5 months with the Daylight Computer
you bought … what?
Section titled “you bought … what?”When I tell people about my Daylight, I’m usually met with blank stares.
To be fair, I’m in some disbelief that this device even keeps its company afloat. It’s hard to imagine much demand when multiple (tall) hurdles need to be cleared:
- people willing + able to spend ~$750 on a first-gen device, who also
- want to avoid normal screens, and
- want to avoid using paper
The first requirement eliminates most of the population. And most people who want to avoid screentime typically just turn to paper. That leaves … who?
Me. Me, a scant few people who posted on YouTube or Hacker News, and — as of the time of writing — 1.8k members of the r/daylightcomputer community (many of whom joined only to sell their device).
To hammer the absurdity home, an iPad has higher build quality, infinitely more functionality, better hardware, and a ~1.5-2x cheaper price tag than the Daylight.
Well, I still bought the thing. And so far I’ve been pleased. The Daylight perfectly executes my incredibly niche set of use-cases. Specifically:
- a sane way to read PDFs
- dedicated deep work device
- non-painful nocturnal use
- usability in any lighting environment
a sane way to read PDFs
Section titled “a sane way to read PDFs”Textbooks, academic papers — most non-narrative knowledge seems to be locked in PDFs. Reading them on a computer screen feels wrong and inevitably drifts my attention. I’ve tried everything from printing hundreds of pages to buying an iPad.
The Daylight is the first time I’ve been making progress on my multi-year backlog. Paper-like reading experience, zoom for small text, centralized + portable + organized home for all documents.
dedicated deep work device
Section titled “dedicated deep work device”No doubt the Daylight is poorly built. The flimsy casing makes popping noises and the screen will flicker off if you squeeze it the wrong way. It has a plastic-sounding speaker, grainy screen, and monotone color.
Somehow this all combines to be a feature: the most interesting thing to do on a Daylight is deep work. Doom scrolling is so painful that it’s a better experience to read.
non-painful nocturnal use
Section titled “non-painful nocturnal use”I’m semi-nocturnal. Normal screens dry out my eyes and keep me up even later. The Daylight is the only device which makes me sleepy at night.
usability in any lighting environment
Section titled “usability in any lighting environment”Under the sun, the screen functions like paper. At night, like paper which gently glows. It’s a device where I can feel productive anywhere: even in a café which insists on harsh industrial lighting (where even the MacBook Pro screen gives me a headache). Combined with a keyboard, it makes me wish that all my screens were like this.
alternatives
Section titled “alternatives”A nagging question you may have: what’s wrong with another e-reader?
Other paper-like touch tablets have a painful refresh rate. The Daylight is as responsive as an iPad.
conclusion
Section titled “conclusion”A quick litmus test: if it broke, would I buy a new one? The Daylight is a niche luxury item, but thus far I’m slotting it under the same category as my phone and laptop: would-replace-automatically.