
Building literal face books at @solreader. Previously: @twitter/@periscopeco, @peerfeedback, @paywithpenny & @yelp. Find me on Mastodon @johnboiles@macaw.social
Albany, CA
Joined April 2008
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I got a little emotional reading this. It is incredibly satisfying to see other people love the thing we built.
Sol Reader Review, 48 hours in:
I've had these for 2 days, and worn them for 10+ hours, including one 4 hour stint. I adore them. Here are some longer-form thoughts if you're on the fence, waiting for your pair, or just curious.
The Hardware
They're a little thicker than I'd expected, and made of a sturdy matte plastic. They're superbly light, and I haven't had a moment of head or neck strain wearing them. No one is going to mistake these for regular sunglasses, but they're not offensively geeky either. They charge with USB-C.
There's also a remote, which takes a watch battery. It's small, fits in your palm and is pleasingly rubberized. It's like TV remote - cardinal directions, and select.
Not too much to say on the remote - it works well, but it's clearly a concession. In an ideal world you'd control this device with Vision Pro-style air gestures. As it stands, a remote is just another thing to lose (though you can buy them separately, or control the device from the partner app)
Set up
Set up is smooth - download the partner app (more on that soon), follow the instructions, and put them on your head when prompted. They'll automatically turn on as this device doesn't have a dedicated power button - a decision I like personally.
If you're anything like me, the first thing you'll do is configure your viewing experience, as the out-the-box configuration was pretty blurry (though I do have one borked eye)
Calibration
The Sol Reader has 3 dials - one up top to set interpupilary distance, and one on either lens to adjust the distance of the lens to your eye. Additionally, there's a rubberized adjustible nosepiece. It's not the most flexible, but it gets the job done.
The dials are functional and have a good range, but do feel finnicky to use. You're going to have difficulty turning the top dial while the unit is on your head, and the lens dials require and uncomfortable amount of force for what is a pretty light product.
This made calibration a little frustrating - I'd have to take the unit off, make a change, and put them back on to see if it improved things. It also makes them hard to share with others, though that's an issue for any device with lenses.
There was a step during setup where the partner app prompts you to automatically set interpupilary distance by scanning your face with your phone - but if this made a difference, I didn't detect it.
Software
I was basically expecting crap software - this being an e-reader - but was pleasantly surprised. The UX is very basic but functional and thoughtfully laid out. Navigating with the remote is fast.
One of my first complaints was that I wanted to shift the reading panel up and to the right to reduce strain on my lazy eye - and lo and behold, there was a setting for exactly that.
In fact, there's a surprising amount of settings - including text size, line spacing and even some experimental ones like dark mode or "fast page turn".
Interestingly, the home screen defaults to four panels - "Articles", "Books", "Settings" and... "Bible". That's right, this thing comes installed with the whole KJV by default, and prominently at that. You can disable this tab in settings, but it's a nice touch and might make believers of some of us yet.
Content
When you boot the device for the first time, you're offered a list of newsletters to download - including, prominently, @PirateWires (based). You can sync the device with @Pocket , and get a daily download of all of your articles and newsletters.
There are two ways to get books onto the device - either through the store in the partner app, which I haven't really explored, or by emailing [email protected] a book in DRM-free .epub format - which I imagine most people will do.
It's a little bit of a clunky work around, but @johnboiles has also shown me a slick webapp for syncing books to the device that they're shipping soon - so all good.
By default, I believe the device syncs your content overnight, and also whenever you take it off. It took a little while to find the on-device setting to manually sync content, but when I did it was fast with no issues.
App
You manage all the content for your device in the app. The app is basic, though well-built, and you can access Sol support from right inside it, which is a nice touch.
It took me a little while to find how to upload my EPUBs - and I still find it strange that I can't them straight from the app - but it's possible I'm just an idiot. YMMV.
The app is also where you manage your device and remote - syncing, connecting to WiFi, that sort of thing. Everything there works as it should, in my experience.
Reading Experience
When you have a book downloaded, your settings and lenses configured, and are comfortable - this thing slaps. You soon forget you're wearing it, and can comfortable read even laying on your side.
I was a little surprised at how much of my FOV is unobstructed while wearing these - I was expecting a more goggles-like experience. You can actually walk around in these pretty comfortably (not advice) and otherwise maintain good situational awareness.
The screen is pleasingly backlit, with brightness automatically set dependent on your environment. There's also an option to manually set brightness from a quick menu on the device.
