Low Tech Gutenberg?

Peace Corps Guy asks: "I have a friend who recently left for a two year Peace Corps stint in Mozambique. While there she has limited access to electricity, no technology, and not a lot to do with her 'off' time. She's a big literature fan, and many of us here at home would like to send a care package - but how best to ship pieces of free online text like Project Gutenberg to a developing nation? We can print it (high shipping and printing costs), print it very small and ship her a high quality fresnel lens (awkward), or put it all on a cheap PDA, which would be a high theft risk en route and in situ. High shipping costs on weight and volume are another major limiting factor. What alternative solutions can Slashdot readers suggest for shipping a freely available byte-stream to someone without a computer?"

Comments

Re:Should have thought of this *before* she left

[Houkster]

Forget breaking down the PDA.

Go buy a big Bible or other book but Bible has advantages. Make sure to look for something that is shrink wrapped. The One Year Bibles I believe come like that. You take and cut a spot in the middle of it for the PDA. Reshrink wrap it, get a cheap Royal brand type PDA, a cheap calculator or something and put em in the same box. Now you can etchically say misc small electronic devices and a bible. Ship it off and it should make it. The other 2 pieces might not, but hopefully the Bible will since in most countries people don't steal Bibles.

In addition, she can store the PDA in the Bible once she gets it which might be a way again to help keep it safe.

At least an idea of a way to do it, don't know if it will work.