#491 – My New Desk Friend
Cut/daily's genesis can be traced back, in part, to this John Callahan cartoon.
The kernel of the idea was to create a daily nugget of editorial insight, wisdom or witty remark. Each day, there would be something new to enjoy, like turning over the next cartoon on a New Yorker desk calendar.
Well, today I wanted to share a new discovery that delivers that same daily dose of delight, the TRMNL OG.
Plus, a new way for you to enjoy a daily slug of Cut/daily wisdom if you set yourself a new homepage... but more on that later.
As you know, editors like to have new things on their desk; we tell ourselves they will help us work faster, or smarter (#2). And some actually do.
The TRMNL can make you faster - by helping you focus - and smarter, by drip-feeding you wisdom. But it's got no whistles and bells to entice you.
Its genius is in its constraint.
I'm still at the start of my TRMNL journey, but I already know I love it.
Back on the 10th April 2026. If you get hungry, search the Archive.
TRMNL – A Review for Film Editors
What is a TRMNL?
TRMNL describes itself as “an e-ink companion that helps you stay focused.”
We believe technology should enhance your life without demanding your attention. Our ePaper dashboard is designed to provide information you need at a glance, without the endless notifications from traditional screens.
— TRMNL
It's built by and for DIY tinkerers, homebrew developers, and an open community of builders who have embraced TRMNL's radical simplicity but are pushing it to do so many interesting things.
Stats:
- 7.5" e-ink display with 4 grayscale and fast refresh
- 1800mAh battery, upgradeable to 2500mAh. Lasts 2-6 months pending refresh preferences.
- 850+ available plugins
- Build your own plugins
What can it do?
The basic concept of TRMNL is that you build a Playlist of plugins to display on the device, each one getting its moment to shine depending on the refresh rate you set.
That might include:
- The contents of your Ethereum Wallet
- Astronauts who are in space right now
- Your Calendar (Google/Apple/Outlook)
- Digital Postcards sent to your TRMNL
- Todo Lists
- Days Left Until...
There are also community-built plugins called Recipes:
There's even a recipe to track the latest recipes.
Out of the box, a TRMNL doesn't ‘do’ anything. It's inherently customisable, so you have to come to it with a tinkerer's mentality. Which I, for one, fully appreciate.
One excellent aspect of TRMNL is that, as it's an e-ink display, the battery only needs charging every 3-6 months, depending on how frequently it refreshes the screen.
It's lightweight, well-made, and much more enjoyable than it might seem at first glance.
The limitation of non-real-time information* is actually what makes it great.
What is it good for?
So many things, depending on what you want to do with it. That's the beauty of it.
For film editors, I could imagine using it for:
- Tracking daily tasks
- Post schedule milestones
- Days to Picture Lock countdown
- Learning a shortcut a day
- Custom workflow cheatsheets
- Delivery spec checklists
- Render/Export monitor
- Drive space monitor
- YouTube stats tracker
- Cut/daily Wisdom
Most of these plugin ideas don't exist yet. But invest a little time with Claude Code, and you could easily have an MVP cooking.
I'll let you know what I create next for my own TRMNL...
*What is it not made for?
It's not a screen designed for constant gawking, doom-scrolling, or the like.
This is brilliant and a refreshing change of mindset from the phone.
The shortest refresh rate interval is 5 minutes, so you can keep tabs on things, but not in real-time, and most of the time you'll have your device refresh rate set to at least 15 minutes to help the battery last 90 days.
So, for example, while I had tried to install the Flip Clock plugin, because I liked the look of it, it was impossible to keep in sync with reality.
Instead, I forked that plugin and used Claude Code to adapt the existing code to turn it into a Flip Calendar with the day and date instead of the time.
If Cut/daily helps you stay informed, empowered, and amused, why not return the favour and support the flow of free weekly Insights with a financial contribution?
You can become a regular Cut/daily Benefactor with the benefit of complete access to the Archive, or drop a one-time contribution of any amount today.
Cut/daily Wisdom
If you get yourself a TRMNL, you too can enjoy the Cut/daily wisdom plugin, featuring a choice nugget of editorial wisdom, gleaned from the annals of Cut/daily's 500 Issue Archive, in particular the 80+ Cut/daily Meets... interviews with some of the industry's best and brightest.
But, as a Cut/daily reader, you too can also pass by /wisdom on the Cut/daily site at any point, to enjoy that day's nugget of wisdom with the added benefit of being able to click the reference link to dive into the original source material.
A fun way to start the day, no?
That nearly covers the Clarity upgrade kit, which includes the battery upgrade, developer edition, charging cable, and microfiber clean cloth.