New Kindle said to be due end September

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Barty

The k3 is probably the easiest kindle to open up. Even I managed to do it

Rather surprisingly (considering the trend for ever-more-difficult-to-open devices) the Voyage is the easiest Kindle of all to open. The top portion of the back unscrews, and then the bottom portion just slides off. No glue anywhere, unlike some of the other recent models.

I rarely use my Voyage as I much prefer the iPad Mini Retina or the iPhone 6 Plus when indoors. For outside, about the only time I use the Voyage, I don't need a built in light. When reading outside I would only need the light if it was dark, but in such a case I would use my iPad or iPhone since glare from the sun would not be an issue. So what would it take to go with a V2? I doubt any improvements would convince me to upgrade to another lighted eInk. I simply don't care for the screens that much, and don't need the light. However if Amazon produced a model very similar to the Voyage but with no light, I might buy it. I really hate the light layers...

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Rather surprisingly (considering the trend for ever-more-difficult-to-open devices) the Voyage is the easiest Kindle of all to open. The top portion of the back unscrews, and then the bottom portion just slides off. No glue anywhere, unlike some of the other recent models.

Nice. Some electronics these days even have the battery glued in. And then there's Apple, who utilize miniature workers from the future shrunk to the size to molecules to assemble their devices.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Oh yeah. Some electronics these days even have the battery glued in.

Yes, the device known on MR as the "K4" (the previous model "basic Kindle" without a touch screen) had a glued-in battery that was virtually impossible to replace without destroying the device.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Nice. Some electronics these days even have the battery glued in. And then there's Apple, who utilize miniature workers from the future shrunk to the size to molecules to assemble their devices.

LOL!

Yep the trend today in electronics is make it glued down and soldered in!

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Had it been coming, we would almost certainly seen the FCC certification application for it, would we not?

Yes, but the paperwork could be filed as close as a couple days before the announcement. The Amazon Dash button, for example, was discovered on the FCC website only the day before the launch.

But I still lean against the rumor; there have been too many sales of existing models.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I really see no commercial incentive for that to happen. How many people keep a reading device long enough for the battery to die?

I keep all of mine. eventually there will be one in every place that I used to keep books or magazines.

By each bed.
In each car.
In each bathroom.
On the desk.
On end tables in the living room.
And I don't even have a boat or an RV to stock with them.


Why would people be so extravagant that they don't even bother to recycle their electronics when they upgrade? I don't think of myself as miserly, merely frugal.

My Dell Streak phone from seven years ago sits in its dock next to my bed as an alarm clock. Why would I throw something like that out?

Originally Posted by Phogg

I keep all of mine. eventually there will be one in every place that I used to keep books or magazines.

By each bed.
In each car.
In each bathroom.
On the desk.
On end tables in the living room.
And I don't even have a boat or an RV to stock with them.


Why would people be so extravagant that they don't even bother to recycle their electronics when they upgrade? I don't think of myself as miserly, merely frugal.

My Dell Streak phone from seven years ago sits in its dock next to my bed as an alarm clock. Why would I throw something like that out?

I doubt there was any implication of "throwing away" old electronics. Most people probably gift them to family and friends or sell them to help pay for the newer items.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I doubt there was any implication of "throwing away" old electronics. Most people probably gift them to family and friends or sell them to help pay for the newer items.

There was implicitly just such an implication.
Batteries get to the point where they won't hold a charge.
If a new one cannot be installed then your electronic device is just a chunk of toxic landfill.

This is why people want replaceable batteries.
I prefer to be able to open a panel and change them easily.
If the battery in question will last five years or so then I am okay with having to disassemble them.

[barryem]

Back when the big thing was MP3 players I bought several. The oldest of the ones that have rechargeable batteries is probably the Creative Zen Vision:M, which I still have. It still holds a charge very well.

I bought it shortly after it was announced and I just looked it up and that was in December 2015. I probably got it 2 or 3 months later, which makes it 10 years old.

I have several other players bought in the 4 or 5 years after that and most of them still work and hold a charge.

Just guessing, probably 3 or 4 have had dead batteries and were disposed of. I probably have 10 players left that still work fine. I also gave away probably another 10 and I know a few of those still work okay. I have no idea about the others.

Anyway, I think there's a very good chance that a 3 year old device still has lots of life left in it. Not as much as a new one and if you were expecting new ones this has to be an unhappy thing. But there's a good chance that if you do get stuck with them they'll hang on for a while.

