Market for cheap, barebones ereader?

[BillSmithBooks]

I was wondering if there is a market for a very affordable ($20-49) barebones ebook reader (and if such a device is feasible at that price point).

I look at all of the $20-30 4.3" screen MP3 players you can buy on Ebay and I wonder if there is a market potential for a very affordable ($20-49) basic ereader.

I think this low price and basic device would be greatly beneficial to readers all over the world.

Such a device would open up ebooks to children and lower income folks -- they would be great for libraries and schools -- but would also appeal to people like myself who want a device that is not too expensive (and easily replaced if it is broken) and more durable than the easily damaged eink screens.

There are plenty of sources to get ebooks -- the Mobile Read libraries, Project Gutenburg, ManyBooks, Smashwords and the host of DRM-free ebook sellers. Plus, you could use Calibre and sites like online-convert.com, zimzar, etc. to convert files to the appropriate format if, for technical reasons, the device does not read Epub or Mobi.

The device I envision:

Something akin to the old Alphasmart or Palm Pilots -- an LCD grayscale screen instead of eink (since eink seems to be more expensive), 4-6".

Long battery life (which is why I am thinking of grayscale LCD instead of a color screen -- cheap tablets are almost in this price range but battery life is awful).

User replaceable AA or AAA batteries (in addition to internal rechargeable battery?)

Card slot for memory cards.

Formats? Plain text...most novels are fine as plain text (with indicators for *bold* and _italics_). HTML or Epub would be great but perhaps asking a bit much of such a device.

Anybody have any comments about the 1) need for such a device, 2) technological feasibility, 3) Is this price point realistic?

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

I was wondering if there is a market for a very affordable ($20-49) barebones ebook reader (and if such a device is feasible at that price point).
[...]

Look at the used & refurbished prices for Nook or Kindle. They seem to be in the price range you are thinking of but most people go there only for a replacement or spare, not for their first ereader.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

Anybody have any comments about the 1) need for such a device, 2) technological feasibility, 3) Is this price point realistic?

1- Need for it? Yes, depending on the goal. If its social, addressing literacy, absolutely.

2&3- Feasibility? Price? Probably. Considering this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...HO4XK3TQSBARK4

http://librarycity.org/?p=10976

Deprecate or delete the phone function and you're there.

Depends on your approach, really.
A kickstarter to buy a bunch of those from LG, without the radio, might do the trick.

[BillSmithBooks]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

Look at the used & refurbished prices for Nook or Kindle. They seem to be in the price range you are thinking of but most people go there only for a replacement or spare, not for their first ereader.

I was thinking of a mass market device that could be sold in retail stores by the thousands (millions?), not a per person one-off. There are lots of great used devices -- Palms, Alphasmarts, used ereaders -- but I am brainstorming about a device that could bring a really cheap ereader to the mass market -- pharmacies and WalMarts, etc.

The book retailers are there -- Smashwords, Weightless, RobotTradingCompany, DriveThruFiction plus freebie sites like ManyBooks, Feedbooks, Gutenburg, Wattpad (if only they allowed downloads).

Readers could buy in Epub and convert to plain text if the device cannot sustain an Epub reader.

I wonder if a simple device like this paired with a solid store -- Smashwords is the largest that comes to mind -- could be the elusive "competitor" for Amazon since B&N, Kobo, Apple, seem to be losing ground if anything.

FJTorres -- actually the $20 ebook reader article brought me back around to this idea -- I had originally kicked it around a couple of years ago thinking of the $25 MP3 players with plain text ebook functions and the simple "feature phones" with card slots (no ebook reader, but most have a web browser, so I assume you could load an HTML ebook on a card and read it in the browser).

My biggest concern is battery life -- most of those Androids phones have, what, 3-6 hours on batteries?

I know my AlphaSmart Dana (running Palm OS) runs 20-30 hours on a set of AAs, the Alphasmart Neos last 200 hours on a set of AAs...that's why I was thinking of a grayscale LCD panel as the reader.

