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US Navy Develops World's Worst E-reader
First time accepted submitter Dimetrodon (2714071) writes "It is an unspoken rule of military procurement that any IT or communications technology will invariably be years behind what is commercially available or technically hobbled to ensure security. One case in point is the uncomfortably backronymed NeRD, or Navy e-Reader Device, an electronic book so secure the 300 titles it holds can never be updated. Ever."
security > usability
No sir, that's just my Kindle. I didn't load classified files on to it, I swear!
What? Our secret base was compromised because Private Biff's iPad, which tracked everywhere we went, was stolen by a hooker at the last port?
It's not like they "forgot" that users might want to add new books, the inability of any updatable storage was a design requirement to prevent it from being used for espionage or as a channel to inadvertently bring malware aboard a ship.
This is to prevent it being used to smuggle secret military data ashore, take illicit photos, introduce computer malware or record covert conversations.
Though it seems that there are so many ways for a person to smuggle a MicroSD card into a secure area that an eReader is probably not a huge concern.
Assuming that all the books are in the MOBI or EPUB formats, which are quite compact, one can only assume that the designers really skimped on memory. My Kindle has hundreds more books with plenty of room left. And as this is a technology made to a military contract, one can assume that this device inferior to off-the-shelf consumer items costs much more than them.
I can't help but wonder if the powers that be in the US Navy have a unexpectedly healthy sense of humor. Either that or they're totally oblivious to the irony of naming their new custom eReader the NeRD.
"The company has already delivered similar gadgets to members of the US Army and other military personnel.
The brainchild of the Navy's General Library Program, the electronic ink Kindle-alike has no internet capability, no removable storage, no camera and no way to add or delete content. This is to prevent it being used to smuggle secret military data ashore, take illicit photos, introduce computer malware or record covert conversations."
Actually makes sense to me.....
It doesn't matter that it can't be updated since there are Navy publications that are at least 50 years old and have not been updated since.
I bet with all this slashvertising these things are going to become collector's items; every hacker will want one to see if they *can* change the content.
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
Can't have machines capable of transporting unauthorized files or tracking your fleet location on board. Would be idiotic.
This provides a way to give sailors a decent library of books to read without having to find a place to have a dead tree library on a cramped ship.
The concept is perfectly sound, despite obvious failings in the design/specs (only 300 books, and probably thousands of dollars each, hah)
Manuals generally can't be updated unless new sections are added or pages added.
Doesn't seem like too much of a thing. Need revisions, send out a new unit with updated material, destroy the outdated unit.
A.
In spite of the knee-jerk reaction of "That POS can't even be updated!" that the summary seems to be triggering, I think perhaps it was designed this way on purpose? Think about it. 300 documents, could be manuals, laws, whatever. If each of those is to be readily available per person, which is smaller, 1 eReader, or 300 books? Which cost more to produce? 1 reader as opposed to 300 books? ect... The navy probably doesn't want the info in those to change either, hence the no update.
Seems to work pretty good for its inteded purpose to me.
Of course it's shit. Worst ereader, worst branch of military
There needs to be a law!
Government ought to be required to use commercial products for common tasks and functions rather than having lifer government employees creating a duplicate system from scratch that doesn't truly add anything to answering the needs of their employees.
We are in a system where government waste has become a cancer strangling the economy with taxes in all their forms which now amount to basically half the GDP.
It is sick.
The WSJ is marginally more informative on the contents:
"The content consists mainly of newer bestsellers and public-domain classics, as well as titles from the Navy reading list and other texts for professional development. Since publishing partners include Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette and Random House, the lineup is impressive, ranging from contemporary fiction such as A Game of Thrones and The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, bestselling non-fiction such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and bonafide nerd favorites including The Lord of the Rings series, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, and Stephen King's The Stand."
Anyone have a list, or is it classified? Is 'Mutiny on the Bounty' allowed?
I think they could have put a larger library on it relatively cheaply, but other than that, it makes perfect sense that it can't be connected to a computer network.
Nope. Not so bad at all.
"Navy Invents E-reader that is Secure, Meets its Needs; Hated By People Who Will Never See or Use It"
--- Math illiteracy affects 8 out of every 5 people.
Build a "common operating environment" version of Android, just like how the DoD has a common build of Windows that meets all of its needs. Have a variant that has all wireless hardware and external storage drivers removed. Problem solved.
Seems like this is a purpose developed disposable device. It's meant to give sailors something to read. As long as its price to the taxpayer matches its value, I'm ok with this.
This is not the "Worst" e-Reader ever.
Why do I say that?
