The Open Book - An open hardware reading device that's easy to build, easy to manufacture, and easy to make your own

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:
youtu.be/vFD9V8Hh7Yg

peopleproblems,

I just want a digital notebook that doesn’t need my phone and doesn’t cost $300 to amazon

pingveno,

I’ve been kind of hoping for a e-ink based laptop device for amateur radio to email via the WinLink system. Emergency communications need to send messages for very extended periods of time without resupplying, so they must take as little power as possible. An e-ink screen could stretch a single charge over weeks.

Chobbes,

There’s slowly starting to be more options for this. The reMarkable devices seem pretty good, but they’re a little pricey (though, I’m pretty sure they’re not owned by Amazon, so it might technically fit your requirement).

Gorgeous_Sloth,

How dare you

FederatedSaint,

I just bought their kindle and never connect it to WiFi. Just load some books on it with USB once in a while. Works great, was cheap, and is waterproof.

overzeetop,
@overzeetop@lemmy.world avatar

Isn’t that a Boox? eInk, stylus, android, can buy direct.

conciselyverbose,

I came within a click or two of buying the poke, but you need bigger for the pen layer.

peopleproblems,

… Are you guys pulling my leg with these names or are they real?

conciselyverbose,

They're real. I have a Boox Max 3. The Poke is the small one (6") they make. The name is playing on pocket, I'm assuming. The 6" I ended up getting as a pocket option instead (because it was silly cheap for having color) is basically the same size as my iPhone 13 Pro Max (thinner but wider, and way lighter), so you can comfortably throw it in a jeans pocket.

peopleproblems,

$500?

For a digital notebook? With Android?

No, not what I want at all. Like why would I need an OS at all?

overzeetop,
@overzeetop@lemmy.world avatar

It ticks the boxes - not Amazon, stylus, and eInk.

You’re going to need an os, even if it’s just embedded to access a file system and manage resources.

I bought one and it kinda sucked. I wanted a digital library for the tens of thousands of pages of references I use at work, and a sketch pad would be a bonus. It’s a cool device but the screen is just too slow to be useful and the application space for android and drawing is…thin.

RampantParanoia2365,

I’m not sure you have the firmest grasp on what an OS is.

PLS_HELP,

For anyone interested our Discord is here! We’re a fun group of folks and have a couple of other projects. The project is mostly for fun and definitely centered around folks who are maybe trying to break into the hardware and software space with something tangible that they can use and show off, it certainly isn’t financially the best option out there but to learn and grow it’s great fun!

cloud,

discord? oh no

spyware.neocities.org/articles/discord

stallman.org/discord.html

RoyaltyInTraining,
@RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world avatar

The screen looks like absolute trash sadly. Doesn’t even compare to what was available 5 years ago. I wish hobbyists had access to even somewhat modern technology…

DreadPotato, (edited )
@DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz avatar

Yeah it really sucks that we can’t buy the decent epaper screens, or the good ones.

My boox leaf 2 has a 300dpi screen, i don’t think it would be as enjoyable to read if it was significantly lower.

10_0,

Can’t wait for the devs to make prebuilds buyable!

shinnoodles,
@shinnoodles@lemmy.world avatar

Dang, this looks pretty awesome. Too bad it would probably suck for manga.

psychothumbs,

I need something in between this and a Kindle. I don’t want to build my own electronics, I just want to buy them from somewhere without sketchy ulterior motives for how they’ll use their control over my device.

papertowels,

I haven’t been keeping tabs on this, but if you appreciate the legacy of pine64 (hardware kill switches on phone, Linux everywhere, etc.) They did release an epaper device:

www.pine64.org/2021/…/introducing-the-pinenote

I think they’re saying it’s still developer oriented and not quite user friendly yet though

cyclohexane,

Unfortunately in our late stage capitalism, that wouldn’t be a scalable and successful business model, and they’ll unfortunately fail as a business.

HughJanus,

Doesn’t it make way more sense to just hack Kindle hardware? I remember having a Kindle years ago and torrenting books and just slapping them on there.

