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 :)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 27 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

4" screen and 16MB flash is a joke. Ebooks are small, but not that small. Considering how many used, end of life Kindles there are out there stuck on old easily jailbroken firmware, I don't see why anyone would ever choose this as an alternative. The software for jailbroken Kindles is incredibly mature and at the point of "just works". E-ink technology hasn't progressed much in the past ten years, so you really don't miss out on anything by buying a $30 used one.

Edit: just realized it has micro SD support. So my storage concerns are invalid. It's still incredibly clunky looking though, a 1cm thick device with only a 4" screen sure is something. My eyes probably couldn't handle it even with the largest font.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    To be fair, eBooks have just gotten that big in recent years because the publishers are lazy and cram uncompressed embedded fonts into them.

    I always strip out embedded fonts from my eBooks with calibre and I have seen books being reduced from 20MB to 400KB. 🤣

    This won't make this a good device due to a myriad of other reasons, though.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    Yeah, definitely think there are use cases for this (look at how popular the xeink X4 has gotten), but a device smaller in most dimensions than modern smartphones isn't gonna make a good general purpose ereader for many people

  • source
  • parent