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Seeking a Good eBook Reading Device?
Quimbly asks: "I'm an avid reader, and I find that downloading books is much more convenient that trying to get them from the bookstore or library. However, I'm tired of sitting in front of a monitor to do my reading. I'm looking for a hand-held device to do my reading on, and I'm hoping the community has some suggestions.
It seems to me that most PDAs have too small of a screen for convenient reading, and a notebook / tablet computer is too big and bulky for this simple task. So, I've been looking at a few devices designed specifically for eBook reading (e.g. the RCA REB1100, the eBookwise-1150, etc.). These look more promising, but I was disappointed to discover that the RCA device ONLY reads an encrypted, propriety eBook format, making it essentially useless. (Has anyone ever hacked one of these?) Similarly, I believe both of these devices have been discontinued by their manufacturers. I want a device that can read a variety of file formats, especially scanned, non-text PDFs. A large screen, long battery life, and good interface are other attributes I'm looking for."
I've been poking about on Google for some time, with little success, searching for any project to build an ebook from off-the-shelf parts.
I'm not in any way knowledgeable in electronics, so I'm not asking about a how-to for myself. I am wondering if anyone has tried it. An LCD screen, a circuit board, a Linux-based OS, a simple means of moving ebooks in and out of the device. It doesn't have to be very complex or expensive. Color isn't necessary. If a builder wanted to be cute, build an ebook into a bound book; the paper and leather would make a nice shock absorber if the unit were dropped.
The big advantage is the flexibility of the device. No DRM. Evolving open source ebook software. Textbooks. Did I mention textbooks?
Federal law slaps a mandatory 5 year sentence for scanning a copyrighted textbook into ebook format, so good luck bringing it to class. Unless you could rig a futuristic set of display spex so that you alone could read the book without someone calling the Feds down on you. A pretty pass it has come to, when we are hiding our books from cops.
Brings me to advocating open source textbooks. A major expense for money-starved American schools is the stranglehold of the textbook industry. Phonics, arithmetic and history aren't changing so much every year that new $100 textbooks for each are required periodically. Make them free and openly available for download, and be done with it. Such projects are already online; we just need a ebook to go along with them. Laptops are overkill for this purpose.
And the censorship of the Texas school system on American textbooks has reached critical mass of late, affecting science and history taught in every part of the country.
I'd like to see every student carry ONE ebook, cheaply made and powered by open sourced software and filled with open sourced textbooks and materials. Not made by Microsoft, not controlled by the publishing industry, and not subject to cultural cleansing by the most rightist school boards in the nation. I'd have killed for such a thing when I was toting 15 books at a time in high school.
Mostly -- I want to not drown in paper books! We can't cut down every tree in the world even if it does bring on the Rapture. Literacy is going up everywhere, and no doubt book publishers are gleeful, but we can't cut down every tree in Canada. The paper-based book is an environmental disaster. Trees ain't corn; cutting them down causes Problems.
Ignore all but the first paragraph if you wish; I want to know about any projects people have heard about or even done in regards to making their own ebooks.