Login

u/ShockSensitive8425

r/viwoods r/eink r/Onyx_Boox
Organization and Cloud Issues (Beta 3.15.6)
▲ 6 r/viwoods

Organization and Cloud Issues (Beta 3.15.6)

This is a continuation of feedback regarding firmware update Beta 3.15.6, with some organizational context. 

 

Personal Knowledge Management on the Viwoods Platform 

I have been looking forward to this sync because, among other reasons, it will allow me to unify my organizational structure. As Viwoods' functionality has improved, I have developed a PARA-style workflow (see Tiago Forte) imposed on a folder system:

*   Projects are in Daily, using To-Do, Notes, and associating files.

*   Areas are in Paper, Meetings, and Learning, organized thematically into folders and subfolders as appropriate.

*   Resources are in Knowledge Base. I have been attempting to use Knowledge Base as I understand Viwoods to have intended: a place for collecting various bits of information from many sources that are of interest or relevance to me.

*   Archives are in Google Drive and other backups.

This setup works pretty well for me, although I am looking forward to universalized tools and hyperlink capability in order to be able to connect ideas more organically.

Questions and Issues with the Beta update

The latest issue with the Beta update is that I cannot sync anymore, because when I do so, I get a message saying that have used up all my cloud space. Essentially, I have a catch-22 situation: I cannot sync unless I free cloud storage, but I have no way of freeing cloud storage. I cannot find any way to delete anything directly on the webpage https://cloud.viwoods.com/, while if I delete files on my device the deletion (and subsequent freeing of memory) is not reflected on the cloud - because I cannot sync with the cloud because the storage is full(!)

A closer examination revealed that almost all my cloud space was being taken up by Knowledge Base (over 8gb.) I do not understand why it takes up so much memory - I have a fair number of files, but not an absurd amount. I assume that the format in which files are saved in Knowledge Base is resource-greedy. Viwoods, is there a way for the files in Knowledge base to be compressed when they are saved to the cloud? I do not want to have to exclude Knowledge Base from syncing. More pertinently, how can I delete files from the cloud and get out of this cycle so that my devices will sync again? 

This problem raises the concern that when Learning is added to cloud sync, will it fill up and freeze the cloud if I have more than 10gb of books (which I do.) If I can't sync if I have more than 10gb of files in the native apps, the 128 gb storage on the device loses much of its utility.

Proposed Solutions (to be taken with a grain of salt: I am not a programmer and do not know what is technically feasible on the platform.) 

*   Perhaps the Viwoods cloud could temporarily go over 10 gb for 24 hours like with Viwoods transfer.

*   Or perhaps there could be unlimited size sync if both devices are syncing simultaneously.

*   Or perhaps we could have Bluetooth sync.

*   Above all, I very strongly hope that Viwoods does not try to resolve this problem by offering extra cloud space with a subscription.

Viwoods, I appreciate your continued work and support. Incidentally, I wrote most of this post in the new and improved Memo, lassoed it, converted it to text, then pasted it in Reddit.

u/ShockSensitive8425 — 7 days ago
▲ 11 r/viwoods

Beta Disaster (3.15.6)

Today I received the long-awaited update that syncs the Viwoods Aipaper with the Mini. It works perfectly across Paper, Meeting, and Knowledge Base: everything that was on one device is now on the other, and folders have been duplicated correctly.

Unfortunately, every book, every folder, and every note I had in Learning on both devices was completely erased. My synced Google Drive still has the folder structure I created, but empty except for my notes (which in theory I might be able to import back in to Learning, but which will not sync - I suppose because the books they were attached to no longer exist.)

I had hundreds of books and articles on both devices that are now gone. I still have these books backed up elsewhere, so I can reimport them and recreate my file structure, but it will entail work that I did not anticipate. "Cloud sync for Learning is being optimized and is scheduled for the official release:" this seems to be an understatement.

