Whatever happened to cheap eReaders? – Terence Eden’s Blog
Way back in 2012, The Guardian reviewed an eInk reader which cost a mere £8. The txtr beagle was designed to be a stripped-down and simplified eReader. As far as I can tell, it never shipped. There were a few review units sent out but I can't find any evidence of consumers getting their hands on o...
Side note -
I literally have the reader pictured in the thumbnail. It is a Kindle keyboard from 10+ years ago at this point. It still works fine. At one point the original battery went to shit, and it cost very little to get an aftermarket replacement and install it myself.
I keep it offline and read 100% sideloaded .epub books from various sources. The lockscreen ads don't even try to display anymore.
Sure it isn't backlit or waterproof but it still functions flawlessly as a generic reader. Old tech like this is awesome. Why not get a decade of use (or more) out of something that still works?
I have a similar model I picked up at a garage sale for 5 dollars. Best bang for buck tech purchase I ever made. They really don’t need wifi or software upgrades to function well when all I do is transfer epubs over usb once a year.
Keeping it offline is 100% the right call. My 250€ Kindle Oasis (1st Gen) became unusably slow after the last major update. Constantly freezes. This was marketed as a premium device, and you can't even upgrade because Amazon killed the line. My next e-reader won't be Amazon, but it sucks that I'll lose all the notes I've had on there since I got my first Kindle in 2009.
Might there not be a way to extract them?
I had the exact same experience with that model. The screen eventually cracked (I think I had it in a backpack that I was a bit too rough with). It was easy enough to replace the screen with one I found on AliExpress, but unfortunately the replacement then cracked a few weeks later. I don't know whether it was because the replacement screen was poor quality or because once I had taken the device apart the screen was less protected, but I figured I wasn't going to throw good money after bad. I ended up getting a second hand Kobo Aura on eBay which has served me well.
eReaders have gotten some new features like backlights but I don't think the technology has fundamentally moved on all that much.
Exactly, I'm considering grabbing the Voyage as I loved the one I had back in the day
My partner has a newer one and it can only work offline. I can't get it to even connect to WiFi any more.
They were subsidizing them to establish an ebook marketplace. They're no longer doing so.
I still have my Kindle Keyboard. It still works but the front lighting on new ereaders is a big upgrade. The software was pretty primitive back then too.
E-ink bought a lot of competitors and alternatives up and thus why it's expensive.
Tldr: capitalist efficiency
There is a neat piece about the OS side; worth reading.
My very early gen, Nook glowlight is still going somehow. I even bought it used for 50 bucks about 10 years ago. The battery is still decent and backlights fine and I am able to keep it offline. Im not sure what I would do if it croaked.
I've got a decade old Sony ereader that's still good as new. Battery lasts a couple weeks too, I love it.
I bought a Kindle 3rd generation (the one with the keyboard) and it also still functions correctly, I just brought it to a beach trip I had last week.
I bought a nook simple touch a couple of weeks ago for $20, look into the Phoenix Project for those.
The kobo colour goes for less than $160 regularly. It is water proof, has front ligths, usb-c, and it can display color. I'm considering it for an upgrade from my, bought used 8 years ago, kindle. With Kobo, and ereaders track record in general, it will probably last twice that and still work. I consider that extremely cheap, specially in a market that usually expects people to dump a thousand dollars every two or three years for a phone. E readers have some of the best cost to utility ratios of electronics.
Yeah, I just paid $140 for a Clara BW, and I'm considering the Libra Color the next time it goes on sale (my kids like comic books).
He blames patents (Eink isn't a patent troll) although Eink patents expired 7 years ago.
The problem is even without patents, the underlying tech of making the eink particles is hard.
To be clear you don't have to get that technical to read non-Amazon books on your kindle.. I've owned 2 different kindles over the course of about 15 years and literally never bought an ebook from Amazon. Just gotta know where to get them (libgen) and how to use them (calibre.)
