The DIY Kindle Scanner, or Do It Yourself Kindle Scanner, is a robotic device made from Lego Mindstorms which was designed and built by Peter Purgathofer from 2012 to 2013. The robot interfaces with Purgathofer's personal computer and a Kindle to make a copy of the Kindle e-book. This robot in effect bypasses the digital rights management system set in place to protect Kindle e-books.
Peter Purgathofer is an associate professor at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria.
When he released a video on Vimeo documenting the operation of the device, Purgathofer wrote that the project was meant to be an artistic reflection connecting the ideas of “book scanning, copyright, and digital rights management.” [1]
In a reply to an email, Purgathofer stated that the project was not meant to be a negative reaction against Kindle e-books, but rather a way to use both Lego Mindstorms and the Kindle in a way that neither was usually intended to be used. [2]
The robot is first set up so that it can operate the computer as well as hold the Kindle. The image capture software must already be running on the computer and the Kindle must be open to the first page of the book to be scanned into the computer. The robot then runs through a loop where it hits the spacebar to activate the camera on the computer and then uses finger-like robotic appendages to turn to the next page on the Kindle. This loop is then repeated until all pages have been scanned into the computer. Optical character recognition (OCR) software is then used to convert the scanned images into a duplicate of the original Kindle e-book in a plain text file.
Several critics have recognized that more direct means of bypassing digital rights management are available. In this context, the DIY Kindle Scanner has been labeled as a type of Rube Goldberg machine. [3]
Additionally, Cory Doctorow made the claim that the project was in fact a legal means of bypassing digital rights management. This claim has been supported with the argument that the DIY Kindle Scanner simply exploits the analog hole which is applicable to all digital rights management systems. [4]
In light of the question of the legality of this project, Purgathofer has scanned only one e-book with this method and he explains that he has not shared the copy with anyone because he is worried that "It would get me in deep trouble." [5]
Furthermore, Purgathofer states that this project should not be associated with his academic work. In explanation, he said, "It’s a private project." [6]
Lego is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that accompany an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Assembled Lego models can be taken apart, and their pieces can be reused to create new constructions.
Lego Mindstorms is a discontinued line of educational kits for building programmable robots based on Lego bricks. It was introduced on 1 September 1998 and was discontinued on 31 December 2022.
FairPlay is a family of digital rights management (DRM) technologies developed by Apple Inc. for protecting videos, books and apps and historically for music.
leJOS is a firmware replacement for Lego Mindstorms programmable bricks. Different variants of the software support the original Robotics Invention System, the NXT, and the EV3. It includes a Java virtual machine, which allows Lego Mindstorms robots to be programmed in the Java programming language. It also includes 'iCommand.jar' which allows you to communicate via bluetooth with the original firmware of the Mindstorm. It is often used for teaching Java to first-year computer science students. The leJOS-based robot Jitter flew around on the International Space Station in December 2001.
Mobipocket SA was a French company incorporated in March 2000 that created the .mobi e-book file format and produced the Mobipocket Reader software for mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) and desktop operating systems.
Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit released by Lego on August 2, 2006. It replaced the Robotics Invention System, the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit. The base kit ships in two versions: the retail version and the education base set. It comes with the NXT-G programming software or the optional LabVIEW for Lego Mindstorms. A variety of unofficial languages exist, such as NXC, NBC, leJOS NXJ, and RobotC. A second-generation set, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, was released on August 1, 2009, with a color sensor and other upgrades. The third-generation EV3 was released in September 2013.
Book scanning or book digitization is the process of converting physical books and magazines into digital media such as images, electronic text, or electronic books (e-books) by using an image scanner. Large scale book scanning projects have made many books available online.
The following is a comparison of e-book formats used to create and publish e-books.
Amazon Music is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers.
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM), such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification and distribution of copyrighted works and of systems that enforce these policies within devices. DRM technologies include licensing agreements and encryption.
EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for electronic publication and is sometimes stylized as ePUB. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smartphones, tablets, and computers. EPUB is a technical standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It became an official standard of the IDPF in September 2007, superseding the older Open eBook (OEB) standard.
Lego Education, formerly known as Lego Dacta, is a specialized Lego theme created for educational purposes in schools. This theme, introduced in 1999, includes a variety of sets that cater to different educational needs.[2] These sets often focus on Duplo and Technic themes and typically contain a larger quantity of blocks. By incorporating these sets into the classroom, educators can provide students with hands-on learning experiences that enhance their understanding of various subjects, from basic building concepts to advanced engineering principles.[1]
A digital copy is a commercially distributed computer file containing a media product such as a film or music album. The term contrasts this computer file with the physical copy with which the digital copy is usually offered as part of a bundle. It allows the disc's purchaser to acquire a single copy of the film on a digital device such as a personal computer, smartphone, tablet computer, or digital media player, and view it on those devices without requiring access to the physical media. "Digital copy" is also commonly referred to as "Digital HD".
Calibre is a cross-platform free and open-source suite of e-book software. Calibre supports organizing existing e-books into virtual libraries, displaying, editing, creating and converting e-books, as well as syncing e-books with a variety of e-readers. Editing books is supported for EPUB and AZW3 formats. Books in other formats like MOBI must first be converted to those formats, if they are to be edited. Calibre also has a large collection of community contributed plugins.
An ebook, also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book", some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Dexter Industries is a company that designs robots for education, research, and personal use. The company makes several products that expand the LEGO Mindstorms, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino prototype systems.
LEGO Mindstorms EV3 is the third generation robotics kit in LEGO's Mindstorms line. It is the successor to the second generation LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit. The "EV" designation refers to the "evolution" of the Mindstorms product line. "3" refers to the fact that it is the third generation of computer modules - first was the RCX and the second is the NXT. It was officially announced on January 4, 2013, and was released in stores on September 1, 2013. The education edition was released on August 1, 2013. There are many competitions using this set, including the FIRST LEGO League Challenge and the World Robot Olympiad, sponsored by LEGO.
Kindle File Format is a proprietary e-book file format created by Amazon.com that can be downloaded and read on devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, or e-readers that have Amazon's Kindle app. E-book files in the Kindle File Format originally had the filename extension .azw; version 8 (KF8) introduced HTML5 & CSS3 features and have the .azw3 extension, and version 10 introduced a new typesetting and layout engine featuring hyphens, kerning, & ligatures and have the .kfx extension.