Because it is working as designed.
Frankly, for certain high-security situations this kind of "immutable" device is the only kind of device that would be allowed in. So it's either something like this, or books-on-tape/CD/paper/something else.
For slightly less-but-still-very-secure situations you could allow some type of external read-only, no-processor-chip-onboard "expansion pack" memory so that the book content could be switched out without getting a whole new device. I wouldn't use USB though, as that requires a processor on the stick itself.
Also, I'd make very sure the data format was really "data only" not something that could, in theory, be a vector for "code." This would rule out PDF and PostScript. In other words, it would be pretty limited.
The things you absolutely do not want for this type of device in a high-security environment are:
* Any ability to "run code"
* Any wireless
* Any ability to export data other than through the screen (you can't stop someone from photographing the screen)
* Any ability to "hack" the device without physical access and accessing it in a non-standard way (e.g. with a screwdriver). This means the software must be proven to never do anything "bad" other than "just die, requiring a reboot" if the operator is tricked into giving it even carefully-crafted/designed-to-do-bad-things bad data.
In some cases, you do not want it displaying anything other than what is "whitelisted." This can be done by either only displaying properly-digitally-signed files or, as in this case, by only providing a limited set of files and "sealing" the device.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
It just seems like such a waste of storage capacity. Its like installing a twenty foot long oak bookshelf in your study and then only putting 5 books on the shelf.
Sure, I get that it needs to be locked down. No updates ... OK there is a valid case there. But only 300 books? Why not thousands of books? The difference in terms of memory cost would be minimal compared to the cost of the other components, direct labor, overhead, etc.
Why do you think the Navy would want their sailors to read whatever they see fit instead of the wholesome library that was carefully selected for them?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
At least they have got a cool name.
Bible or the Khoran. Your choice!
You forgot The Book of Mormon and a few others.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
It looks like the early risers are former military that like to justify the stupidity. That's why military intelligence is an oxymoron. The military has been developing unusable systems for hundred of years. Does anybody remember the matchlock? I'm sure there is somebody in the military that fonly remembers the matchlock. The Navy has been working on this project for 10+ years. The evil contractor that has been developing this piece of junk finally got the cranky admirals to sign off on it. The "no updates" rule is most likely a kludge to get around the fact that they could not figure out a way to securely update the device that made everybody happy. I can hear the admiralty discussing the issues, "When I was a sailor we didn't have room for a library on board. All I had was a Bible and that was good enough me!" The rest of the admirals agreed with a heary "hoo-ah!"
May the force be with you.
Think about it. People would read this on watch and the reader is rechargeable. This has been an issue for certain systems and the older ipods.... Basically you are on watch and a wall socket may not be in reach... But hey! There is a usb port right there! Awesome! Oops... A virus detected? I only plugged it into my virus ridden computer that I watch movies with in my rack... That I watch pr0n on... Dagnabit.
Being so close to water and all, the entire idea of an e-reader for naval sailors is preposterous. The thought that a soldier for that matter would want or need an e-reader is equally absurd. an SOP is useless once the battery runs out. equipment manifests, authorized zone visitors for the day or coded diagrams all cease to exist if the device is dropped, run over, or damaged.
the enemies paper field manuals have just rendered two of your strongest allies in a battle, communication and comprehension, null.
Good people go to bed earlier.
So does your momma, but no one's judging
"Moby Dick" has not been updated since originally released in 1851! Nearly all literature is similarly stuck at version 1.0 . Few Navy Manuals / Publications see updates more than every few years.
Perhaps you are thinking of adding to the collection? Rethink your acquisitiveness and participation in the hysteria of new-is-better. Or let the USN rethink it for you!
IIRC Email is far more insecure than any ebook reader.
...hard at work.
Or hobbled to create the false impression of security, while not actually being secure at all, just terribly inconvenient to use.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Probably because it has G.R.R.M. and S. King's works.. God damn tree killers!
If the 300 books are worth reading that's decent but not only that, they're all properly bought/licensed. The collective value of the book's data is probably more than that of the hardware itself, ignoring price gouging and low runs.
So there's no 4000 books, but even at $1 a piece a 4000 book device would cost $4000, multiplied by hundreds of units. We can joke at the list of "approved material". It's a bit easier to navigate a list of 300 books than 4000 or 50000, too.
There's the option of releasing new "editions" of the e-book with another selection of content .
i just havea a feeling its usefulness will be inversely proportional to its cost
NeRD is not a backronym. A backronym is when you take an existing word/name (Fiat) and create an acronym for it (Fix It Again Tony). I really doubt the Navy just stumbled on the name NeRD and later found the words to affix to it.
