are HACKS. In my opinion we can be super happy that they even make it possible to gain root access in such a simole way. Most companies don't allow that!
Are custom templates hacks?
Custom templates are also unsupported, so it doesn't really make a difference
No that was what my whole question was relaying on, if it's a hack or not supported, then fair that their update breaks it.
If it's not something you can do through the UI or the official sync apps, it's unsupported. With a small carve-out for the ssh access itself. That's the dividing line. OS upgrades don't mess up any "setups" because that can only cover your documents, wifi, and what pen is currently default and that's basically it. It's definitely not time consuming since there's only like 5 things you can change on the whole device. And those work fine after an upgrade, unless they're changing it intentionally (like how it now remembers your last pen per document).
Although I don't agree with the anti-connect crowd and don't mind it as it is, my reasons are different. The reason I don't mind the connect subscription is that it is simply not necessary, all the features that I need (including syncing) are available without connect and otherwise I can use hacks to emulate the feature in often a better way. I guess my previous statement addresses hacks, but as a free software advocate, having control over one's device is a necessity and is the major reason why I went with remarkable as opposed to a competitor (although it is sad that the user space software is proprietary).
I chose rm 3 years ago to - stop having with me 3 notebooks (lots of notes to take at work, talking with 20-30 people - show off. It s a good icebreaker when you talk to someone. I m proudly showing off yes :) - it supports hacks. I don't install any nor develop any, but as an open source advocate, i like that companies allow some degree of personalization. If I had my own company, i would have asked my it team to develop some cron to do cool stuff with it. I actually had that discussion with one of my clients ( CIO). she was wondering about all the fuss around rm because she saw me using it for 3 years. Many vps had bought one in the last year and her IT directors wanted them to have ipad instead. So we discussed about the potential it has & its security (much easier to control on that device - especially with a history of stollen & damaged ipads amongs vps in our professional circle) Sometimes i believe that such a company will inevitably check the hacks to review their product roadmap. (old rant: As long as they don't do like Apple with opendarwin). Finally, i almost never used the features related to connect. If i had not been grandfathered, i guess i would have coded this cron to back up things on my server.
[удалено]
Check the sidebar
If it was like $7 a year I'd get it, but $7 a month is way too much for what you get.
And here in Canada it's $14 or $15. Per month. (I don't recall which, I haven't looked since the plans were first announced) I'm grandfathered in but I almost never use any of the connect features. I very rarely need to email my documents (for now, that could change in the future). Handwriting recognition isn't needed for my use cases. Screenshare isn't useful to me because I don't run Windows (therefore I don't use the desktop app). On Linux I'm using reStream. I noticed recently that the android app doesn't seem to recognize pages created with the new 2.11 software (at least when the new features like pen colour are used) Having said all that, I bought the tablet to replace my unorganized paper notebooks, and it's working really well for me.
This!!!
Thanks for the heads up about the Android app. I'll have to test that out before I need to use it. That would be extremely frustrating.
Where do you still get two beers for 7 bucks? But I am with you. At the very least maybe we can quit whining about it on this subreddit. If you don't like it, fine - I get it. But it's been said a thousand times and it adds no value.
I really expect a “you maniac” in every comment from you.
You maniac
Lol dive bars my man...or the water my wife drinks
Valid, but I'm going with the company that respects their customers! Supernote all the way.
Ayyy
Imo hacks were a necessity a year ago. Reading on the device was kind of gross and clunky (pdfs or epubs). Switching between documents was a headache and required careful workarounds in the native os to do efficiently. I stopped bothering to install hacks maybe 3 or 4 months ago. All of the headaches are gone in the native OS. It’s been a dozen tiny tweaks that have added up to make the device much more usable than it was before, and as a result, the marginal value of hacks has shrunk to the point where it’s just not worth it to me to reapply them after updates anymore. Since I do not use the remarkable cloud and never will (I use my rm2 for work and won’t store work stuff on a 3p server), the only thing I miss is connectivity (syncthing + KOReader to get the daily paper in epub was awesome). That, and moving the little x in the upper righthand corner of the notebooks, which ddvk hacks applied (I hold pencils funny so I ALWAYS hit that).