A cheap ereader would be nice, but I've kinda had to go the opposite direction; my eyes weren't great to begin with and have only gotten worse with age, so I need a larger screen. I do very little reading (in general, not of books specifically) on my phone because it's too small and I have to zoom in and pan around all the time, etc.
I never realised people have issues with non-Amazon ebooks. The first thing I did was search how to put my own ebooks on my kindle and I found calibre, which is super easy to use.
I still have my kindle thats over 10 years old.
I got a Kobo and its awesome as well. Ironically, because wallmart couldn't be bothered to use good components they made it extremely repairable.
The best place to find a good working ebook reader is to either use an old phone (which is not really eink, but without wifi modern phones can last a bit). Or go to a thrift store and find a decent one for 10$ or less. Just make sure it turns on and you should be good!
I like the authors recommendation of something VERY cheap like a 10$ reader...but its probably not viable if Im honest. Sounds like a lot of e-waste that would occur.
Kobo is made by Rakuten, a big Japanese tech company. I think Walmart just resells then.
Heh yeah.... I was part of the linux port for fun for a bit. Certain models are just pop the bottom off and now you have access to the SD card(!) that they use for the linux kernel. AND they published the linux kernel info on GH so we even knew what they were customizing under the hood. Not a whole lot if im honest. The battery/SD card/screen/buttons are all kinda cheap, but also super easy to swap out. So you just put https://github.com/Quill-OS/quill on it and boom linux eink device.
I think osme of their newer models have less repairable parts as the product line has become more popular.
Its important to note that some models of Kobo are now fully repairable using parts from ifixit, down to motherboard and display.
Still, e-ink is so much better than a regular screen. If one is really strapped for cash sure, but for one's eyes sake I'd say e-ink is a worthwhile investment if one likes to read. A phone can't compare.
My local FreeGeek was selling $5 e-readers in an e-reader bin this weekend.
To be honest I don't really find them prohibitively expensive if you count the value you'll get from them over the years. I have both a Kobo Libra 2 and an Android Boox Page, which I bought for different use cases. I see them both lasting me many years. My previous Kobo Aura One lasted me 7 years in itself before I sold it 2nd hand. My reading skyrocketed once I bought an e-reader.
Reminds me of the old mp3 player days before the iPod came in and dominated that market.
It's crazy. I bought the then-current basic model Kindle for $90 NZD in 2012, which still works. I recently started looking for a new eReader with USB C and without the rubberised coating that slowly turns back into oil. The cheapest I've found is over $200.
The current ad-supported basic Kindle is $109 USD, which is just $12 more expensive than it was back in 2012, adjusted for inflation (it was $70 in 2012, which would be $97 today).
It could be cheaper today, but Amazon has clearly pulled back from selling them at a loss hoping to get the costs back from ebook sales.
Yeah, I didn't consider that the exchange rate in 2012 was really good. With the new price and today's exchange rate, it would be $180 NZD, which isn't the end of the world, but feels kind of wrong because electronics generally get cheaper the longer they're on the market.
That being said, it isn't just Kindles. Kobos used to be ridiculously cheap, and now they're the same price as Kindles if not more.
I couldn’t even get hold of one for most of last year until the ships finally got some stock in for Black Friday. I should jailbreak it.
I gave up on eReaders after 2 bad experiences with Kindles. I still have the last one I bought but it keeps on rebooting after a couple of minutes and couldn't find a way to fix it.
I had a look recently and they're all 180€+ now. Back to real books then.
Kobos are pretty nice. They're not cheap, as you pointed out, but you can get an older or used one for quite a bit cheaper and it's just as good. They run Linux. It's almost completely open, and anything that isn't might as well be. That said you really don't need to open it up much, just enough to install something like koreader which basically completely replaces the OS on the thing. It does everything I would ever want to use my ereader for ... granted that's pretty much just "read ebooks".
