5 extra methods to repurpose an outdated Kindle

There are loads of issues you are able to do with an outdated Kindle, from loading it with youngsters’s books and giving it to your children to buying and selling it in for a more moderen mannequin. You could also be stunned by how far more you are able to do with an outdated Kindle. Here are 5 actual initiatives that I’ve finished with my jailbroken fourth-generation Kindle.

Create an offline Wikipedia

A Kindle can turn into your offline reference e book

We are inclined to take Wikipedia with no consideration. You can discover data on an unbelievable variety of subjects, all on a single web site. The bother is, you often cannot verify Wikipedia with out an web connection. How are you imagined to settle that debate while you’re tenting off the grid?

A easy answer is to show your outdated Kindle right into a small Wikipedia library that can work fully offline. Kiwix is free, open-source software program that makes web sites and different references obtainable offline. The content material is out there as compressed ZIM archives, and you may create your individual bespoke Wikipedia library to add to your Kindle and verify everytime you need, even with out a community connection.

Turn it right into a devoted bundle tracker

E-Ink is ideal for data that solely modifications often

When I order one thing on-line that I’m wanting ahead to receiving (comparable to a brand new tiny eReader), I’ll commonly verify my telephone to see when it is on account of arrive. Often, I’ll verify a number of instances earlier than there are any updates. I made a decision to show my old Kindle into a package tracker in order that I may see updates with out having to verify them.

The challenge pulls data from the emails Amazon sends me when an order standing modifications. This data triggers an automation working on a Raspberry Pi that updates the picture displayed on the Kindle’s display screen. I can see my bundle’s present standing with a look on the Kindle.

Use it as a slow-refresh safety digicam

You do not want 30fps to see who’s on the door

A Kindle was by no means designed to point out video, and whereas the sluggish refresh price of the E-Ink display screen means that it’ll by no means be sensible for watching your newest Netflix obsession, it’s potential to get a Kindle to point out a very slow-refresh video feed.

I arrange an automation in Home Assistant that repeatedly takes snapshot pictures from my video doorbell. It then serves these to the Kindle, and my Kindle 4 can replace the pictures about as soon as a second, creating a really primary video stream.

When my doorbell rings, the Kindle can show the feed. Even with the sluggish refresh price, it is greater than adequate to see who’s on the door so I do not go reply unnecessarily.

Use it as an E-ink photograph body

Black-and-white images look surprisingly good on an outdated Kindle

Most initiatives on this listing require a jailbroken Kindle, however this one works even on a typical Kindle. A inventory Kindle can show images that you simply add, that means you need to use it as an E-Ink photo frame.

While a Kindle’s E-Ink show is not superb for high-resolution, full-color pictures, black-and-white pictures can look surprisingly good on the display screen, even on older fashions. The better part is {that a} Kindle makes use of hardly any energy when displaying a static picture, so the Kindle can doubtlessly depart the picture on the display screen for weeks without having to be plugged into energy.

Jailbreaking does offer you extra choices. With a jailbroken Kindle, you possibly can arrange a folder of images and have the Kindle routinely cycle by means of the pictures, similar to a typical digital photograph body.

Build a distraction-free writing machine

A Raspberry Pi does the work whereas the Kindle turns into your monitor

A Kindle is not designed for writing. Even the Kindle Keyboard, with its built-in bodily keyboard, is a nightmare to jot down on for any size of time. That doesn’t suggest that your Kindle cannot be used as a part of a distraction-free writing setup.

You can use one thing comparable to a Raspberry Pi to supply the computing energy whereas the Kindle acts as an E-Ink terminal. By connecting a keyboard to the Pi, you possibly can kind away and see every thing you write on the Kindle’s E-Ink display screen. One profit is that the show is much much less vulnerable to glare than a typical laptop computer display screen, so it is a good choice for working open air in vibrant daylight.

Old Kindles are surprisingly helpful

If you have purchased a brand new eReader to interchange your growing older Kindle, that does not imply you’ll want to toss it away. The {hardware} can nonetheless be genuinely helpful. Even should you do not need to strive one of many initiatives above, simply jailbreaking it and installing KOReader can provide it a complete new lease of life.