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Comment by tinix | Hacker News Reader

there have been color ereaders for over a year now...

And when Ford launches a new model, do you respond, “we’ve had cars for over a hundred years now…”? It’s a product announcement, I see no claim that Kobo invented color readers.

How is this different? Kobo is a mass seller of ereaders, they sell what are IMHO the only real contender to Kindles. They also sell ebooks, so they are very interested in making content for color ereaders. Before I clicked the link, my though was "OK, another color ereader for 700€, for the headlines". But they are color ereaders for 150€! For the first time ever, I'm very tempted to buy one, even knowing that I don't need it.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the price. I think these are similar to existing ereaders, except that the reliability and support expectations are different for Kobo. I've been watching as other companies have rolled out devices and none of the companies are as reliable as Kobo. There have been botched releases, delayed Kickstarters, etc.

I would not hesitate to get one of these and not worry about warranty issues or other fly-by-night company problems. Kobo will stand behind these devices, and if there's a problem it will be easily refunded. I wasn't willing to risk $450 on a no-name company, but I'll happily plunk down half that (or less) for one of these devices!

Not from Kobo, though, which is what this article is about.

For over 20 years, actually. I still have one from the 2010s and frankly I find that the new Kaleido screens practically improve _nothing_ over it.

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