Post AubxUIkClk2jEAlWBk by flibble@digipres.club
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(DIR) Post #AubxTz1C6rkW34YntQ by blog@shkspr.mobi
2025-05-27T11:34:04Z
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Whatever happened to cheap eReaders?https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/05/whatever-happened-to-cheap-ereaders/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 eReader0.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 one. Also, that £8 price was the subsidised price when purchased with a mobile contract. Their website ceased working long ago.But it got me intrigued. Moore's law is supposed to drive down the cost of electronics. So where are all the dirt-cheap eReaders?The cheapest Kindle for sale on Amazon UK right now is about £100. Back in 2012, it was about £70. Taking inflation into account, that price has stayed static. Brands like Kobo are also in the £100 to £150 range.About the cheapest retail eReader is the PocketBook Lux 4 for £85 or the (terribly reviewed) Woxter Scriba for £70.AliExpress has loads of second-hand and obsolete models at cheap-ish prices. But a surprising dearth of new eReaders.Going wholesale, Alibaba has a range of models, some of which clock in at around £30.But, of course, that's before shipping and tax. They won't come with any manufacturer's warranty and don't expect any software updates. Also, good luck getting accessories!So what's stopping new eReaders being released at a cheap(er) price? I think it comes down to four main things.Reading is a niche hobbyAround 40% of UK adults didn't read a single book last year. That survey combines reading books and listening to audiobooks. Of the 60% who do read/listen, about 14% primarily listen. Of those that read, around 60% do so on paper books.If reading is niche, reading electronically is a tiny niche! This is somewhat of a chicken-and-egg argument. If an eReader were the same cost as a mass-market paperback, I'm sure many more paper-book readers would become converts.The whole point of an eInk reader is that it is a distraction-free environment. Yeah, you could scroll TikTok on one, but it isn't a pleasant experience. An eReader is designed for one thing only, unlike a phone or tablet. Do enough people want to carry yet-another-bloody-device just for reading?eInk is expensiveThe company which makes eInk hold several patents on the process. They're not a patent troll; they're building a business and selling mega-hectares of the stuff. Understandably, they have an interest in keeping prices high. They don't want to cannibalise their own market.A basic 6 inch screen with wiring costs around £20 wholesale - that's from Alibaba, so doesn't include tax and shipping. That's before you've added any electronics or a operating system.Speaking of which…Android is a bottleneckThe promise of the Android Open Source Project was a free Operating System for anyone to use. The reality has been a little different. Most people want to be able to use basic Android functionality - like download operating system updates or reading apps. But Google doesn't allow that for eInk devices.As I understand it, Google requires Android devices to have colour screens and, so I've read, won't certify eInk eReaders for newer versions of Android.So manufacturers have to source parts which have drivers for older versions of Android. Or they have to develop their own OSes.Books are fungibleBack when Apple sold iPods, they knew that the majority of purchasers would buy MP3s direct from Apple. The perfect symbiotic relationship! But the walled-gardens cracked and now people can buy their music from anywhere.Amazon keeps this model for its eBooks. Unless you're prepared to get technical, you can only read Amazon books on your Amazon Kindle paid for with your Amazon wallet.Games consoles are often sold at a loss because the manufacturer knows they'll make it up in game sales and subscriptions.A low-price manufacturer is unlikely to also run a book store and wouldn't be able to cross-subsidise their hardware with content sales.AlternativesSome people have tried building open source eReaders but they're either abandoned, not suitable for production, or ridiculously expensive.Buying second hand is relatively cheap - often under £50. But eInk screens can be brittle, and older ones may have scratches or cracks which are effectively unrepairable.How cheap is cheap?I'd love a £8 eReader. Something I could throw in a pocket and not worry about damaging. An eReader which was the same price as a hardback book - around £20 - would be amazing.But I don't think we'll get there soon. The monopoly on screen technologies sets a retail floor of around £30, before the rest of the hardware is taken into account. Niche hardware is viable - but only with decent OS support. Other than Kobo and Amazon, no book retailer wants to stray outside their core competency to develop and subsidise hardware.So I guess it's buy second-hand, or wait for the patents to expire.You can see some internal photos on this Mastodon thread. ↩︎#ebooks #eink #reading
(DIR) Post #AubxU7UCcthsJMC5Dc by bhtooefr@snack.social
2025-05-27T12:15:48.087875Z
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@blog So, on this point:As I understand it, Google requires Android devices to have colour screens and, so I’ve read, won’t certify eInk eReaders for newer versions of Android.So manufacturers have to source parts which have drivers for older versions of Android. Or they have to develop their own OSes.Some of the vendors get around that requirement by shipping an AOSP-based Android build, and then installing Google Apps after the fact with what’s essentially an end-user-issued developer key. I’ve got a Boox device that used that approach to run Android 10, and AFAIK all of the newer ones (even the ones with color displays) do that too.
(DIR) Post #AubxUDFtB1p2ChXjk0 by Microplastics101@mstdn.social
2025-05-27T12:40:53Z
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@blog I used a Kobo as my flight computer for paragliding for years. Tough is how I would describe it. It led a brutal life. Eventually I bought another wing that came with a fancy nav computer. The Kobo was still as good but the case broke.
(DIR) Post #AubxUEGzOQIRMP485w by flibble@digipres.club
2025-05-27T13:07:27Z
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@blog About 12 years ago I bought a 'nook' ebook reader for 30 pounds (new), I believe there was a campaign subsidising them in either London or the UK. But it's so long ago that I can't find a reference to the scheme.
(DIR) Post #AubxUEdK3OA2TfVxuC by Profpatsch@mastodon.xyz
2025-05-27T11:59:47Z
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@blog The ReMarkable 1 at least was based on a simple Linux kernel with a Qt app running on top. But I can see how Android is a nicer environment to build on top of.The $100 dollar price point is simply what the average buyer of an e-reader is willing to spend on a device like this. It’s probably already subsidized down from $150–$200 by Amazon & co. You simply can’t make a profit or even a decent margin from the hardware alone.Better buy 2nd hand & jailbreak.
(DIR) Post #AubxUGWf181KLaPfnc by aslakr@mastodon.social
2025-05-27T15:08:58Z
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@blog Ridiculed in it's time (2011), ereader models https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kibano with a physical magnetic card https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Menca_memory_card might not in retrospect have been that bad if the card had been standardised and produced by several
(DIR) Post #AubxUIkClk2jEAlWBk by flibble@digipres.club
2025-05-27T13:10:13Z
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@blog This might be it, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/21/barnes-and-noble-asa-nook