Is the price of an eReader that big of a deal? They practically pay for themselves with use over time, and they last a ridiculous number of years.
My first Kindle was the K3 Keyboard for $140 in 2011. It finally died in late 2018 after nearly 8 years of use. I regrettably binned it, as I didn't know you could replace the battery at the time. Shame, I really liked that thing.
I bought a Kindle PW4 for "cheap" ($80 or $90?) in 2019 to replace it, but I hated it after spending some months reading on a larger tablet, Replaced it with a "premium" Boox Nova 2 eReader for $310, and I still use that one today. I plan to just get a cheap battery replacement when it kicks the bucket, as it's easily user serviceable and a new battery for it is less than $15.
I also got a Kindle Paperwhite Signature in 2023 for $135 as an "upgrade" to the Boox, but it was more a sidegrade. I use both of them alternatingly today.
So I've on average paid about $48 a year on eReaders. Seems reasonable considering how many books I've gotten for free or very deep discounts via stuff like Bookbub, as well as "free" Prime First reads and Kindle Unlimited books I read over the years as a Prime subscriber, Project Gutenberg and Standard eBooks, as well as digital library access.
I've paid more than $48 in one month for subscription services at times that I used less than my eReaders, which see use daily. And you don't have to be like me and buy multiple, you can buy one reader and use it pretty much indefinitely so long as the battery is user replaceable, so the upfront cost is sort of irrelevant over a long enough time span.
The overpriced nature of subscription services is not a good reason to justify paying more for relatively inexpensive hardware. The fact that you can buy new ereaders for $100 suggests that the $400 models are vastly overpriced. Companies are feature-creeping them so they can increase the price.
This is a weirdly aggressive take without considering variables. Almost petulant seeming.
6” readers are relatively cheap no matter the brand, but cost goes up with size. $250 to $300 is what a 7.8” or 8” reader costs, but there’s not a single one I know of at 6” at that price.
There’s 10” and 13” models. Are you saying they should cost the same as a Kindle?
Not to mention, regarding Kindle, Amazon spent years building the brand but selling either at cost or possibly even taking a loss on the devices as they make money on the book sales. Companies who can’t do that tend to charge more.
Lastly, it’s not “feature creep” to improve the devices over time, many changes are quality of life. Larger displays for those that want them. Frontlit displays, and later the addition of warm lighting. Displays essentially doubled their resolution allowing for crisper fonts and custom fonts to render well. Higher contrast displays with darker blacks for text. More recently color displays as an option.
This is all progress, but it’s not free. Also, inflation is a thing and generally happens at a rate of 2% to 3% annually or thereabouts during “normal” times, and we’ve hardly been living in normal times over the last decade and a half.
Yeah I am the same, I would rather pay more for a better device, and preferably not one from Amazon if I can help it. Its only a matter of time before they start cracking down even more on side loading as they are in the process of removing backing up your own books already. They were only ever cheap in the first place because Amazon wanted to dominate the market and close up shop around their own bookstore so they heavily subsidised the price and turned a blind eye to piracy.
I upgraded my ancient paperwhite for a PocketBook InkPad Color 3 because I wanted colour and a larger screen to read comics but also something that was more responsive. Sure its never going to beat a good tablet for colour depth or responsiveness, its still eink after all, but its so much nicer to use than my old paperwhite.
For something that I use for at least an hour a day, every day (I had a near 600 week streak on my kindle), I do not see the money spent as a bad investment when they lasting a near decade. I could have just replaced my battery in my paperwhite and carried on using it, but the upsides of a nicer ereader that is away from Amazon was a big pull for me.
I would rather pay more for a better device, and preferably not one from Amazon if I can help it. Its only a matter of time before they start cracking down even more on side loading
They already started that technically with removing USB downloads. I got sick of their shit and jailbroke my Kindles. They live in KOReader now.
I managed to get KOReader on my Grandpa's old Kindle. One device has now entertained two people for what is likely a decade or two of combined service.
