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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: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 31 2020, @02:29AM
And if those links weren't enough for anyone(!!), I can tell you from personal experience that Amazon cost me (and my publisher) real money when Amazon listed my niche engineering textbook as "out of print". It was sheer spite because the publisher wouldn't cave to the Amazon demand for additional discounts and other special treatment. Happened more than once, we'd point it out and Amazon would fix temporarily, then go right back to displaying "out of print".
So many people (even back then) bought the pitch that "Amazon has every book" that they never looked further. A few customers even contacted me with a plea, "Can I buy a copy that you might have lying around"? All the time the publisher's online book store was selling the book, it's never been out of print.
I've never done business with Amazon, hope you can see why.