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from the there's-an-app-for-that dept.
An Open Source eReader That's Free of Corporate Restrictions Is Exactly What I Want Right Now:
I get it. The Kindle and its ability to shop for and instantly buy books anywhere using wifi or Whispernet are incredibly convenient, and it’s what’s made Amazon’s hardware the obvious choice for consuming ebooks. But supporting awful companies like Amazon is getting harder and harder if you were born with a conscience, and right about now, an open source ebook reader, free of corporate restrictions, sounds like the perfect Kindle alternative.
A fully open-hardware eReader, it includes the following design specs: ARM Cortex M4 processor, 400x300 monochromatic resolution, microSD card reader, lithium-polymer rechargeable battery, audiobook-capable headphone jack, and audio-command-capable microphone.
The Open Book Project was born from a contest held by Hackaday and that encouraged hardware hackers to find innovative and practical uses for the Arduino-based Adafruit Feather development board ecosystem. The winner of that contest was the Open Book Project which has been designed and engineered from the ground up to be everything devices like the Amazon Kindle or Rakuten Kobo are not.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday January 31 2020, @02:10AM (5 children)
I agree it's a pretty crappy eReader - heck, it doesn't even come with a case, just a raw circuit board and components that you might need to solder on yourself.
Seems pretty clear they're not targeting the mainstream eReader market - they're targeting the Maker market.
Which is to say, they're explicitly targeting the sort of people people who think of all the other great things they could do with an eReader if the thing wasn't locked down and a huge headache to modify.
It's a souped-up Arduino with a couple buttons and a serviceble bitmap display that won't drain the battery, mounted on a well-tested circuit board with lots of expansion options. An eReader is just the lowest common denominator starting point for whatever projects you dream up for it.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday January 31 2020, @02:28AM (4 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Immerman on Friday January 31 2020, @02:36AM (2 children)
You don't need a community for reading books either - and yet book clubs have been around forever.
And the Maker community is arguably more useful, since interesting tools techniques get shared around to enrich your skillset, rather than just interesting books to read.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday January 31 2020, @03:00AM (1 child)
If the maker community is so interesting, why is it dying, same as book clubs?
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 31 2020, @04:40AM
Those communities aren't dying, they just tell you they are, so that you'll go away and leave them alone.
You are shrill, judgemental, dismissive, oblivious, self-centered, paranoid and Dunning-Krugered. Just because someone is nice enough to say hello to a stranger does not make the a transfan psychokiller. The local alcoholics are not lusting after you in secret. Seriously, get some therapy.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 01 2020, @05:18PM
It might look that way, but locally, now the poseur arseholes involved in the 'Maker Movement' have all moved on to whatever the latest 'oooh shiny!' fad du jour is, we're starting to see people like engineers (both retired and current) and time served craftsmen getting involved and passing on their skills. They might have left it a bit too late for what were some local trade skills, had they gone this direction 20 years ago (we've had local 'community workshops' c/w lathes, mills etc on and off since the early 80's) they might have had a pool of a large number of people who actually worked in industries (e.g. foundries) who could have passed on their knowledge.
So no, not so much dying here, but changing into something more likely to actually be of practical interest to local people, unlike the '1001 cool uses for an Arduino/Pi/Avr/whatever' nonsense that was the focus. Of course, YMMV where you are.
(At home, looks at the nascent workshop...2x lathes, pillar drill, milling machine, hand-tools, various powertools, chainsaws, other workshop full of computers, soldering stations, scope and other test gear...)
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Indeed
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