Still using my Nook Glowlight Plus 2015. Haven’t needed to change the battery as battery life is still exceptional. I will be sad when I have to swap the battery one day as I’ll need to break the water resistant seal they manufactured this with.
Haven’t felt any desire to upgrade as this device does exactly what I need: store a shitload of books without distractions.
Found a kindle something or other and a Paperwhite gen 1 for approx. 5 USD. They both remain offline 100% of the time, and they work flawlessly for sideloaded epubs. The Paperwhite even came with some preloaded books (not in my interest genres, but still cool for approx. 5 USD).
I still use my Pocketbook Lux 3. It must be about 10 years old now and still works beautifully (even the backlight). One battery charge usually lasts me weeks, even with heavy backlight use. They are made in Europe (Switzerland) and run some flavour of Linux. They‘re not rock-bottom bargains, but the cost of the entry-level model seems quite fair in my opinion (€107). https://pocketbook.de/
Tbh, the current ones are pretty fantastic - and I find 100€ for the B/W verso and 140€ for the colour one still "reasonably cheap".
So far they have eaten anything I gave them to read, work with calibre web (sadly only for download,not sync, but that's not PBs fault), support the German Onleihe (public library ebooks... fantastic system getting you hundred thousand of books,often for less than 20€/year or even free) and the battery is rock solid.
So,I don't really understand the point of the discussion. I am an absolute early adopter with E-readers and can't remember any cheaper offers on readers that weren't Amazon's "bait" ads to sell you kindle unlimited,etc.
I took a Lenovo M9 and stripped it everything I could added my favorite eReader and audiobook apps and use it exclusively as an ebook. It was under $100 and the only thing I wish it had was an e-ink screen otherwise the size is perfect and it works wonderfully.
It's my mission to build one at some stage (when I've learned how). ESP32 powered and phone sized. The idea is it's supposed to feel a little like scrolling your phone while reading a book. Devices like this exist but they're prohibitively expensive for a lot of people.
Take a look at this: the open book
Has anyone tried any of the wacky e-ink readers on aliexpress?
I doubt they'd connect to the amazon ecosystem, but might be ok offline devices.
I use a 2018 Paperwhite I hacked about five years ago, still does me fine with Koreader and zlibrary ebooks.
When it dies, I'll just do another one for cheap. Ebook tech hasn't done anything worthwhile and color is a meme. Comics look better on oled imo.
Actually quick question, how did the author pull in all those resources on the comment section? That is pretty awesome!
There is a hint of how he did this here: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/06/12000-comments/
"I moderate heavily. If someone is rude or abusive, their comment isn't published. Unless it's really funny." :-)
Someone please just create an easy to follow DIY front light using diffused LED strip for my old kindle and I'm good for another decade. My Kindle even has power out pins on the back to make it easy.
I wonder if Android Wear wouldn't work as an OS basis for this - lower power requirements, probably allows black-and-white screens. The problem there is that Android Wear is absolute hot garbage that can't decide if it's stand-alone or companion to your phone.
Why is not just targeting raw AOSP instead of Google Android not considered? It seems like you could use modern hardware with that... is it the lack of Play Store that's the dealbreaker?
I don't really know how they do it, but some do run newer Android versions like Android 14 (Meebook M8, Bigme B7). Anyway, the lack of Play store isn't really a consideration in China, it's only for foreign markets they have to include the Play store. This also means that China has many more Android e-ink brands than are available to us (which mostly are Boox, Meebook, Bigme or Hisense).
I guess that there are two issues: First of all, you can find someone who can slap standard Android onto a standard device. Finding someone who can work with a raw AOSP is harder and will be more expensive. Which is exactly what you want to not do when trying to build a really cheap device. And Google has started to move more and more services and security updates to their own platform. Using AOSP is a really bad idea
Not enough people wanted them, the hardware compaines decided to go with bleeding edge tech to appeal to the neiche.