By the way I also have neighbors who have Kindles and Kobos going back several years, all the way back to the Kindle 3, and I don't think the batteries have ever gone bad on any of those.

I'm not trying to minimize this situation. If I'd bought one I'd be pretty upset, too. But if you do get stuck with one that might not be a total loss.

Barry

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by barryem

Back when the big thing was MP3 players I bought several. The oldest of the ones that have rechargeable batteries is probably the Creative Zen Vision:M, which I still have. It still holds a charge very well.

I bought it shortly after it was announced and I just looked it up and that was in December 2015. I probably got it 2 or 3 months later, which makes it 10 years old.

I have several other players bought in the 4 or 5 years after that and most of them still work and hold a charge.

Just guessing, probably 3 or 4 have had dead batteries and were disposed of. I probably have 10 players left that still work fine. I also gave away probably another 10 and I know a few of those still work okay. I have no idea about the others.

Anyway, I think there's a very good chance that a 3 year old device still has lots of life left in it. Not as much as a new one and if you were expecting new ones this has to be an unhappy thing. But there's a good chance that if you do get stuck with them they'll hang on for a while.

By the way I also have neighbors who have Kindles and Kobos going back several years, all the way back to the Kindle 3, and I don't think the batteries have ever gone bad on any of those.

I'm not trying to minimize this situation. If I'd bought one I'd be pretty upset, too. But if you do get stuck with one that might not be a total loss.

Barry

Do you mean 2005 since December 2015 is next month? Or have you perfected time travel?

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The perceived demand these day though seems to be for ever thinner and more lightweight devices, which mitigates against designs incorporating user-accessible (and replaceable) batteries. It's really not feasible on devices only a few mm thick.

TBH I don't see why not, I had a credit card calculator with a replaceable battery, all the old Nokia's had replaceable batteries.

The new batteries are thinner and a removable back doesn't need to add any more depth than a non-removable one.
The Hanlin V3 was no thicker than any other reader at the time (thinner than most).

Of the current bunch of smart phone the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 & Nokia Lumia 630 all have removable batteries.

It isn't because it's not feasible, it's because they want you to buy a shiny new device when the battery dies.

[tomsem]

It's cheaper to manufacture, and with fewer support issues. This means either lower cost to consumers (Amazon), or higher profits for the device maker (e.g. Apple). In my experience, the device loses its allure long before the battery dies.

The only exception was my iPod Touch, which effectively died after about 4 years (it would only go for about half original time-between-charges). I got a new battery put in for about $50, and it still works, though I'm not using it much these days.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by tomsem

In my experience, the device loses its allure long before the battery dies.

Not in my case... At least not with portable devices.

Siemens S35i: 2001-2009. Battery at ~30%. Wanted navigation: replaced by smartphone.
Motorola Milestone: 2009-2012. Knocked off kitchen counter by dad. Dead.
Dell E6500: jan 2009-current. Battery useless. Will be replaced someday, laptop is OK.
LG Nexus 4: nov 2012-current. Battery at ~80%. Still in use. No upgrade planned.
Kindle Paperwhite 1: dec 2012-current. Battery unknown, but lasts weeks. No upgrade planned.
Samsung Galaxy Tab: jan 2012-current. Battery at ~70% or so. No upgrade planned.

If nothing unfortunate happens and no huge upgrades come along that I either need or want, I'll be using my current devices for a few years yet.

[Phogg]

This thread is reminding me of the muscle car mentality of sixties and seventies American Auto manufacturers.
They and a portion of the car buying public insisted that the public wanted ONLY ever bigger and faster cars. That there would never be more than a tiny niche market at best for anything different.

Then Honda and Toyota managed to wedge a few fuel efficient cars with a 250,000 mile engine life into the market. After people saw their neighbors drive the same car for seven or eight years with little maintenance the absurd insistence that car buyers unilaterally desired huge guzzlers began to garnish the ridicule it had always deserved.

Absolutely there is a market for devices designed to last. It's not the whole market, but it's a significant market.

I still use my Aztak Pocket Pro sometimes. And my Sony PRS-350.

I would like to see a premium ereader focused on durability and longevity as well as esthetics and screen quality.

Weather proofing.
Replaceable battery.
Rigid aluminum frame including transparent aluminum faceplate.
Flexible substrate.
Solar and inductive charging.
I think the buttons on the first Voyage would be fine if there were a pronounced ridge over them and strong hap tic feedback.