5 ms·

One small piece of this has reignited my desire to build something similar to the BERG Tiny Printer [1]. My only issue with such a thing is that I don't want to

One small piece of this has reignited my desire to build something similar to the BERG Tiny Printer [1]. My only issue with such a thing is that I don't want to use thermal paper.. or any paper if I can avoid it. Going forward, I think there may be a market for a small eink tablet (~4.5" or so) that presents curated news, articles, etc -- something ideal for commuting by bus, plane, or any other passive time without loads of animated ads, popups for newsletters, and absolutely nothing 'social.' This leads me toward a desire for proper epub releases for magazines like The New Yorker and stuff that could scale to a smaller screen. Services like Zinio [2], which most libraries provide, would be an excellent tie-in for a small device like this. [1] https://vimeo.com/32796535 https://vimeo.com/32796535 [2] http://zinio.com http://zinio.com

IanCal 9y ago
You could probably hack something very simple together with a kindle + email. Construct an ebook of top stories / headlines and email it to your kindle account, all the syncing/etc is then handled for you.
- Wiles_7 9y ago
  Calibre does it. http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2011/10/custom-news-fetching.html?m=1 http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2011/10/custom-news-fetching.h...
  - falcolas 9y ago
    It does, but having used it, it's a real nuisance to clean up on a Kindle reader. You have to go through Amazon's web page to clean up the used articles, and its a bit of a pain. A very cool feature, but ultimately not very practical.
- stevewillows 9y ago
  yeah, a kindle would be perfect -- but the smaller form factor is key for me. I want something i can slip into a pocket. The automation side wouldn't be too difficult either. It looks like the Himnull project is fairly close, but most likely on the thicker side since it's using a pi. [1] https://hackaday.io/project/16194-himnull-a-raspberry-pi-e-reader https://hackaday.io/project/16194-himnull-a-raspberry-pi-e-r...
bennofs 9y ago
Isn't an ereader basically such a device? Or where is the difference? Combine it with Pocket or some epub newsletter.
philipodonnell 9y ago
Especially since e-ink works in direct sunlight and progress on sunlight readable screens seems to have ground to a halt at the Pixel QI. I would pay for a decent sized e-ink screen with a stripped down browser that could integrate with a desktop bookmark app and save content for later reading. Not this "experimental" browser in my Kindle.
- jkaunisv1 9y ago
  I really hope e-ink laptops become a thing. I want a text-focused computer with crazy good battery life and a full keyboard.
  - taoistextremist 9y ago
    The only issue I see is typing fast could get frustrating given what I experience just typing on my kindle. Though maybe the applications and user habits would adapt around it to limit keystrokes and be more efficient. Or they'd just attach a small digital output screen akin to those old typing machines that you'd then push to the main screen when done. Still wouldn't use much of the battery at least, but would look ugly.
    - jkaunisv1 9y ago
      I can see it being occasionally difficult but I touch type anyway and keep a mental model of what I'm writing. The tradeoff would be worth it for me.
    - ashark 9y ago
      Add an old-school word processor lcd screen for the current line you’re editing?
      - taoistextremist 9y ago
        Yeah, that's what I mean. Essentially that's like a buffer you push to the main screen when done. Learning how to use ed could become relevant.
Tepix 9y ago
EInk would share some of the advantages of this paper based approach, i.e. no distracting animations and great readability in Sunlight.
taoistextremist 9y ago
E-ink would actually be a pretty neat practical version of this kind of stuff. You get the relatively static display geared towards focus, without all the waste of printing out paper. I've felt like it's a really under-utilized technology. I know it's used in some displays for advertisements and information, but more research into it could bear a lot of fruit in low-energy-consuming electronics that don't use constant input. I'd love to see more software geared towards its use (and to be honest this thread is kind of inspiring me to go off and develop something) and more personal devices that use it. Especially when we're talking about environmentally conscious design, I don't think you're gonna get a more low-energy display than that. Hell, even the paper printing probably uses more energy.

IanCal 9y ago

You could probably hack something very simple together with a kindle + email. Construct an ebook of top stories / headlines and email it to your kindle account, all the syncing/etc is then handled for you.

Wiles_7 9y ago
Calibre does it. http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2011/10/custom-news-fetching.html?m=1 http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2011/10/custom-news-fetching.h...
- falcolas 9y ago
  It does, but having used it, it's a real nuisance to clean up on a Kindle reader. You have to go through Amazon's web page to clean up the used articles, and its a bit of a pain. A very cool feature, but ultimately not very practical.
stevewillows 9y ago
yeah, a kindle would be perfect -- but the smaller form factor is key for me. I want something i can slip into a pocket. The automation side wouldn't be too difficult either. It looks like the Himnull project is fairly close, but most likely on the thicker side since it's using a pi. [1] https://hackaday.io/project/16194-himnull-a-raspberry-pi-e-reader https://hackaday.io/project/16194-himnull-a-raspberry-pi-e-r...

bennofs 9y ago

Isn't an ereader basically such a device? Or where is the difference? Combine it with Pocket or some epub newsletter.

philipodonnell 9y ago

Especially since e-ink works in direct sunlight and progress on sunlight readable screens seems to have ground to a halt at the Pixel QI. I would pay for a decent sized e-ink screen with a stripped down browser that could integrate with a desktop bookmark app and save content for later reading. Not this "experimental" browser in my Kindle.

jkaunisv1 9y ago
I really hope e-ink laptops become a thing. I want a text-focused computer with crazy good battery life and a full keyboard.
- taoistextremist 9y ago
  The only issue I see is typing fast could get frustrating given what I experience just typing on my kindle. Though maybe the applications and user habits would adapt around it to limit keystrokes and be more efficient. Or they'd just attach a small digital output screen akin to those old typing machines that you'd then push to the main screen when done. Still wouldn't use much of the battery at least, but would look ugly.
  - jkaunisv1 9y ago
    I can see it being occasionally difficult but I touch type anyway and keep a mental model of what I'm writing. The tradeoff would be worth it for me.
  - ashark 9y ago
    Add an old-school word processor lcd screen for the current line you’re editing?
    - taoistextremist 9y ago
      Yeah, that's what I mean. Essentially that's like a buffer you push to the main screen when done. Learning how to use ed could become relevant.

Tepix 9y ago

EInk would share some of the advantages of this paper based approach, i.e. no distracting animations and great readability in Sunlight.

taoistextremist 9y ago

E-ink would actually be a pretty neat practical version of this kind of stuff. You get the relatively static display geared towards focus, without all the waste of printing out paper. I've felt like it's a really under-utilized technology. I know it's used in some displays for advertisements and information, but more research into it could bear a lot of fruit in low-energy-consuming electronics that don't use constant input. I'd love to see more software geared towards its use (and to be honest this thread is kind of inspiring me to go off and develop something) and more personal devices that use it. Especially when we're talking about environmentally conscious design, I don't think you're gonna get a more low-energy display than that. Hell, even the paper printing probably uses more energy.