I would think that technology could be applied to an ereader. If Chinese companies can profitably sell these 4" MP3 players for $20-25 (and have been doing so for years), I think the ereaders could also be profitable.

[Penforhire]

My wild @ss guess is no, there is no market for it. Not enough people want a pure text display device when a few dollars more buys them a small color-display tablet running, say, Android OS.

[charmian]

These devices already existed in the past (I think I saw them on Newegg and similar sites), and they weren't very popular. E-readers got popular because of e-ink, which as pointed out, makes that super low-price point difficult.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

I would think that technology could be applied to an ereader. If Chinese companies can profitably sell these 4" MP3 players for $20-25 (and have been doing so for years), I think the ereaders could also be profitable.

As I said, the technology is there... more or less.
You'll likely find that the reason most of those cheapie devices use color displays is because they are cheaper than even grayscale lcds, simply because there is less supply of grayscale.

What you are contemplating seems made to order for Kickstarter. Cook up a design, price it out, float it on Kickstarter--if there is interest, the pledges will tell you.

What I would suggest is try to contact the folks doing the Earl and see if they can put you in touch with some of their OEM partners.

Just keep in mind that the primary reason cellphones have limited battery lives is that they power up the radio full time. Take the radio out out and go with a bulky (kid-resistant) case and you may be able to slip in a substantial but cheap rechargeable battery. And going with a stripped down Android would let you load in a quality pre-written reading app. Making it boot up straight into something like FBreader or Aldiko would dramatically reduce coding costs. Preload a few thousand PD titles and it would be useful out of box.

Also, remember to bake in enough margin for significant discounting.
I would aim for a $15-20 OEM cost and a $50 retail list, judging by that LG phone. That would make $30-35 more attractive.

[Glorfindel]

I would buy that ^

[cromag]

Seriously, what you've specified does seem to be a JetBook Lite. They are still available (new old stock) at Newegg for $57.

And some of us like them a lot!

[Katsunami]

Up until a few weeks ago, MediaMarkt in Germany sold Trekstor 5 inch (or was it 4.x inch? I don't remember) eInk readers for €32,95.

[crossi]

An eink reader that came preinstalled with calibre companion to manage the files and moon reader for reading would be great. 16G memory, no Wi-Fi, no light, no touch screen, no social networking, no indexing, no archive, no dictionary or X-ray, no free time, no notes or highlighting. Just basic file management and book display would be perfect for me. Don't even need the highest resolution. The resolution of the KK is good enough for me. Seems that the stripped down software would be more dependable and faster, and the harware cheaper without a lot of fancy stuff tacked on.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by crossi

An eink reader that came preinstalled with calibre companion to manage the files and moon reader for reading would be great. 16G memory, no Wi-Fi, no light, no touch screen, no social networking, no indexing, no archive, no dictionary or X-ray, no free time, no notes or highlighting. Just basic file management and book display would be perfect for me. Don't even need the highest resolution. The resolution of the KK is good enough for me. Seems that the stripped down software would be more dependable and faster, and the harware cheaper without a lot of fancy stuff tacked on.

That would be ok, except that Calibre Companion kind of depends on wifi, and my eyes need a light to read by. If the screen isn't lit, I'll have to have a clip-on almost all of the time.

Shari

[crossi]

How expensive IS a WI-Fi chip? It can't be much. Never mind. They seem to be about $25 to $35. Probably less in bulk.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by charmian

These devices already existed in the past (I think I saw them on Newegg and similar sites), and they weren't very popular. E-readers got popular because of e-ink, which as pointed out, makes that super low-price point difficult.

That.

A txt panel only wouldn't be worth the parts' price.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by crossi

How expensive IS a WI-Fi chip? It can't be much. Never mind. They seem to be about $25 to $35. Probably less in bulk.

I a couple years back (when Sony was touch instead of WiFi) I saw quotes in the $10 range, which by itself meant it added $20 to the retail price.
Chips are cheaper now but still...

(I found one at Alibaba in the $5 range.)