8 Years of Kindle 3 Keyboard Broken in Back Pocket

Kindle Keyboard (graphite) 3rd Gen.
Launched August 27, 2010

After years of book reading experiences on E-ink the screen shattered internally. It was in my back pocket when I sat on it, mechanically deforming the case so much that the back panel click-snap attachment border partially delaminated from the main unit. Pinching the edges strongly reseated the rear panel to the main body of the kindle. Tearing down the kindler for component construction analytics shows the shattered glass, logic & more.




Wikipedia E-Ink information shows us how the E-Ink is better than LCD displays for brighter reading environments.

OEM Launch Screen 

August 2018 Lithium-Ion Polymer Battery
Was still working well after ~8 years
The efficient mainboard logic & E-ink
display placed only tiny loads on the battery 

Lots of small screws makes it easy to teardown

Glass backplane of the E-Ink Pearl Display
The bending forces of sitting on the kindle
shattered the internal glass, destroying the
screens ability to display information 

Insulating Kapton film insulation on the alloy
mid-frame insulated the board logic from
potential short circuit failure modes