Comment by jonwinstanley
1 year ago
Hey, this sounds cool.
I played around with turning an old kindle into a wall mounted display a while back and got frustrated at how buggy the process was.
I managed to get my own image displayed on the device but sometimes it wouldn't update, sometimes it would drop power way too fast after a full charge.
I think I would use an eink display and a raspberry pi if I ever revive this project.
Yeah, I setup a Kindle that relied on the experimental web browser to open a web page over HTTP (for subway updates). The reliance on wifi meant I had to charge it often but since it was on kitchen counter that was ok.
For this I am jailbreaking the Kindles and relying on the screensaver functionality to pull down an image every 3 hours (will adjust based on power usage - only need 1 update per day tbh). This should require less power than the experimental browser using a web page with Javascript to refresh.
Collectively this will be a bit more abstract (no seamless NYT front-page experience) but I think I can get creative.
I need to see if 12 Kindles with USB cables across 1 or 2 hubs, each hub powered by a removable battery-pack is safe to hang on a wall :)