$50 solar e-book-reader: Model said to be on the way ‘for display purposes’

By David Rothman

An easy-to-use $50 e-book reader? I’ve hoped for one for years–it could kill the argument that e-reading is only for affluent people and well-off countries. The issue is, When? How possible is it with today’s component and manufacturing costs?

Not surprisingly, when I posted word of Martin Woodhouse’s vision, some TeleBlog regulars were skeptical.

But I myself am more open-minded now that Woodhouse is joining with two partners, Ben Wibaut and “David Thornhill, who teaches engineering at Queens University, Belfast,” to make “a model of the I-Reader for display purposes” (link added).

Potential even if price starts out at $100

Even if that doesn’t mean a working model selling later for $50, at least the project is progressing a tad beyond the “what-if” stage. Furthermore, the Woodhouse efforts might well be valuable even if the early price is double that.

While the prices of Sony Reader-style machines will drop, keep in mind they’re designed for the general consumer, the well-off one at that. They aren’t designed for developing countries where many people lack even electricity. Besides, Sony and some rivals may very well keep piling on new features to avoid too rapid a price drop.

The wrinkles: E-book focus, a cheap display and solar power

As outlined by Woodhouse in the unofficial OLPC News, the partners will:

–Focus on an e-reader rather than aiming for a general-purpose machine. That will considerably reduce the technical requirements—not just for creating the hardware but supporting it in out-of-the-way places. Goal of the project is to encourage traditional literacy rather than also strive for on technical literacy. Remember, the traditional variety makes it easier to achieve the tech kind. Full-powered desktops, including recycled machines, can come later.

–Hope to piggyback on OLPC innovations such as that $35 display with E Ink-level resoluton.

–Use solar power to address the electricity issue in developing countries. Notice the slideout solar panel in the photo to the right? In Woodhouse’s place, I’d call the gizmo “The Solar E-Book” or a variant if that’s already in use someplace. Perhaps “The Solar Reader”? The word “I-Reader” might anger some trademark nuts at Apple, and the solar-related name is more memorable anyway.

Not just for developing countries?

Of course, if the project succeeded, it would be criminal if the same technology didn’t end up in U.S. schools.

A $50 or even $100 price would make it possible for students to keep on using desktops—which many have at home or school—while enjoying a comfortable device for reading. Recycled machines could fill in the desktop gap.

I’m a former kid, and I hate reading books hour after hour off desktops or laptops. It murders my back. Oh, how I hate the desktop-fits-all solution for reading!

The price issue

But is Woodhouse’s $50 price achievable? Here’s his current breakdown:

–$16 for the OLPC-style screen.

–$10 for an ARM9-core processor able to run at 180Mhz and draw just .2 watts “when fully loaded” and 16 microwatts in standby.

–$2 for a battery to hold the power from the solar cell.

–$11 for the case, which could include a slot for a book-filled memory card. Yes, WiFi ideally could be an option.

–$4 for the solar panel.

That’s $43—$7 less than $50. I’ll still be interested in issues such as markup, manufacturing and distribution costs. And what about the motherboard costs? ROM? And will an already-developed free operating system—Woodhouse has talked about the possibility of freeDOS—works with adequate e-reading software? See why I’m happy to think about a $50-$100 machine rather than expecting the hardware to come in soon at the lower range?

The standards angle

Beyond the above questions, I’ll be curious if the new machine can use software that works well with the .epub standard from the IDPF—and I also wonder if it will be powerful enough to decrypt DRMed e-books. I’m not happy with current talk of using a proprietary e-reading format, and others share similar concerns.

Ideally both the $50 machine people and the actual OLPC—which I fervently hope will cooperate closely with them—can at least give students and others the alternative of reading .epub books and other publications. Let’s not put them, at least not the adults, in a K-12/nonprofit ghetto, regardless of the usefulness of some OLPC-related content efforts.

