The Open Book
hackaday.io
This is a complete reimagining of the Open Book Project, but the original mission remains: As a society, we need an open source device for reading. Books are among the most important documents of our culture, yet the most popular and widespread devices we have for reading are closed objects, operating as small moving parts in a set of giant closed platforms whose owners' interests are not always aligned with readers'. The Open Book aims to be a simple device that anyone can build for themselves. The Open Book should be comprehensible: the reader should be able to look at it and understand, at least in broad strokes, how it works. It should be extensible, so that a reader with different needs can write code and add accessories that make the book work for them. It should be global, supporting readers of books in all the languages of the world. Most of all, it should be open, so that anyone can take this design as a starting point and use it to build a better book.

This is a complete reimagining of the Open Book Project, but the original mission remains:

As a society, we need an open source device for reading. Books are among the most important documents of our culture, yet the most popular and widespread devices we have for reading are closed objects, operating as small moving parts in a set of giant closed platforms whose owners’ interests are not always aligned with readers’.

The Open Book aims to be a simple device that anyone can build for themselves. The Open Book should be comprehensible: the reader should be able to look at it and understand, at least in broad strokes, how it works. It should be extensible, so that a reader with different needs can write code and add accessories that make the book work for them. It should be global, supporting readers of books in all the languages of the world. Most of all, it should be open, so that anyone can take this design as a starting point and use it to build a better book.

Check out the promo video as well:
https://youtu.be/vFD9V8Hh7Yg

  • Phanatik
    4•1 year ago

    I don’t own a 3D printer so can someone spitball the cost of printing this?

    • @[email protected]
      6•1 year ago

      The cost is really the printer itself and the time invested. This would probably cost ~1$ of material, and take …3 hours of printing?

    • PLS_HELP
      2•1 year ago

      The case doesn’t need any special material so whatever’s cheapest usually works, especially if all you’re worried about is protection and not style. In face you technically don’t even need the case, the one I develop the firmware on is bare, but still, you shouldn’t have to spend more than probably $10 USD, maybe cheaper if you can find a local maker space to help you print it.

    • xapr [he/him]English
      1•1 year ago

      I don’t know the exact cost, but there are online services to do 3D printing for you, like Shapeways. I’ve used it before. It made more sense than buying my own printer. I downloaded a design from Thingiverse.com, uploaded to Shapeways.com and ordered the print. They will give you the price before you order.

    • @agent_flounderEnglish
      0•1 year ago

      Maybe a friend or maker space or local library would have the printer and not cost much at all. Idk how much an online print place would charge, apologies.

    • OverzeetopEnglish
      0•1 year ago

      You can get a reliable plug and play printer for as little as $500-600, though it will take 15-20 hours, if you’re technically minded, to learn to get the files to print. The material will be around $30-40 at retail prices (it’s generally only sold by the kg).

      You can likely send the files to a print house and get them printed for just $100-200.

      (Someone will claim that the $99 Ender and a roll of $9.99 genetic PLA will work. They are technically correct in the same way that your grandmother can edit photos for free by setting up Arch Linux on a $100 PC from Goodwill.)