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A $150 Buttonless, Open Hardware Answer to Kindle is being crowdfunded by Open Book Touch (itsfoss.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago* by to c/opensource@lemmy.ml
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URL for the crowdfunding: https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/open-book-touch

Specs:

  • Display: 4.26" e-paper touchscreen, 480 × 800 px, warm + cool frontlight
  • Processor: ESP32-S3 dual-core, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE
  • Memory: 16 MB flash, 8 MB PSRAM
  • Formats: EPUB and plain text, no DRM
  • Storage: microSD card slot
  • Interface: USB-C with integrated LiPo charging
  • Dimension: 78 × 120 × 10 mm, about 85 g
  • Open source: MIT-licensed firmware, open hardware (to be released at shipping)

It also has a replaceable 800 mAh battery, I found it cool :)

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[–] 47 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Can't be cheap being a crowdfunded product, but not expensive either. The biggest turn-away I can see is the small screen. Most e-ink readers nowadays start at 6". A 4.x" screen will lose a considerable chunk of potential backers.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Yea, the screen makes it an instant turn off for me. Small and low res. Modern e-Readers like the kindle, kobo, etc. have screens basically as sharp as printed paper at a similar size as a book.
    And with software like calibre, I don’t really see a reason to switch away from my kindle…

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  • [–] 8 points 3 weeks ago*

    I switched to kobo only because kindle - I don't want to be an amazon billboard. I'm 100% calibre too, tho kobo do sell some drm-free ebooks.

    My PW 3g was the absolute best ereader ever. Snappy page turns, perfect soft lighting, infinite batteries... funny unlimited worldwide wikipedia. Fuck amazon.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 weeks ago

    Thats the biggest issue for me.

    I would carry around something with the thickness of a textbook and a 7+" screen, but under 6" is a nonstarter for me. I'd end up with text so large I'd be reading one sentence at a time.

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