WanderVerse
WanderReader · spec sheet

The full file.

Everything our engineering, sourcing, and compliance work produced for this product. Nothing here is marketing — it's the actual document we'd hand a contract manufacturer.

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WanderReader — Product Spec

A reader you actually own. No DRM. No kill-switch. No Amazon. No surveillance. 7-year parts including the panel.

Status: Stage 10 · Version v1.0-candidate · 2026-04-24 Owner: Michael Eisinger Family: Reading / Knowledge surfaces Device IDs: WV-READ-STD · WV-READ-PRO Ship target: Standard + Pro both 2027-Q3 (parallel ship)

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1. Mission

In May 2026, Amazon remotely disabled approximately 2 million pre-2012 Kindles via an AWS TLS deprecation that those devices could not update past. Books bought legally became inaccessible. Notes and highlights stranded in proprietary formats. The phrase "we don't really own anything anymore" trended for three weeks. WanderReader is the answer for everyone who said never again.

WanderReader is a 6-inch e-ink ebook reader designed around five charter rules: 1. No DRM by default. Sideload EPUB / PDF / CBZ-CBR / TXT / MOBI / FB2 / DOCX / RTF / HTML / Markdown — formats you can copy, back up, read on any device, and pass down to your kids. 2. No kill-switch. Firmware is signed but not phone-home dependent. The reader works forever offline. Cert-pinning failures degrade gracefully — they NEVER brick the device. Written into the warranty. 3. No Amazon dependency. Send-to-WanderReader replaces Send-to-Kindle. Calibre + OPDS + WanderNode Hub replace Amazon's library cloud. Standard Notes (E2E encrypted) replaces Goodreads for annotation export. 4. No surveillance. Reading habits stay local. No telemetry. No cloud analytics. No "what page you stopped on" snitching. Optional Standard Notes annotation export is the only outbound path and it's E2E user-controlled. 5. 7-year parts including the e-ink panel. When E Ink Holdings deprecates a controller IC, we will have stocked enough spares to honor the commitment for the full window.

Every other design decision below follows from those five rules.

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2. Who it's for

Primary audiences:

1. The "I refuse to be bricked again" buyer. Direct addressable market = the ~30M people who read the May 2026 Kindle bricking story and felt the pit-of-stomach realization they don't own their library. Conversion rate doesn't need to be high; the audience is large, qualified, and motivated. 2. Privacy-first readers. Reading is one of the most intimate analytic surfaces in consumer technology — what you read, where you stopped, what you highlighted, what you abandoned. WanderReader keeps all of that local. No Goodreads. No Amazon X-Ray cross-correlation. No reading-pace surveillance. 3. Border-crossing / hostile-environment readers. Identity-aware covert library protects readers crossing into hostile jurisdictions (LGBTQ+ content, abortion-access guides, political philosophy, religious deconstruction texts, banned books, transition resources) by hiding a second library behind a duress-PIN. 4. Library + nonprofit deployments. Mission Partner pricing makes WanderReader the cheapest "give me 50 e-readers for the prison literacy program" solution that doesn't require Amazon accounts, doesn't expire, doesn't surveil readers, and doesn't impose DRM. 5. WanderVerse households. Mode 3 with WanderNode Hub gives automatic LAN-side Calibre Server sync. New books on Hub appear on Reader within seconds. No cloud round-trip. The household already running a Hub gets a "Send-to-WanderReader" experience that's strictly better than what Amazon offered. 6. Right-to-repair reading enthusiasts. Aluminum body, T5 Torx back cover, replaceable battery, 7-year parts including the panel, open STLs for accessories. The Framework-Laptop-pattern e-reader.

Who it's NOT for:

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3. Tiers

TierTaglinePrice (standard / founding / Mission Partner)Key delta
**Reader Standard**"The basics, beautifully. No frontlight, no compromise on what matters."$179 / $159 / $1296.0" Carta 1300 e-ink; no frontlight; 16 GB; 1500 mAh / ~6wk; cream aluminum chassis; page-turn buttons
**Reader Pro**"Frontlight, warm light, more storage, longer battery. Same charter rules."$279 / $249 / $1996.0" Carta 1300 e-ink; **24-LED warm+cool frontlight**; **32 GB**; **2000 mAh / ~8wk**; same chassis + page-turn buttons

The chassis is identical between tiers — same machined cream anodized aluminum slab, same chamfered edges, same recessed page-turn buttons, same USB-C, same saffron pinstripe along the top bezel. Pro adds the frontlight stack (24-LED bar + light guide + diffuser, OCA-bonded) + upgraded battery + doubled storage. That preserves shared tooling, shared STLs, shared Ambassador training curriculum, shared service flow.

Mission Partner pricing requires verified 501(c)(3) status, HAVEN deployment, LGBTQ+ clinic, DV shelter, public library, prison-reading program, immigrant literacy program, refugee resettlement nonprofit, or Ambassador-voted grant eligibility.

