Re:Show HN: Beepberry – a portable e-paper computer for hackers
by kragen on Thursday May 18, 2023 @03:31AM
(#35985018)
the reason smartphones switch off the screen when idle is that the screen uses literally twenty thousand times more power than this screen, over a watt instead of fifty microwatts, so leaving it on drains the battery rapidly
it's pretty shitty for things like reading a book, watching a compilation, or text chat, but for a smartphone the alternative is worse
by contrast, running the pi zero for one second uses more energy than keeping this screen on all day
> Uh, if I don't see the screen fading in 30 seconds, I'll conclude I forgot.
I think that many cases of forgetting to switch it off would involve laying down the device and not looking at it. Say you get up to switch on a lamp or to get a snack, but get a phone call or get interrupted by your child. Even if you look at it a bit later and see the screen being off, I doubt you’ll always remember whether you flipped that switch?
There’s a reason smartphones automatically switch off the screen when idle.