I suppose this will teach me not to sign up as a Beta tester. Viwoods, thank you for the sync (which is genuinely good) and for your great products. Any suggestions about this glitch?

u/ShockSensitive8425 — 8 days ago
▲ 20 r/eink

University Sponsoring Eink Tablets

I am a teacher and administrator at a small university focused mostly on liberal arts. I have been promoting e-ink tablets among my students and fellow faculty with moderate success over the past year or so, and more recently I have spoken with other faculty members about trying to institute a school policy that will promote e-ink tablets. We hope to encourage a different relationship to technology, as well foster better study habits and reduce distraction, attention deficit, digital addiction, and other disorders. 

I was wondering if anyone on this forum has had any experience with promoting the use of e-ink in a school? There are several pertinent questions we are working on:

  1. What kind of policy to institute? Some other professors and I have agreed amongst ourselves that we will ban laptops in our classrooms (exceptions per need.) I already offer my office hours to students with e-ink tablets in order to help set them up and establish good workflows. 

  2. The school has agreed to create a new intro mini-course to study and research, which will include a component on how to use e-ink tablets effectively.

  3. We are considering subsidizing the purchase of e-ink tablets, or providing each student with one which they will have the option to buy at graduation.

  4. In the latter case, the issue becomes what model to provide the students with. We agree it should be black and white, 10.3" or larger. Beyond that is unclear. I personally use the Viwoods Aipaper, and it is the one most often bought by my students. The Boox Go 10.3 is considerably cheaper with equal functionality, an important point since we have to persuade the budget people to sign off on this plan. But Boox is harder to set up and navigate effectively than Viwoods, and we want the students to get the most out of them. The Remarkable Paper Pure would be a good option, as it is both affordable and easy to use; but there are advantages to Android I am not sure we should give up. Also, I really dislike USI pens, although I am willing to admit that this may be a personal prejudice that should not jeopardize an institutional opportunity. If large batches of Remarkable 2's were available, that would be a reasonable option, but I do not know where they can be sourced. Supernote Manta would be great, but they are expensive. The Huion Ink 1011 looks like a nice compromise, but Android 11 is pushing it if the tablets are going to have a life of more than 4 years.  

  5. Do any of these companies offer bulk discounts? 

  6. Major considerations: price, availability, functionality, longevity, ease of use. Minor considerations: stylus tech, PPI, sturdiness (i.e. Mobius screen). Am I forgetting anything?

  7. Projected use cases: reading textbooks, annotating PDFs, taking notes in class, brainstorming on a theme, rough drafts for essays (convert to text), research. Maybe messaging, class chat groups, class app/website access, scheduling, taking tests.  

  8. To be clear, these tablets are intended for the students rather than faculty (although I would like to include faculty in some capacity, perhaps as part of a follow-up plan if there is positive reception.)

If anyone has any insights, or perhaps has had any parallel experience in a corporate environment, I would be very happy if you could share!

reddit.com
u/ShockSensitive8425 — 1 month ago
▲ 14 r/Onyx_Boox

Tab Mini C gets 4.2!

I got up this morning and saw that my long-suffering Tab Mini C had finally received firmware update 4.2. This is a big step forward, because the last update the TMC had was 4.02, so this includes everything in between. My initial thoughts:

  1. Speed mode is a big improvement, and goes a long way to reducing ghosting, which is the major defect of the TMC, making it unusable for many people. Now the ghosting is reduced to the point that it just feels like a slightly dated but basically normal device. HD and Regal still have excessive ghosting, however, and they reproduce images in boxes of color with little gradation. I am using it almost exclusively in Speed mode now.

  2. The new Inkwise setup and other UI modifications seem to be slight improvements on the former system in terms of usability (I can understand while long-term users don't like having to familiarize themselves with a new layout, but I think it is worth it - actually, they should probably go further in this direction.)

  3. The calligraphy pen (apart from reducing the ghosting, what I was most looking forward to) is good, but applies inconsistently across different notes. Thickness differentiation and line consistency varies quite a bit. Nevertheless, it is really nice to have.

All in all, this update was worth waiting for, and it seems to be the best we could ask for given the apparent issues with the inferior controller used in this tablet. I am looking forward to spending more time with my Tab Mini C now. Thank you Boox!

reddit.com
u/ShockSensitive8425 — 2 months ago