Wearing these outside is great. I can see myself wearing these on the beach, in the park etc. I'm sure there are some brave souls who could even wear them in the pool.
In fact, I'm surprised by just how often I find myself reaching for this device. Making a cup off coffee, eating, brushing my teeth. This fits in a jacket pocket and is so convenient.
I haven't had a chance to test battery life yet, but haven't needed to charge them since I've bought them. It's e-ink, and the Sol Reader site says you can expect a month between charges for casual usage. I can easily believe that.
Conclusion
This is an almost unbelievably good first-generation product - and a breath of fresh air given some of the high-profile failures to launch in the hardware space recently.
They're unlike anything else on the market - cool, imaginative and dead simple at the same time. It's not a stretch at all to say that I can see myself using these every single day.
The very best thing I can say about this device is that it achieves its stated purpose - I believe these will make me read more books than I would without them.
Well done SOL Reader, and congratulations again on shipping this!
johnboiles retweeted
Earlier this year, @bchelf and I made the difficult decision to wind down @solreader, the next-gen e-reader company we founded. I couldn’t be prouder of what we built. The product completely sold out, lots of people have said that it completely changed their lives, and it's an honor to know that many of our users will continue to use the Sol Reader long after the company has wound down. Thanks to the whole Sol team and those who helped make this crazy idea a reality. We learned so many lessons, and if you'd like to hear how the last days went down, check out the Sol Reader blog.
johnboiles retweeted
On Easter morning, this is what President Trump posted.
Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness.
I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit.
I’m not defending Iran but let’s be honest about all of this.
The Strait is closed because the US and Israel started the unprovoked war against Iran based on the same nuclear lies they’ve been telling for decades, that any moment Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.
You know who has nuclear weapons?
Israel.
They are more than capable of defending themselves without the US having to fight their wars, kill innocent people and children, and pay for it.
Trump threatening to bomb power plants and bridges hurts the Iranian people, the very people Trump claimed he was freeing.
On Easter, of all days, we as Christians should be reminded that the son of God died and rose from the grave so that we can be forgiven once and for all of our sins. Jesus commanded us to love one another and forgive one another. Even our enemies.
Our President is not a Christian and his words and actions should not be supported by Christians.
Christians in the administration should be pursuing peace. Urging the President to make peace.
Not escalating war that is hurting people.
This NOT what we promised the American people when they overwhelmingly voted in 2024, I know, I was there more than most.
This is not making America great again, this is evil.
I made a GPT voice thing with off the shelf parts and some sweet 3d printed industrial design from Jerry O'Leary. Maybe nice for just chatting up GPT for brainstorming and idea forming.
Latency is fantastic. It's super easy to make more. Anybody want one?
I've got a really weird issue with my @glowforge where cut operations don't begin to cut until part way through the operation. Almost like it needs to warm up. Engraves and usually scores are fine. Support is stumped. Anyone have any guesses as to what could cause this?
johnboiles retweeted
Replaced evening TV/show time with reading on Sol's and, I can attest, it's been game-changing.
Much easier to fall asleep, it's not a blue light screen, you can read on your side, and they're really sturdy.
Could not agree more! This was part of the original thesis behind @solreader. It's an incredible happiness + sleep hack, and also the antidote to doomscrolling yourself into depression.
Patched my leaking Eight Sleep cover. So far so good. Hoping we stay dry tonight 🤞
I also rigged up a flat Z-Wave leak sensor with some aluminum tape + duct tape so my Home Assistant can tell me before my bed becomes a puddle
How I found out last time that my Eight Sleep was leaking:
I love this so much "complexity is spirit demon that enter codebase through well-meaning but ultimately very clubbable non grug-brain developers and project managers who not fear complexity spirit demon or even know about sometime" grugbrain.dev/
johnboiles retweeted
why are the waymos kinda anthropomorphic though? when I see a waymo stuck somewhere, or a bunch of drivers kind of "bullying" a waymo on the road, I genuinely feel bad for it, and even want to help. wtf is that?
I bike nearly every day. My kids are starting to bike regularly. I have such strong positive loving emotions towards Waymos for simply not trying to murder us. Probably the warmest I've felt about a robot to date.
Replying to @andromeda74356
But even more pure somehow. Just little fellas driving around, dodging dogs, saving bikers


