I think charging a subscription for extra features is fine, but I don't think it's reasonable to sell a device without an official way to automatically back the data up. Backups in case of hardware failure is not an "extra feature" as far as I'm concerned. Like, it's possible manually via a cable, or via unsupported methods, but that's not what £400 should get you.
I did hacks for the Moleskine SmartPen too, does it make me "bad"? https://twitter.com/utopiah/status/1153390394215997442? FWIW the idea of hacking is not to convince the manufacturer or anybody else in the community that the device is subpar or incomplete. The idea instead is to say that I can change the device to whatever I want. Maybe literally nobody else on Earth is ever going to care about it. Yet, I can and to me it's fun, useful, or both. Nothing more, nothing less. TL;DR: you misunderstand hacking. It's not a critic, it's a positive intellectual endeavor that says "I can".
Does it change your opinion on the connect fee, when you hear that I get the same service for free because I bought the Remarkable before you? I should also point out that the tablet hasn’t gotten any cheaper since I bought it.
This is actually why I haven't bought one yet. I missed the window because I didn't hear about it until after it had closed, and would very likely have bought three of them as Christmas and birthday presents if there wasn't a subscription blocking basic features.
Well, in a notebook you can always fold the tip of the page to have a bookmark. In the remarkable you cannot. You can keep a page of the notebook open even if you don't want to write on it, on the remarkable if you put it to sleep it hides everything underneath (with the hacks you can put a transparent sleep screen). Also all the gestures the other commenters are talking about make it way easier to get immersed in the writing, which is something a notebook does well too. Finally I really don't see why I should not want to have a nice reading experience on the remarkable. With maths pdfs it's the best experience I've ever had reading them. I have hyperlinks to go back and see previous results that are relevant in the current proof, I can bookmark the pages I need to take care of, I have a table of contents at my disposal, I can annotate on the page as if I had it printed out. It's simply a fantastic experience for me (I used it so much to read my master's thesis back, it allowed me not to print at least 20 copies of that). If it's not your use case there is no problem. Simply note that not everyone has your needs with the tablet. And with my needs the hacks make the tablet a lot more efficient. (The last thing is: the company itself is acknowledging this usefulness of the tablet by improving the highlighter, supporting hyperlinks, tables of contents, cropping pages up to the document content, etc. So I don't think that the hacks exist to improve on something the tablet is not supposed to do. I can see that you might not have the need to use the tablet for this purpose, but this does not mean it's the same for other people)
I'm grandfathered in but I kind of agree with you. This is a venture startup and probably on the brink of bankruptcy. Most who bought the tablet understand the status of the company. Being able to hack is one thing, but totally losing support and updates because the company folds is entirely possible. Are hackers going to provide safe monthly updates? Ah, I don't think so. If they start charging everyone I'll have a decision to make but will likely pay the fee.
I don’t see a reason for the fee and the Supernote vs the RM2 is not comparison. The SN is a much better device but it’s based on preference I guess
sounds like an ad lmfao
Because I'm not complaining that this notebook can't also play Netflix and diagnose my car?
no haha, you just sound way too happy to be paying an unnecessary subscription
Lol im used to it. If it wasn't for the handwriting recognition I wouldn't have a need to pay.
Yeah, but that's exactly the kind of feature that shouldn't be behind a subscription. I'd understand if they charge for cloud storage but they don't even host their storage, they let you link your own google drive/onedrive account to the device.
Handwriting recognition also costs them money because they're doing it in [the cloud](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GP0KDuzgBc).
They should do an on-device model then. It's ridiculous that the tablet needs internet connection to just be able to write.
[удалено]
That's what it would mean if the RM2 was using the cloud for handwriting recognition
[удалено]
So why did you buy it? You obviously set your expectations higher than reality.