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4. Hardware platform

Primary silicon

ComponentChoiceLibrary reuseWhy
SoC**ESP32-S3-WROOM-1** with 8MB PSRAMYES (5+ products)Power-sipping (deep sleep <50µA → 6-week battery), integrated WiFi 4 + BLE 5.0, FCC modular cert passthrough, ~$3.50/unit at 1k volume
Power management**TI TPS65086100** PMICYES (5+ products)Multi-rail: 3.3V SoC + 1.8V flash + e-ink panel rails (positive + negative + boost for waveform generation) + 5V boost for USB-C
Battery charger**TI BQ25180**YES (3+ products)Single-cell linear charger, integrated fuel gauge, well-vetted across the catalog
RTC crystal**Epson FC-135** 32.768kHzYES (3+ products)Low-power RTC for sleep timer + wake scheduling
Main crystalTXC 26MHzNO (commodity)ESP32-S3 reference clock
E-ink controller**IT8951** (Solomon Systech, integrated on Carta 1300 timing controller)NOStandard for 6" e-ink panels; ESP32-S3 drives via parallel + SPI
Storage flashMacronix MX25L25635F 32MB NOR (Standard) / 256MB SPI flash (Pro)YES on 32MBLibrary + book metadata + UI assets
Storage eMMCKioxia 16GB eMMC 5.1 (Standard) / 32GB (Pro)NO (commodity)User library

Display

Frontlight (Pro tier only)

Input / output

Connectivity

Power

Enclosure

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5. Software

WanderReaderOS

Format support (v1.0)

DRM (charter rule — none)

Library management

Annotation + notes

Reading log + privacy

Voice + accessibility

OTA updates

Platform-standard: WanderReader complies with the WanderVerse charter — privacy, identity-aware, dual-mode, no kill-switch, 7-year parts.

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6. Identity-aware features

Covert Library (the marquee identity-aware feature)

For users where casual inspection of the device is a real threat:

1. Standard PIN — reveals Library 2 2. Duress PIN — looks like a wrong PIN; locks device into Library 1 mode for 4 hours; cannot be overridden until timeout 3. Wipe PIN — instantly crypto-erases Library 2 partition; appears to forensic inspection as if Library 2 never existed

Quiet Mode

For households where a visible status LED is unsafe — not applicable to WanderReader v1.0 because the device has no status LED. The device is silent by default. (This is a unique property of e-ink readers — they don't have always-on indicators that leak status.)

Duress PIN integration with WanderVerse ecosystem

Trust-contact-only sharing

Advisory review (required pre-EVT)

Stage 10 gate blocks until completion of advisory-panel review with:

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7. Dual-mode architecture

Mode 1 — Standalone

The reader works the moment you power it up. No account, no internet, no external dependency.

Sideload your library via USB-C (mass-storage mode), read EPUB / PDF / CBZ / TXT / MOBI / FB2 / DOCX / RTF / HTML / Markdown. Set up a covert library. Use the dictionary. Highlight, take notes, export to markdown via USB-C. Charge via any USB-C cable. Battery lasts weeks. The reader works without ever joining a WiFi network.

This is the default experience. ~30% of buyers will live entirely in Mode 1.

Mode 2 — Industry-integrated

The reader works with the standards you already use:

Mode 3 — WanderVerse-native

Pair with a WanderNode Hub and:

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8. Repair & open hardware

Seven-year parts commitment

Every spare part for WanderReader is available from ship date (2027-Q3) for at least seven years (until 2034-Q3+), via the Ambassador network, at cost + 10%. Including the e-ink panel.

What "parts" means:

What "parts" does NOT mean:

At year 8: we publish full schematics + every STL + KOReader fork source as fully open under MIT/CC-BY-SA. You are not dependent on us in perpetuity.

User-DIY service categories

CategoryCostToolTime
Battery replacement$25 + shippingT5 Torx8 min
Page-turn button cap swap$5-15 (depending on material)none (snap-fit)30s
Cover swap (color or material)$30-60 (depending on accessory)none0s
E-ink screen protector overlay$12none60s
OTA firmware update$0none5 min
Custom firmware flash$0 (advanced)USB-C cable30 min

Ambassador-only service

CategoryCostTurnaround
E-ink panel replacement$45 panel + $25 service + shipping5 days
Frontlight assembly replacement (Pro)$35 frontlight + $25 service + shipping5 days
Mainboard repair / replacementvaries + $25 service + shipping5-7 days
Cosmetic refresh (anodize redo)$35-60 + $25 service7-10 days

See SERVICE-FLOW.md for the full repair tier matrix.

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9. Ambassador assembly

Tier of certification: Tier 1 (consumer assembly)

8-hour Ambassador training curriculum + 2 hours specialized e-ink lamination training + 3 hours frontlight bonding training (Pro tier only). Total ~13 hours for a full WanderReader-certified Ambassador.

Station investment

~$800 incremental over a baseline WanderVerse Ambassador station:

A full Ambassador station serving WanderReader (and WanderDash + WanderBand sharing) costs ~$5-7k total.

