Re-imagining the PDA for a Calmer To-do List Experience

Smartphones are brilliant—but they’re also noisy, power-hungry, and forever trying to steal your attention. The E-Ink PDA by hobbyist developer “Ashtf” offers a quieter alternative: a pocket-sized clamshell built around an ESP32-S3 that boots instantly, shows your tasks on a paper-like screen and does absolutely nothing else unless you ask it to. It’s a love-letter to the 1990s PalmPilot, updated with modern parts and open-source firmware.

Hardware that Invites Focus

Component	What it is	Why it matters
5.7″ E-Ink display + tiny OLED strip	Hybrid system lets the OLED capture keystrokes instantly, then flush to the slow-refresh E-Ink so you never see ghosting	You get battery life in weeks and perfectly crisp text
ESP32-S3 Wi-Fi/BT SoC	Runs the minimalist OS and leaves headroom for future Bluetooth keyboard or Home-Assistant bridges	Microcontroller power draw means you charge fortnightly, not nightly
QWERTY keyboard with metal-dome switches	Real tactile feedback under pastel resin keycaps	Typing becomes a deliberate act—no autocorrect, no glass smudges
Capacitive side slider	One-finger scrolling	Navigate lists without blocking the screen
Clear resin clamshell & quick-swap Li-ion	Showcases the PCB and lets you pocket a spare cell	A nod to Game-Boy-colour nostalgia that’s also practical

A Pared-back Operating System

The current firmware ships with three plain-text apps:

Tasks – tick-box lists saved as .todo files
Text – a Markdown-friendly editor for notes and drafts
File Wizard – simple file manager so anything you write is readable on any computer

Dock the PDA to USB-C on your desk and it flips into Today mode, showing the date, time and your next few tasks automatically . Planned updates—calendar views, desktop sync and Bluetooth HID—are tracked openly on GitHub (ashtf8/EinkPDA).

Why This Beats an iPhone for Mindful Task-keeping

Zero notification fatigue – there’s no SIM, no push alerts, no chance of doom-scrolling.
Instant-on – wake-to-write takes milliseconds; you don’t wait for an app splash screen .
Eyes & battery – reflective E-Ink is readable in full sun or a dark cabin, and sips micro-watts.
Ritual & intention – opening a clamshell and pressing real keys turns “jotting a reminder” into a mini-ceremony, reinforcing habit.
Plain-text longevity – every list is just a UTF-8 file. Back it up with Git or rsync and it’ll still open in 2055.

Example Task File

text

CopyEdit

`# tasks_2025-05-16.todo @context:work @energy:high

Finalise case outline
Draft consent
@context:personal @energy:low - [ ] Walk with Laura & Maxie along the foreshore - [ ] Read 10 pages of Atomic Habits`

Because it’s plain text you can version-control, grep or diff your productivity history without proprietary lock-in.

Where the Community Could Take it next

Desk dock dashboard – already shows tasks when powered; could add Pomodoro timers or weather.
MQTT bridge to Home Assistant – tick “Laundry done” → flash the smart lights.
Open hardware revisions – the author has promised to post KiCad files, inviting third-party cases, bigger batteries or e-paper colour screens.

Dive Deeper & Get Involved

📺 Build video: YouTube – My Dream Productivity Device Just Got Better
📰 Articles:

- Hackaday – E-Ink PDA Revisited

- Hackaday – A PDA From an ESP32
💾 Source code & STLs: GitHub – ashtf8/EinkPDA

If you’ve ever wished your to-do app felt more like a notebook than a casino, print yourself a case, flash the firmware and rediscover the simple joy of just getting things done—quietly.