How do you plan to get books on the reader?

Why not just help out with the $10 ereader project you linked to. I've read through the site and it looks like someones final year college thesis. Current eBook readers will eventually become landfill and cheap as dirt, give it five years.

I've already contacted the person in the link. Waiting for his/her reply. I asked him/her if he/she would like to make the hardware design open-source and work alongside with the community of this forum.

IMHO the Ybox2 is rather useless as an eBook processor. You don't need an 8 core anything in an eBook, the old Palm Pilot Dragonball would be better suited. Must be a warehouse full of old Palm Pilots somewhere going for next to nothing.

Yeah. The original plan I have was to use a Ybox2. And as everybody have given their opinion on, I agree that it isn't ideal. So I was hoping if we could make something like Ybox2 - open hardware, everyone can contribute, hobbyists can learn etc. for an e-reader.

Also, hopefully this project will speed up the process of making e-books as cheap as dirt. Someone has to do it. And I think it's a fun way to meet people and learn new things. I mean, I'm sure not everyone here had worked on an e-reader project before.

What's wrong with traditional paper books, besides I would think eBooks are pretty low on the Third World priority list.

Nothing is wrong with it. The problem is that people in third world country do not have much access to updated traditional paper books. I have experienced this problem first hand (during grade school - we practically used a similar science book for 4th, 5th and 6th grade.)

However, I'm lucky that my school wasn't the worst - my grade school have a library. It was more of a book collection by our school principal - the books she used during college and for her children. And my grade school principal is very old, so you can only imagine how old the books were.

Everything turned out fine for me in the end. I got into a Montessori High school (which took an hour travel every morning to get to), excelled, and eventually got accepted in a Jesuit college and eventually law graduate school (which I did not pursue because of a pressing family crisis). But I can't say the same for all my friends, unfortunately.

 

Sorry, BestFriend, but I have a very important project at the moment and can't lead this one. I wish you the best of luck though.

That's ok, when you have extra time, feel free to drop by =)

 

Are you doing this as a school project?

 

So no e-reader for the third world. Guess they didn't need one.

I always wonder what happened to posters that go on and on about a project just to leave it in the end.

 

Unless you plan to make thousands a cobbled together DIY eBook would not be very useful. That device in the original post is just a Parallax Propeller that connects to a TV. Hardly a practical design.

China made eBook readers are really cheap. Starting at $89 or less if you buy in quantity.
http://www.bigboxstore.com/computers/e-book-readers

I got blocked from that site by WOT (Web Of Trust, FF Plugin)

Reason(s)
TrustworthinessPoorVendor reliabilityPoorPrivacyUnsatisfactoryChild safetyUnsatisfactory

 

Either way it's a low cost eBook reader. A DIY one would never get DRM anyway.

 

So no e-reader for the third world. Guess they didn't need one.

I always wonder what happened to posters that go on and on about a project just to leave it in the end.

Maybe he was expecting a massive and enthusiastic reception of his idea.

The outcome was not such a success, let's admit.

Myself I could not decide what I tink of the idea.

 

The problem as I see with an eBook in the third world is that it requires a lot of things to be in place (infrastructure) that's not going to be a priority over the basics like food & shelter. On the other hand books are cheap and plentiful, can be passed from person to person till it's worn out no batteries required.
In developed nations eBooks and the technology that goes into them will simply get cheaper and cheaper till they're as cheap as Borscht. Remember DVD players? They came out at hundreds of dollars now they can be found for a few bucks.
Why aren't we shipping DVD players to the third world? Doesn't everyone need a DVD player so they can watch Sex in the City?

 

I tend to agree that books are, in spite of the appeal the ebooks have, the best where conditions are too basic.

And, according to what I've seen (not being an expert on the field) schools are probably much more important than giving ebooks. But I am not so sure.

Sex and the city? Quite a poor example, by the way. And considering that I have quit watching TV almost 3 years ago I have not so much to compare with.

 

My point was IMHO the third world needs DVD players or eBooks as much as fish need bicycles.
Some of these places were paradise on earth, others were the pinnacle of civilization eons ago. What happened?

 

There is another problem. The contents of every Ebook so far are not the property of the user. Unlike a print version, the reader may have to have its contents purged if some legal hassle arises. You may have paid for the text file, but have no ownership rights.

 

True, that's DRM for you.