Per-unit assembly time

The Signature Mark

Every assembled WanderReader carries an engraved or stamped signature of the Ambassador who built it, located on the inside surface of the back cover (visible only when the back cover is removed for service). The signature includes:

The Mark is permanent — etched into the aluminum cover via laser. It survives re-anodization. It cannot be tampered without destroying the cover.

At refurbishment

When a unit returns for Ambassador refurb, a second signature is added beneath the first. Provenance accumulates. The device's service history is physically readable.

See SERVICE-FLOW.md for full refurb decision matrix.

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10. Community Pool

Every sale of WanderReader is divided three ways:

Marquee Community Pool program for Reader: book donation matching. For every Reader sold at Mission Partner pricing to a prison-reading program / immigrant literacy nonprofit / DV shelter, the Pool funds a starter library of 100 DRM-free public-domain + open-license titles per device, curated by community + literacy advisors.

None of these go to Michael Eisinger personally. Founder compensation is a W-2 salary from Eisinger Holdings LLC, bounded by a public-posted cap tied to living-wage calculators for the founder's geography.

A quarterly transparency report publishes Community Pool inflows and outflows, Ambassador wages paid, devices manufactured, compliance certs in flight, books funded for Mission Partner programs, and an anonymized aggregate covert-library-feature-activation count.

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11. Visual identity

Render brief — WanderReader Pro on bedside table

Studio product photograph of WanderReader Pro — a 6-inch e-ink ebook reader in a slim slab form factor, approximately 160×110×8mm. Matte cream anodized aluminum body (#F7F5F1) with precision-machined chamfered edges. Two recessed tactile page-turn buttons on the right edge. USB-C connector on the bottom. A single saffron pinstripe (#d99a2b) running along the top bezel as the only visible saffron element. No visible wordmark. The e-ink display shows a page from a novel — clean serif typography on a paper-white background. Accompanying optional accessory: a charcoal black book-style leather cover with cream contrast stitching, opened slightly to reveal the device. Seamless slate blue-gray backdrop (#2A3042 gradient to warmer #3A4258 upper-left), warm editorial rim light from upper-left with soft saffron-amber highlights on case edges, three-quarter front angle 5 degrees above horizon. Reference aesthetic: Teenage Engineering OP-1 × Nothing × Muji × the long-discontinued Kindle Oasis aluminum body × Kobo Libra Colour. Camera: Sony full-frame 90mm macro, f/5.6, tack-sharp. Commercial product photography, magazine-polish editorial. 16:9 landscape. Generous negative space. No brand logos, no text overlays, no watermarks.

Photography rules

What we never ship

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12. Anti-patterns (what we won't do)

1. We won't ship DRM support by default. Charter rule. Adobe ADEPT debate is open for v1.1 but the bias is no. 2. We won't ship a kill-switch. Cert pinning + signed firmware is local. Device works forever offline. Written into the warranty. Period. 3. We won't ship telemetry. No reading-pace tracking, no abandonment metrics, no "what page you're on" sync to a cloud, no Goodreads-style social graph. 4. We won't ship audiobook playback in v1.0. TTS-of-EPUB via Piper is the closest we get; Audible-style narration is out of scope. Reconsider for v2.0 if audiobook listener segment is actually a meaningful WanderReader-buyer overlap (we suspect it isn't). 5. We won't ship color e-ink in v1.0. Color is too slow, too expensive, too washed-out in 2026. Reconsider for v2.0 (2029-2030) when Kaleido 4 or successor closes the gap. 6. We won't ship a microSD slot. Compromises waterproofness + thinness + repair-flow. 16/32GB is enough.

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13. Open questions for next iteration

1. Adobe ADEPT support for v1.1? — would unlock library lending (OverDrive) and Adobe-DRM-protected indie publisher catalogs. But ADEPT itself is a kill-switch (Adobe controls activation). Charter amendment required. Bias: no. 2. Color e-ink Reader Color SKU for v2.0? — depends on Kaleido 4 / E Ink Spectra performance + cost in 2029. Track quarterly. 3. 7-inch Reader Pro+ SKU for v2.0? — fills the gap left by Kindle Oasis discontinuation + Kobo Libra Colour. Would require new chassis tooling. Track interest. 4. WanderReader Mini (5" pocket reader)? — ergonomic outlier; useful for transit; probably NOT addressed for v1.0 / v2.0. 5. Audiobook playback for v2.0? — depends on user-research finding that the WanderReader-buyer audience overlaps meaningfully with the audiobook-listener segment. Bias: probably not unless data says otherwise. 6. Federated reading log (WanderShelf?) — Mastodon-style alternative to Goodreads. Would launch as a separate WanderVerse product with WanderReader integration as its anchor. 7. WanderReader for K-12 schools? — Mission Partner pricing + curated educational title libraries. Would require dedicated MDM-style fleet management. Reconsider 2028+.

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End of WanderReader spec v1.0-candidate. Charter-locked. Five thesis points (no DRM, no kill-switch, no Amazon, no surveillance, 7-year parts including the panel) require charter amendment to weaken. The image already exists; this spec matches it.

Cross-reference: