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That's pretty cool. Love to see a hardware project. What's the profit margin like? E-ink displays are expensive. That price point seems not enough to generate

That's pretty cool. Love to see a hardware project. What's the profit margin like? E-ink displays are expensive. That price point seems not enough to generate decent income.

kylecordes 5y ago
I read somewhere that the e-ink expense is because the company which controls the intellectual property chooses to make it a low volume, high cost product. Not that it is inherently expensive, and I am surprised they don't try the opposite strategy, make it cheap and everywhere.
- axg11 5y ago
  Would love a link/source for this if you have one.
- vxNsr 5y ago
  I was under the impression that standard black/white e-ink is no longer patent encumbered, could totally be wrong tho
- robinsoh 5y ago
  > I read somewhere that the e-ink expense is because the company which controls the intellectual property chooses to make it a low volume, high cost product. I've only read that here (repeatedly!) on HN and blogs that then cited throwaway HN posts which never respond to my requests for at least some verifiable evidence. Have a look through my comment history.
hyperbovine 5y ago
> E-ink displays are expensive. I was curious... from what I can find online the wholesale price of an e-ink display is not that much cheaper (if any) than buying an equivalently sized Kindle. What is the viability of a business model that involves rooting a Kindle, loading whatever calendar display software you need, and shipping it inside a pretty wooden frame?
- pests 5y ago
  That's what I thought this was on first look. That's a Kindle in a frame!
thamer 5y ago
I was curious about this too. From the dimensions listed on the website, it looks like the screen is about 6.3×3.7 inches, or about 7.3 inches diagonal. There seem to be 8-inch e-ink displays for sale on AliExpress for $20-$40, actually much cheaper than I expected. No idea about the quality though.

That's pretty cool. Love to see a hardware project. What's the profit margin like? E-ink displays are expensive. That price point seems not enough to generate decent income.

kylecordes 5y ago

I read somewhere that the e-ink expense is because the company which controls the intellectual property chooses to make it a low volume, high cost product. Not that it is inherently expensive, and I am surprised they don't try the opposite strategy, make it cheap and everywhere.

axg11 5y ago
Would love a link/source for this if you have one.
vxNsr 5y ago
I was under the impression that standard black/white e-ink is no longer patent encumbered, could totally be wrong tho
robinsoh 5y ago
> I read somewhere that the e-ink expense is because the company which controls the intellectual property chooses to make it a low volume, high cost product. I've only read that here (repeatedly!) on HN and blogs that then cited throwaway HN posts which never respond to my requests for at least some verifiable evidence. Have a look through my comment history.

hyperbovine 5y ago

> E-ink displays are expensive. I was curious... from what I can find online the wholesale price of an e-ink display is not that much cheaper (if any) than buying an equivalently sized Kindle. What is the viability of a business model that involves rooting a Kindle, loading whatever calendar display software you need, and shipping it inside a pretty wooden frame?

pests 5y ago
That's what I thought this was on first look. That's a Kindle in a frame!

thamer 5y ago

I was curious about this too. From the dimensions listed on the website, it looks like the screen is about 6.3×3.7 inches, or about 7.3 inches diagonal. There seem to be 8-inch e-ink displays for sale on AliExpress for $20-$40, actually much cheaper than I expected. No idea about the quality though.