> > in memory > > > Michael Stern Hart (1947-2011) > > Obituary for Michael Stern Hart > > > > Michael Stern Hart was born in Tacoma, Washington on March 8, 1947. He > > died on September 6, 2011 in his home in Urbana, Illinois, at the age > > of 64. His is survived by his mother, Alice, and brother, Bennett. > > Michael was an Eagle Scout (Urbana Troop 6 and Explorer Post 12), and > > served in the Army in Korea during the Vietnam era. > > > > Hart was best known for his 1971 invention of electronic books, or > > eBooks. He founded Project Gutenberg, which is recognized as one of > > the earliest and longest-lasting online literary projects. He often > > told this story of how he had the idea for eBooks. He had been granted > > access to significant computing power at the University of Illinois at > > Urbana-Champaign. On July 4 1971, after being inspired by a free > > printed copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he decided to > > type the text into a computer, and to transmit it to other users on > > the computer network. From this beginning, the digitization and > > distribution of literature was to be Hart's life's work, spanning over > > 40 years. > > > > Hart was an ardent technologist and futurist. A lifetime tinkerer, he > > acquired hands-on expertise with the technologies of the day: radio, > > hi-fi stereo, video equipment, and of course computers. He constantly > > looked into the future, to anticipate technological advances. One of > > his favorite speculations was that someday, everyone would be able to > > have their own copy of the Project Gutenberg collection or whatever > > subset desired. This vision came true, thanks to the advent of large > > inexpensive computer disk drives, and to the ubiquity of portable > > mobile devices, such as cell phones. > > > > Hart also predicted the enhancement of automatic translation, which > > would provide all of the world's literature in over a hundred > > languages. While this goal has not yet been reached, by the time of > > his death Project Gutenberg hosted eBooks in 60 different languages, > > and was frequently highlighted as one of the best Internet-based > > resources. > > > > http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Michael_S._Hart > > > > rip > > > > > > > > On 11 Jul 2005 10:52:29 [[Michael S. Hart]] wrote: == > > > > <snip> > > > > As far as I can tell, the entire open source movement, whether you are > > tracing it back through programming to Stallman or though eBooks to me, > > is based on the logic of creating the symmetrical power structure only > > available through putting things on the Internet for all to download. > > > > </snip> > > > > out of: > > [Upd-discuss] > > On the 'Creative Commons': A Critique of the Commons without Commonalty > > > > . > > > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> "Michael Hart" <h...@pglaf.org> > >>>> To: "Union for the Public Domain" <upd-discuss@lists.essential. > org> > >>>> Subject: [Upd-discuss] Comment on Yahoo eBook Project > >>>> Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 10:58:46 -0700 (PDT) > >>>> > >>>> re: > >>>> > >>>> http://chronicle.com/free/2005/10/2005100301t.htm > >>>> http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,615155003,00.html > >>>> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051003/ap_on_hi_te/online_book_project_1 > >>>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4304192.stm > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Yet another consortium of multi-billion dollar institutions > >>>> has thrown its hat into the eBook/eLibrary ring today, just > >>>> 9 months before the 35th Anniversary of Project Gutenberg's > >>>> placement on the Internet of the first eLibrary element, on > >>>> July 4th, 1971. > >>>> > >>>> Last December 14th Google used a multi-million dollar blitz > >>>> of television, radio and print media to announce the Google > >>>> Print revolution: "Today is the day the world changes," but > >>>> so far it has been difficult to get even a handful of books > >>>> from their project, some 10 months later. > >>>> > >>>> I am wondering of the news media will give the same kind of > >>>> coverage to a second such announcement, which will also put > >>>> up an alliance of an Internet search engine giant with some > >>>> multi-billion dollar libraries. I will be watching all the > >>>> news programs tonight in eager anticipation, as I was doing > >>>> last December, but I fear that "once burned/twice cautious" > >>>> might take some of the wind out of their sails/sales. > >>>> > >>>> However, this effort has one huge advantage: "The Internet > >>>> Archive," run by my friend Brewster Kahle. Brewster is one > >>>> person who has a proven ability to put an enormous resource > >>>> on the Internet for the whole wide world to use. > >>>> > >>>> This different is such that I am willing to bet that Yahoo! > >>>> gets off to a better start in the next 10 months than did a > >>>> rather completely false start by Google. > >>>> > >>>> Of course, the real test will be to see how long it takes a > >>>> project such as this to reach a million eBooks, since there > >>>> are already well over 100,000 eBooks already available free > >>>> for the taking on various Internet sites, perhaps 50,000 of > >>>> them from the various Project Gutenberg sites. > >>>> > >>>> Here's a hope that a few years from now anyone can have the > >>>> advantage of a million book home library, and in even a few > >>>> years more to ten million books sitting on one inch of your > >>>> own bookshelf next to your computer. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Michael S. Hart > >>>> Founder > >>>> Project Gutenberg > >>>> http://www.gutenberg.org/ > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Upd-discuss mailing list > >>>> upd-disc...@lists.essential.org > >>>> http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/upd-discuss > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> ------- Ende der weitergeleiteten Nachricht / End of forwarded > message ------- > >>>> -- > >>>> WISSEN2 (W2) - Wissen, Infos, Daten, ... > >>>> http://listserv.shuttle.de/mailman/listinfo/wissen2 > >>>> -- > >>>> > >>>> > -- rohrpost - deutschsprachige Liste zur Kultur digitaler Medien und Netze Archiv: http://www.nettime.org/rohrpost http://post.in-mind.de/pipermail/rohrpost/ Ent/Subskribieren: http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/rohrpost/