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Backfill · 2021

#204 of 315

E-Ink Desk Clock

seq 4
PragmatistPersonal experiencetechfascination
minimalism reductionform elegance
Basic NeedsNoticingWho to Listen To3/9
ImagePress/product shot

Press shot of a minimalist e-ink desk clock displaying the time in large sans-serif digits, placed on a light wood nightstand next to a stack of books.

168 words

My phone tells time fine, but having it on my nightstand means I check notifications at 2 AM. So I started looking at standalone clocks and found these e-ink displays that only update once a minute. The screen looks like paper, not a glowing rectangle, and it sits on the desk without competing for your attention the way a phone does. Numbers are large and clean. The whole thing runs on a single battery for about a year because e-ink only uses power when the display changes. I noticed that the lack of a backlight actually makes me less anxious at night. My room stays dark and I can still read the time if there's any ambient light. The one I got cost $35 and has no app, no Bluetooth, no alarm even. It just shows the time. Figuring out that a clock doesn't need features is probably harder than adding them, and whoever made this decided to stop early. The form is a thin rectangle that almost disappears on a shelf. Restraint is what drew me to it in the first place.