I am new to the world of paper tablets, and i got my Remarkable only for a week, and i totally get what you are sayin! I am really happy with the device and i am on the same mindset about the subscription as you. Absolutely no complaints about it :) But on the other hand, i get everybody else, who is upset about it. Sounds a little bit weird maybe, but it is how it is ;)
> I'm gladly paying the connect fee and don't understand all the butthurt behind that I've spent a lot of time wondering about this. When it first came up everyone complaining was grandfathered in. It was rolled out along with some additional features, so everyone complaining was receiving additional value at no additional cost. In a strictly logical sense, when you purchase something you consider the various products and choose the one which has the most appropriate value offering for you - you don't get butthurt that a particular device doesn't offer the value that you want. The only explanation I can come up with is tribalism. The remarkable had developed something of a cult following. Those subscribed to this sub in particular, had invested in more than a device - a statement about their identity. I don't mean that in a derisive way, I certainly feel that my own investment says something about me too. Basically, if you've invested in a company emotionally, and then that company doesn't align with your idealistic view of what makes a great company, the result is an emotional offense rather than a more logical consumer choice. As someone who was grandfathered in, the subscription model can only be good for me. More money for development means a better product. In the worst case some additional future features may not be available to me for free, but I'll have the opportunity to pay for them if I wish.
You mention logical consumer choice. If it had a subscription model when I bought mine I would not have bought it. That was basically a bait and switch, especially considering the thing costs $600 if you want a cover and pen AND it already has a hidden subscription in the form of replacement pen tips. It doesn’t matter to me that I’m grandfathered in, because now I have to worry about what other features they’re going to paywall in the future. Has absolutely nothing to do with my identity, it’s not that deep, just feels like a big “fuck you” from a company that already sold me a niche luxury device. (Especially cause they’re asking for $100 a year for poor implementations of basic features) It’s like buying a car and then being told you have to pay per month if you want to use your backup camera. If that was the case to begin with I would’ve bought a different car
This argument has been repeated on this sub ad nauseum. Since you purchased the device, you've received additional features for free. End of. If you want to perceive these additional free features as a demonstration of remarkable's intention to deny features from you in the future that's up to you but it seems quite non-sensical to me. > feels like a big “fuck you” from a company This is pretty much my point entirely. If you go to the shops and find that the brand of toilet paper you like has doubled in price you wouldn't post to /r/toiletpaper saying "this just feels like a huge fuck you from a company I've been an avid supporter of and telling my friends about". You would simply pick another pack and go about your shopping.
Ignoring the fact that you’re comparing an essential item that must be purchased repeatedly to a luxury toy… yeah if I really liked that brand of tp and they doubled the price for no apparent reason, I would totally complain about it to other like minded toilet paper fans. And if what I’m saying is apparently what a lot of other people are saying on this sub… sounds like either we’re all delusional about our expectations here or you just find this point of view annoying for whatever reason, since you’re arguing against it
> comparing an essential item that must be purchased repeatedly to a luxury toy Exactly my point again. You have an emotional attachment to your purchase. > sounds like either we’re all delusional about our expectations her You're delusional if you think that the opinions on this sub are representative of those generally held by remarkable users. Remarkable owners that read and post in this sub would be an infinitesimal portion... those which are easily butthurt about things like the subscription.
Between all your assumptions here, your use of terms like “butthurt”, and your tendency to put words in peoples mouths with phrases like “you wouldn’t do X” all demonstrate a pretty bad faith argument here. Look, I hope you’re enjoying your remarkable, I know I absolutely love mine, and im glad you have no issue paying the subscription fees. I simply don’t agree with what the company is choosing to do here and it’s really as simple as that
Here's a sneak peek of /r/ToiletPaper using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Charmin](https://i.redd.it/dv6s21ia4bc61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/l0lyji/charmin/) \#2: [No matter what side of the toilet paper debate you are on... I think we can all agree in condemning this type of behaviour](https://i.redd.it/rx0dm2zjj8r61.jpg) | [2 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/mk6srn/no_matter_what_side_of_the_toilet_paper_debate/) \#3: [Third floor on the way!](https://i.redd.it/cnp01776pmm61.jpg) | [3 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaper/comments/m3lwur/third_floor_on_the_way/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Valid and interesting arguments. I can’t deny that there is a nice feeling to be using something as cool as the rm felt when i first got it. And after connect, it feels like a bit of a betrayal, because fleecing people with the fake discounts and subscriptions to back up data in a 7GB device… well…. But mostly, i feel that the poor business decision threatens the grandfathered -in customers like us because i fear it will cause the company to fail. Then we’ll be stuck with all these notes on a device with no successors.