ASeriesOfPoorChoices,

There’s no need to hack anything. You can just copy ebooks directly onto any Kindle and it works perfectly fine out of the box.

Leax,

You need to be very patient to hack your Kindle, and hope for a new exploit, as they update them to the latest version (un hackable) before sending them out.

mea_rah,

AFAIK you can use Kindle completely offline. Some family members do exactly this. They buy books online and upload them over USB. The main reason is that they read books in language that the Kindle store does not support.

But yeah, as far as I know the devices weren’t online like ever. Maybe except some initial setup that needs an Amazon account. You can just make a burner account, set the device up and don’t even bother storing credentials.

You lose some convenience like synchronization of reading progress and notes, but I’m not sure whether any of the open source options even have that kind of functionality.

space,

Kindle hardware is shit. It’s built extremely cheaply, and it’s not made to be repaired. I have a Kindle with a broken display, asked Amazon support if it is possible to replace it, they said it’s not and they don’t sell parts.

HughJanus,

I mean…it does what it needs to do just fine.

Is this thing repairable?

tocopherol,
@tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It’s designed to be build-able by anyone and extensible, so it should be repairable by the average consumer. You can just hack kindle hardware as long as the device works but this project is trying to actually build something more sustainable.

HughJanus,

What are the chances these components are still available in 5 years?

craigevil,
@craigevil@lemmy.ml avatar

Does it have a SD card slot, and if so can it take a 256GB card? 26k epubs and pdfs. Who pays for books?

ILikeBoobies,

Well endowed individuals

FlyingSquid,

True. I pay for books and also have a large penis.

ILikeBoobies,

Thanks for confirming, I just assumed because I never buy books

Buck,

People who care about writers?

MonkderZweite,

Though PocketBook, Tolino, Kobo, Onyx are pretty good at openness or ability to make it open.

Sure, not Open Hardware, but you can at least read what you want with them.

CrabAndBroom,

I have a Kobo with KOReader installed and Calibre with the DeDRM plugin for managing eBooks and it’s pretty great! It’ll open just about anything you throw at it and is pretty customizable.

akrot,

Shut up and take my money

nossaquesapao,

For the people commenting about prices and comparing it to kindle:

Unfortunately, open source hardware is in its infancy, and faces severe barriers of entry, but projects like this one are really nice in order to further develop the concept and make working prototypes, proving its viability.

Emanuel,

Ideally, how would open source hardware look like for you? I mean that as in after it has achieved something akin to mainstream adoption.

nossaquesapao,

This is a great question. I don’t believe it can reach the point of any person simply being able to create their own hardware, unless we’re talking about an utopic future with multimaterial 3d printing in small scale, but I can see small businesses being able to manufacture custom open source hardware on demand, based on open standards. For me, the ideal scenario would be something like going into an open hardware service shop and asking for a device with your requirements, and they creating it for you, or repairing/upgrading yours.

RobotToaster,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

It doesn’t seem super utopic to think a 3d printer could make a pcb, dispense solder paste, pick and place, and heat it to solder it.

Making the ICs themselves on the other hand…

trolololol,

Risc-v to the rescue in the CPU space.

Although I’d say there are big gains if current off the shelf ics are used, even if purists wouldn’t call the whole endeavor open source.

andrew_bidlaw,

Like with skating, many shops can provide you with wheels, decks, gear. Amazon can sell their one-piece e-books at loss, but eventually it can turn to modular open design where nothing is irreplaceable. It’s a matter of demand. If there could be a good project and something like a big org or a government programm funding it, it would end well. Like, supplying troubled communities with an e-reader? If only there wouldn’t be DRM fuckery, it’s golden.

dgriffith,

to modular open design where nothing is irreplaceable.

It adds interesting aspects. For example, I work with systems that have 5 I/O modules. Each one keeps a backup of the main controller settings, so that you can replace any component, including the controller.

After a quick question on the next boot, you’re up and running again.

