eReaders are particularly great gadgets because they tend to stay perfectly usable for a long time. However, there will eventually come a time when you want to upgrade. So what should you do with the old one? We have some ideas for you.
Turn it into a smart home display
The best feature of your old Kindle is the thing that made it so great for reading—the e-paper display. Since the e-paper only uses power when the screen changes, it’s a great device for a smart home dashboard. There’s an excellent guide from Matt Healy for setting this up with an old Kindle. It essentially just shows a web page, but it’s much easier to update the web page remotely than mess around on the Kindle itself. Attach this to your fridge and it’s a great little hub.
Make an E-Paper clock
If a full smart display feels like too much work, you can pare it down to the essentials. An e-paper clock is one of the coolest clocks you can have, offering extreme visibility without the annoying glow of an LCD or LED display. As long as your Kindle isn’t super ancient, you can literally just open up time.is in the browser and let it run. Sure, this isn’t the most mind-blowing use for an e-paper display, but we’re working within the confines of the stock software.
Jailbreak it for full control
Credit: Faisal Rasool / How-To Geek
In reality, there’s not a lot you can do with an old Kindle in its factory state. If you want true freedom and flexibility, you’re going to have to jailbreak the thing. Doing this opens the door to far more than just custom home screens and new display hacks. Once liberated, you can install custom software and use the device for things Amazon never intended. The good news is it’s probably a lot easier to do this than you might think. Check out our full guide for a general walkthrough.
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Jailbreaking my Kindle was easier than I expected
Take control of your Kindle.
Trade it in for a new one
Credit: Adam Davidson / How-To Geek
Alright, maybe you’re a person who doesn’t want to spend an afternoon tinkering with old tech. If you want the least painful path, you can repurpose your Kindle by using it to buy a new Kindle. Amazon offers a trade-in program that gives you an Amazon gift card and a nice 20% discount on a new Kindle. The discount is the real selling point here, though—Amazon typically offers only $5 for old Kindles.
Don’t let old Kindles go to waste!
The takeaway here is that even the simplest, most limited tech can often be turned into something useful instead of gathering dust in a drawer. You got a little more mileage out of your money, and now you’re ready to start filling up your new e-reader with all the books you can handle.