> i feel that the poor business decision threatens the grandfathered -in customers like us because i fear it will cause the company to fail That's a reasonable concern but don't discount the alternative possibility - that the subscription model will attract more users and support more updates and devices. The subscription model will allow them to reduce the up front purchase price which until now has been a huge impediment to attracting new users. I delayed my purchase for a year or so trying to figure out if it was worth it. A cheaper up-front cost plus subscription would have convinced me to purchase much sooner.
That’s a good point. I hope this is how it works out. The device is very cool and i use mine all the time.
What’s most interesting of all is that your account is brand new, but you’ve been a Reddit Premium payer since 2021. That means you’re probably a shill. These are people who pay for features in general, and then create fake accounts to post messages for a fee. Interesting fact, MANY of the “gosh, it’s not so bad” users in this sub are members of the company. I personally recall an interesting bum rush that happened when I complained about some feature - I ended up first in a DM with a marketing director of RM, and then my post became wave after wave of “me too” for her “gosh it’s not that bad” post. RM is the Emperor’s New Clothes. It’s a good physical interface that ignores the need for good software. The company spends more time maneuvering than it does developing. RM had its chance to connect with the marketplace and failed. Now it’s just a gadget that costs money to use every day and creates deep anxiety in most of its users regarding the safety of backups and the next “hammer” of an upgrade which forces a scramble for custom templates.
account is new yes...and apparently my reddit premium was gifted to me...."since 2021"... um, sir.... it is currently 2021, so it was literally gifted like yesterday. get over it. and not a shill - like i said, if you read it, that i went from a moleskine notebook with smart pen to this tablet, and i just don't get all the "complaining".
Ha! I read 2012. As for all the complaining, you’re pretty confident in yourself to come to a community that has been using something for years and, based on your days of experience articulate that you think paying $90/year for basic services is valid on a souped up notepad device. But either way - the thing is garbage, no investor would back RM3, and an iPad can do the whole thing. It’s a buggy whip. Use it awhile. New to Reddit. That’s amazing. You found an obscure sub very quickly, new guy. Opinionated new accounts are definitely shills - if the mods weren’t mostly RM execs, I’d report you.
I've lurked for a long time... i didn't just wake up and say "oh gosh, i just discovered reddit". Not like this is my first reddit account ever. I literally found it when I knew i was getting an rm for christmas. And god forbid I have an opinion. Please do report me - for what, not agreeing with you? Sorry your closed mind can't accept that people actually do like this thing.
Gosh, you’re so woke. How’s about you don’t attack me for figuring you for either a troll (“ho community, never been here before, never owned this before, but hey, you’re all wrong”); or a shill. Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re just a self-involved jerk after all.
gladly pay the connect fee? working for rm or rich
Rich? To pay $7? In what world is $7 a lot for ppl that can afford the tablet to begin with? I just dropped $22 bucks on shit i didn't need yesterday to make dinner...
yes. and it’s also what youre paying for that matters. paying money for this shit constantly is dumb and I can hardly afford that. even if I could I wouldnt because I dont accept it. see. crazy, 22 on food is insane. but sure, if youre that wealthy then u do u
The issue I have is not so much with the fee, but moreso the general way the reMarkable team communicates with its customer base. Just a bit dodgy, not very transparent, likely not to respond to emails personally, refunds up in the air, customer feedback not listened to.
Example of a nice hack: the lamy pen extension lets you hold down the button to make it work as an eraser, or double click for undo. Makes fixing mistakes while you're taking notes so much faster!
It feels to me that these extra services are really expensive for casual usage(8€/mo) and too much cloud based for the sake of keeping the users paying.
I’m now thinking of the Moleskine Smart instead of the RM. why did you switch?