Imagine if each module of your ebook reader had enough cheap/slow storage that everything in “main storage” could be replicated across your modules. As long as you only replace a couple of modules at a time, you’d have everything forever.

christophski,

I don’t understand, it seems perfectly reasonable - people are just so used to these products being sold at a loss or at cost and subsidised by huge companies.

I would happily pay extra to not be tied to a massive corporation.

pingveno,

Yeah, products like a Kindle or Kobo e-reader are sold to be paired with the company’s e-book market. It makes sense for them economically I kind of view it as a win-win because I use it both for their books and for other reading material.

nossaquesapao,

And if we think about it, it would only cost more at first, because open hardware would last longer and be repairable, costing much less in the long run.

agent_flounder,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.world avatar

I love the hell out of the circuit board labeling. Absolutely wonderful for the hobbyist diyer. Well done. o7

This is such a cool project. I think I might give this a go once I look into the details a little more.

I’ve been tinkering with ESP32 as a main component of a 50WPC a2dp Bluetooth receiver / amplifier. These SoCs are so incredibly capable. I’m eager to use them for a bunch of other things, now.

NABDad,

I’m likely being an ass, but I’d argue that the most popular and widespread devices we have for reading books are probably still books.

sbv,

And one of the best ways to access them is a public library…

CosmicTurtle,

You’re not being an ass. But I think it also depends on the book and the person.

For example: cookbooks I prefer a physical book. IT books I prefer in digital format so I can use the find function.

Fiction books I go either way. I prefer digital because they are easier to get but will browse them at the book store.

Either way having an open hardware solution is very welcome so you aren’t trapped behind Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

I remember reports of Amazon deleting books off of people’s devices.

Swedneck,
@Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

yeah sure let me just stuff 1000 books in my backpack

NABDad,

Jesus, how many books do you read in a day?

SineNomineAnonymous,

It’s true. Counterpoint: if you move places a lot (let’s say if you happen to belong to a generation of people who will never be able to afford a place - which is a huge amount of people), your library needs to fit into a small tablet sized reader. Can store 5000 books, I do not have the means to move that amount of books every time my landlord decides to make my rent more unaffordable. An ereader fits in my pocket.

uint32,

You could also ise a library. The ones I have used are free or almost free

SineNomineAnonymous,

deleted_by_author

    •
    tocopherol,
    @tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    You can usually ask for more time with a book if that is a real deal breaker. That has been an option at libraries I’ve used anyway. Sometimes they can get books they don’t have if you request them too. Some even mail them to your house. I’m not really trying to convince you or anything I just think libraries are awesome haha.

    folkrav,

    If they have what you need, it’s indeed a great option. Many of them lend eBooks too, nowadays.

    Unfortunately, living in a French speaking area, my local library network doesn’t carry a lot of English material, so the selection is very limited. I’ve found it to be problematic especially for non-fiction, which often doesn’t have translations available. Otherwise, libraries are great.

    Teenage me would be ashamed to see I barely read any books anymore. I used to read two large novels a week, now it’s more like one or two a year…

    jack,

    Yes, but physical books cost money

    NABDad,

    Libraries are awesome!

    jack,

    Yes, but it is surely more flexible to own them. Also, I’m pretty sure my local library doesn’t have the specific books I care about. But yea, librarys are great for discovering and quickly testing new books you didn’t know about

    NABDad,

    You should know that most libraries have a system for borrowing books from other libraries. So, usually, whatever book it is, they can get it for you.

    People don’t utilize libraries enough.

    MonkderZweite,

    Well, digital books too.

    PLS_HELP,

    On the Open Book GitHub I have collections of free books and short stories that are digital only from Tor.com. That’s actually why I wanted to get an eReader, digital only online short stories are winning Hugo Awards now, and then couldn’t decide and got involved with the Open Book is that I wanted a little device to load up with them.

    salton,

    Exactly, even with how long lived books can be them being physical items is a disadvantage. It depends on the situation for sure but digital media has huge advantages in price of producing new copies and distibution.