In some cases, such as medicine, and public health in particular, full access to e-books could mean lives saved. The other thing is that $50 machines in developing countries could help kickstart local publishers by providing them with e-markets, not just domestically but globally, perhaps through partners in well-off-countries. Let’s not continue to balkanize e-book standards.

Given a choice between no $50 machine and one that didn’t start out using the .epub standard, I would opt for the machine. But, yes, I would be grouchy about it. Furthermore, I would not be supportive of the project without Woodhouse promising a more open solution in the near future—allowing for different kinds of e-reading software using .epub. I don’t want to see the world so dependent on “Illumination Publishing and its associated charity, The Light of Learning.” Hardware standards also should be as open possible.

The pesky DRM question

But how about the DRM issue? DRM appalls me as much as ever; the best solution is either no DRM or the use of social DRM. Books are less serious as a medium if they must rely on DRM infrastructure to be readable decades or centuries from now.

Still, large publishing conglomerates are, for now (let’s hope that changes!) insisting on DRM. And I’d hate to see users of the $50 machine cut off from modern classics available only with “protection.”

This would happen if people in the project relied only on OLPC-developed reading software as it exists now.

Again, however, the paramount issue is, “Can we create the machine?” as opposed to, “Will it start out standards-compliant?”

The economies-from-mass-production issue

One question among the skeptics would be, Couldn’t the mass-production economies of the $50 machine also be applied toward a general purpose computer?

Mightn’t the OLPC machine eventually go for less than $50?

But then again, the price difference could mean e-reading devices for millions of additional users, and the $50 book-focused machine at least would enlarge the market for the OLPC-designed displays, perhaps driving the price down even more.

Furthermore, as strongly suggested earlier, I wouldn’t have a heart attack if the $50 e-reading machine started out as a $99 or $100 model. That would still cost little enough for it to be an extremely viable textbook replacement in U.S. schools.

In other words, far from just kissing off Woodhouse’s vision, I’ll cheer on him and his partners even though it’s far from certain they’ll succeed—just so they heed my words on the need for a more open approach, be it about e-book standards or hardware. Again, some interest from OLPC could go a long way. Ditto for philanthropies and/or venture capitalists.

The K-12 and library angles

Same for educators and librarians elsewhere in the States; I hope that they, too, will keep open minds. Imagine the potential of a $50-$99 machine—without the complexities of the OLPC laptop—and related library resources. Let’s not forget the benefits of letting children and others enjoy access to books matching their exact needs and interests! This is one of the major promises of e-books.

As wonderful as interactivity and the rest can be, the real question people should be asking is, “What do I want to read today? And how about the needs of my children?”

The $50-$99 machine—combined with the right content, appropriate training for teachers and librarians and curriculum-related support for the former—could greatly expand the reading possibilities for the young and for society in general.

Why tablets instead of cellphones alone

Meanwhile I’ll address a related issue—the use of tablets rather than cellphones.

Yes, I approve, approve, approve of cellphone-based books where other alternative don’t exist, or for users who user prefer that platform. That’s a lot of users, many millions.

Just the same, until the price of foldout e-paper displays is much lower, schoolchildren and others will need the tablets to display detailed graphics accompanying texts.

Graphics not only can make books more appealing but also are a “must” for many and perhaps most textbooks in areas such as science. Cellphones and PDAs can show little pictures and are better than nothing. But the tablet form-factor can make a real difference in the graphic area—beyond which many people, students included, might read faster on tablets.

This is a very personal choice. Best that alternatives be available. As comfortable as I am with PDA-based reading—I love my Palm TX and my Nokia 770, a handheld that’s really a disguised PDA even if it lacks all the built-in software—not everyone feels the same way.

So while it’s nice to see Project Gutenberg founder Michael Hart, in a recent note to his volunteers, talk up the e-book potential of cellphones, we need to remember that phones are not a be-all and end-all as e-readers, particularly for older people who can’t deal as easily with the smaller print.

Related: Intel’s Design for One Laptop Per Child’s XO-2 Computer, in OLPC News.