Also interesting to note, the submitter submits things from the same group of sites...
Naval-technology.com
Power-technology.com
Army-technology.com
Offshore-technology.com
Pharmaceutical-technology.com
Hydrocarbon-technology.com
There are articles about NeRD going back days. I guess these days news is more about rehashing someone else's news and getting traffic to your site.
If you're going to build a non-updateable reader, why not cram as much Public Domain work as you can into it? It's not like eBooks take up that much space, and those are titles you can stock without fear of licensing controversy.
Kindle: Waah, Amazon can take away my titles at any time!
Navy: Waah, I can't change anything!
like "The Importance of Avoiding Sexually-Transmitted Diseases In Port," "Heavy Maintenance On Carrier Launchers: Packing Steam Pistons," and "Don't Throw That Wrench."
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Hummer.
Air Force Builds Worst Passenger Jet, Only Hold 1!
F16, F35, etc.
A lot of use specific military stuff has little to no application outside the military. The headline and summary is stupid.
No wireless. Less space than a Kindle. Lame.
I can see how a military e-reader could be useful. I was an avionics tech in the Marine Corps, and our technical library probably weighed a couple tons. It was absolutely mandatory to have the manual in front of you while working on something, no matter how well you knew the gear. But part of my job was to replace pages in these manuals as changes came down from on high. I doubt there are any standing orders that never change at all. An e-reader that can't be updated would be quickly outdated.
... I don't know what does. Rape, murder, etc.
They could have fitted a receive-only radio that can receive (appropriately authenticated) broadcast / multicast updates when they are back at shore. That way, the library of books available can be kept reasonably fresh without throwaway hardware.
slashvertising a device that we can't buy?
How does that work?
No, this is about getting a bunch of insufferable know-it-all dorks to come here and proclaim how their Kindle, Nook, iPad, Android, paper book is ten times better than this and why was the military sooooo stupid not use one of those.
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
This should be nominated for stupidest title. The units are prototypes for a field trial. 5 units per sub. The features were a design requirement in an environment that doesn't allow things like Kindles or iPads.
A better story is here:
http://www.strategypage.com/%5Chtmw%5Chtintel%5Carticles%5C20140511.aspx
I just gave my son a Nook HD+. I stuck a 32GB micro-SD card in it, on which I included 20,000 epub books, as well as a few other odd-'n-ends. Even with technology a few years old, it seems incredible to me that they could only get 300 books on these things. I used to put that many books on a 2GB SD card on my Dell Axim PDA, which is really old technology today.
I was in the Navy for eight years and you pretty much bring along what you want to entertain you. I brought along a Basic Stamp kit, a huge wallet of DVDs, we had a media computer for our songs, game consoles, etc.
This is the brainchild of some admiral or captain that wants to be promoted. And, only five? Makes me think that they are going to the ships library (yup we have those too) for use. If anything, the SNCO's will get it and no one else will and even with them the five is not enough.
Just a huge waste of money.
Get back to us with a larger vocabulary and avoid using insults and slurs.
You must be new here.
Perhaps the post-1922 English canon is deliberately underrepresented for copyright reasons.
TFA is certainly heavy on complaints and light on actual information. I totally understand the need for security in a military situation, and the need to save space on board. It sounds to me like the e-readers are probably a good compromise. But what I'd really like to know is how the e-readers compare to the existing libraries?
* Do these supplement or replace existing on-board libraries?
* How many paper books does a typical on-board library have, anyway? How many books are typically checked-out at a time?
* Is this a limited-scope pilot program or a full-blown library replacement? If it's not just a pilot program an average of five e-readers per vessel seems a bit small.
* Are sailors allowed to bring personal e-readers, phones, or computers aboard? If so, I'd say that the security of these devices is irrelevant and they may as well go with off-the-shelf devices.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
Digital content costs $$$. Why 300? Think $$.
Had to go back a couple articles to find that the interface is kind of sucky and it is too hard to search more than 300 books.
I suppose there is little point to add more if it makes it harder to actually use.
I did not find the cost yet. Did they manage to pay less than 10 times what it is worth?
How dare you undermine the military procurement system!?
Repeat after me. There are 3 ways to do things:
1). The right way;
2). The wrong way;
3). The Navy/Army/Airforce way.
Sir yes sir!!
Instead of having the same 300 books on each reader put a different set on each one and they can be handed around.
This isn't for classified material. I'd guess the locked-down nature is to allows sharing of the device and avoids maintenance (which won't happen until the boat is back in its home port, say in three year's time).