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?

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.

E-ink bought a lot of competitors and alternatives up and thus why it’s expensive.

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.

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.