[FJames]

There are valid reasons for making devices with a non-replaceable battery other than planned obsolescence. It costs a little extra to make the unit with a replaceable battery. It's one more door in the body of the unit that reduces structural integrity and adds extra structural weight. One more user-accessible part to break or go wrong. The replacement batteries are always ridiculously expensive, probably worth more than the depreciated value of the ereader itself by the time the battery is down to 50% capacity 3-5 years from now (I would guess that the battery costs at least $30 and the value of a year-old Kobo now is no more than $50). Most users will never bother, because they'll be ready to retire it by then. And of course you probably can open it up and replace the battery if you're really keen to do so (like the iPod). I'm not saying that it wouldn't be nicer to have a user-accessible battery, all things being equal - but there are trade-offs.