Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

popslate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 59 posts

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#41

Post by olefoo »

unwind wrote: post #8
pjc50 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came here to wonder about the price, and there's the answer. It's a pity that eInk is a great technology that remains horribly expensive. Not sure why; manufacturing yield? Rare inputs? Small volumes?

There's no proof that the product is at a particular price point just because one of the needed components is expensive. It might just be priced at what they perceive that the market is willing to pay, this is kind of a luxury product with very little competition, after all.

Also it could be that they are going for the profit maximising price curve.

$129 is worth it; if you would use the functionality a lot. And they must be selling enough units at that price to make it worthwhile for them.

Without knowing their cost structure it's hard to say; if their production capacity is limited there may be no way to make enough to meet demand at a lower price.

The wiki page is interesting read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_maximization

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#42

Post by arethuza »

bhaak wrote: post #32
uptown wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or print it at a kiosk upon check-in?

I can check-in from my phone. Edit: downvotes don't make that any less true. The situation the OP was observing could very well have been that the person had checked-in via phone and when boarding was starting, the phone's battery died.

Yes, she had an airline app that allowed you to check in using your phone. Not much use if your phone runs out of charge just when you are about to get it scanned to board the flight!

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#43

Post by mcb3k »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #34
nolk100 wrote: post #5

I used to wear a Pebble watch every day and found it useful but not overly so. That needed charging every 5-7 days, and this claims to last a week on a single charge. I don't wear the pebble watch any more because as lazy as it sounds, I kept forgetting to charge it when it ran out of battery, and there were days where I was walking around with a dead watch, which was at that point essentially an expensive wristband.…

This display is actually electronic paper, so the display doesn't use power once it's set. Power is just used by the bluetooth and rest of the bits to monitor for changes in the display. If they could let you switch it on only when you want to change it, it could likely last a lot longer. The Pebble has a fake "e-paper" screen that's actually not electronic paper, it's a black and white LCD which constantly draws pap…

e-paper, or electronic paper, is a generic term for any kind of display that doesn't work by emitting light, which the pebble, the popSLATE, and ereaders like the nook or kindle do. What you are describing is e-Ink, which is a specific implementation of a non-light-emitting screen generally used in ereaders.

That being said, it does seem that popSLATE is using a screen like what is used in an ereader, and not like what is used in the pebble.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#44

Post by fps »

moe wrote: post #23
madeofpalk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not - I'm saying that an Apple Watch with a one day battery life would not be a failure and would (IMO) be preferable over a 2 or 3 day battery life (regardless of whether they could make it now or in the future). As many have pointed out Apple (and others) seem to 'solve for X' in regards to battery life. One day seems like an ideal 'X' for a smart watch.

one day battery life [...] would (IMO) be preferable over a 2 or 3 day battery life That makes absolutely no sense. Nobody forces you to use the "extra" battery time. Nothing stops you from pretending it doesn't exist and charging your gizmo every night.

except years of training around battery charging that says not to charge a half (or 3/4) full battery.

I could put my kindle on the charger every night, even though it lasts 2 weeks on a charge, but I'm pretty certain that would kill the battery dead in a few months.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#45

Post by spike021 »

nolk100 wrote: post #5

I used to wear a Pebble watch every day and found it useful but not overly so. That needed charging every 5-7 days, and this claims to last a week on a single charge. I don't wear the pebble watch any more because as lazy as it sounds, I kept forgetting to charge it when it ran out of battery, and there were days where I was walking around with a dead watch, which was at that point essentially an expensive wristband.…

I understand where you're coming from, but I don't know that it's a common problem. I've had my Pebble for about 4.5 months now and remembering to charge it can be interesting. I usually forget when I last charged it, but even then there are low battery alerts. I know that it'll last about a day once I see the "20% remaining" message, so I just charge it within 6-12 hours of that message.

It's not really too much of a hassle to remove the watch for a couple hours while sitting at my desk, and I've heard of people who charge it while sitting at a desk wearing it.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#46

Post by bhaak »

arethuza wrote: post #42
bhaak wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can check-in from my phone. Edit: downvotes don't make that any less true. The situation the OP was observing could very well have been that the person had checked-in via phone and when boarding was starting, the phone's battery died.

Yes, she had an airline app that allowed you to check in using your phone. Not much use if your phone runs out of charge just when you are about to get it scanned to board the flight!

The question was why didn't she get the paper when she checked in to her flight at the kiosk at the airport?

Because she doesn't necessarily was even near the airport when she checked in. Nowadays you can check-in online or via your phone up to 24 hours before your flight starts.

And you never see any paper. Yeah, that sucks when your phone runs out of battery. In our trains, the conductor has now USB chargers in case such things happen.

Technology fails, we fail. It happens. We manage to adapt.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#47

Post by rpdillon »

fps wrote: post #44
moe wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

one day battery life [...] would (IMO) be preferable over a 2 or 3 day battery life That makes absolutely no sense. Nobody forces you to use the "extra" battery time. Nothing stops you from pretending it doesn't exist and charging your gizmo every night.

except years of training around battery charging that says not to charge a half (or 3/4) full battery. I could put my kindle on the charger every night, even though it lasts 2 weeks on a charge, but I'm pretty certain that would kill the battery dead in a few months.

Kindle (and many other devices) use lithium polymer batteries, which don't have memory and don't require deep discharge. In fact, their life is increased when charged often, since depth of discharge determines overall cycle count, and deep discharge on LiPo is harmful.

In short, charging your Kindle frequently is just fine.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#48

Post by romaniv »

I want a proper E-Inc smartphone, damn it! With no OLED screen. The number of times I used my cellphone to watch videos: 0, as far as I remember. Number of times I wished my phone had longer battery life and didn't auto-dim after 30 seconds: well, every single time I use it for more than 30 seconds.

Yeah, yeah, I know that you need fast screen for shooting videos. Whatever. I would settle for a phone with no camera and EInk screen without thinking twice.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#49

Post by JohnTHaller »

mcb3k wrote: post #43
JohnTHaller wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This display is actually electronic paper, so the display doesn't use power once it's set. Power is just used by the bluetooth and rest of the bits to monitor for changes in the display. If they could let you switch it on only when you want to change it, it could likely last a lot longer. The Pebble has a fake "e-paper" screen that's actually not electronic paper, it's a black and white LCD which constantly draws pap…

e-paper, or electronic paper, is a generic term for any kind of display that doesn't work by emitting light, which the pebble, the popSLATE, and ereaders like the nook or kindle do. What you are describing is e-Ink, which is a specific implementation of a non-light-emitting screen generally used in ereaders. That being said, it does seem that popSLATE is using a screen like what is used in an ereader, and not like wh…

The thing is, pre Pebble, everyone understood that both terms meant something that didn't use power once an image was displayed. The Pebble is the first product I was aware of that abused the term. Everyone I spoke to thought it was the same clear display used in an ereader when it's actually just similar tech to my retired Palm III.
Post reply on HN