    ALoafOfBread, (edited )
    @ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml avatar

    Rakuten Kobo is a good alternative to Amazon Kindle. I can just drag and drop books, no internet connectivity necessary, no DRM… I have no problems with it at all. Would be cool to be able to load custom firmware, but I do not need to since it already doesn’t spy on me and doesn’t force DRM (3rd party book imports).

    trolololol,

    That’s odd I buy many books from Kobo for my boox reader and most have DRM.

    ALoafOfBread,
    @ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml avatar

    I was referring to books not bought through Kobo. Like they don’t force you to use DRM, not that the device doesn’t support DRM

    cloud,

    but I do not need to since it already doesn’t spy on me

    let’s see the source code

    finnie,

    I’ve been using kobo. The integration with pocket and Libby is the killer feature for me. Checking out library books right on the device? Game changer.

    optissima,

    Have you installed nickelmenu and koreader? Brings the experience up a couple of levels software side.

    timbuck2themoon,

    Can this synchronize reading progress across devices using calibre web (or any other odps solution)?

    optissima,

    It has odps support but I haven’t set it up yet. It also can function as an ftp server which has been my go to

    everett,

    I think the answer is yes, at least based on what I’m reading here, but I don’t know any more about it or how to use it. Aside from that I know KOReader supports its own custom sync server, which is open-source so you have the option of self-hosting your own instance.

    biscuit,

    Koreader blasted my “aging” 1st Gen H2O into space with all the speed and features it added.

    • Faster page turning
    • Wallabag support
    • Most of all: SFTP transfer from my phone

    It’s wild.

    FederatedSaint,

    You can do this with a kindle, too. I’m not advocating for them specifically, just pointing out that you can use a Kindle in a similar way. I’ve never even enabled WiFi on it. Just drag and drop some epubs on it via USB once in a while. Works great, is cheap, and is waterproof.

    settinmoon,
    @settinmoon@lemmy.ml avatar

    Can you do usb drag and drop for kindles? I always thought you need to send the book over to the special kindle email address.

    Emanuel,

    You can. With jailbreak, I send books to it through ssh.

    FederatedSaint,

    Yep, it just mounts like an external USB drive and you can load it with epub files. Alternatively, you can use calibre that will handle your library on your computer and will detect and load what you want on the Kindle as you desire.

    PeachMan,

    Calibre is how people do this. Install it on a PC or Mac, and it can easily send books to your Kindle and convert to the right format automatically.

    But yes, you can also drag and drop to USB like you’re asking. You just gotta make sure you drop on the right format (or use Calibre).

    MonkderZweite,

    Some Kobo have a Lineageos port.

    jack,

    Love my Kobo H20. Had it for about three and a half years now. Full connectivity with Overdrive/Libby means almost everything I read I get from the library, but it’s also super easy to upload any EPUB and PDFs. Plus it’s fully waterproof; one time I dropped it in a swamp river and had to root around in stinky mud for 15 minutes to find it. It was working totally fine once I finally pulled it out.

    conciselyverbose,

    IDK. Building your own is cool in theory, but there are a bunch of options that aren't that bad price wise that run Android.

    The issue is that they're made by random Chinese companies and the software support is of varying quality. A focused community effort to support an Android build explicitly for readers and to hack their way to being installable on as many as possible seems like a better plan.

    I have two (13" boox max 3, 6 inch reinkstone r1 that I just grabbed because it was $140 with color) and even with the mediocre software support the reading experience is pretty decent.

    PLS_HELP,

    For anyone interested our Discord is here! We’re a fun group of folks and have a couple of other projects. The project is mostly for fun and definitely centered around folks who are maybe trying to break into the hardware and software space with something tangible that they can use and show off, it certainly isn’t financially the best option out there but to learn and grow it’s great fun!

    conciselyverbose,

    I'm all for the fun aspect, and would love better panel availability. I will definitely look closer at some future point to explore projects for some of my pis.

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