I wouldn't mind paying $2 a month for Beeper. I've been using it for months to consolidate all of my messaging apps. It's worth $2 a month for me. Beeper Mini is just iMessage, so I don't know if it's worth it for me. They said they'll eventually move all of the other chat services over to Beeper Mini, at which point it will just be Beeper.
I'm a big fan of eink screens. They don't cause the eyestrain that LED displays do. I have the Onyx Boox Nova which I really enjoy. It has the Play Store on it, so I can install any Android app. It also has pen support for annotating.
Best cartoon theme song ever!