Open source and the Kindle

I've become a big fan of the Kindle in a short time. I don't care about its wireless capabilities - downloading updates to blogs is a waste given that I don't like to read blogs unless I'm in an immediate position to comment on them, and the ability to buy directly from the device is not an earth-shattering advancement - and I find its menu interface a bit clunky.

No, what I really like about the Kindle is the reading experience. It's wonderful. The only thing missing is a backlight for reading in low-light conditions, but it's already better than reading a physical book because the screen is comforting to view and the weight/feel of the product is exceptional.

The Kindle

(Credit: Amazon.com)

None of which matters, however, without good content. This is where my open-source experiment comes in.

This week I tried downloading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey from Project Gutenberg. Because the Kindle easily can read .txt, .pdf (i.e., PDF can be converted into a supported format), and other file formats, it's easy to get free content like Northanger Abbey into the Kindle.

The problem, however, is what happens once it's there.

The content is free. But it's not pretty. Line breaks aren't formatted for the Kindle, making the normally exceptional Kindle-reading experience...much less exceptional. For $1.60, I can have that exact same book with everything pre-formatted for me.

Why save the $1.60? Why not pay?

This is one of the core principles underlying successful open-source companies like Red Hat. Yes, you can compile your own Linux distribution, but why when you can have Red Hat Enterprise Linux Premium for $1,200, which is a drop in the bucket compared to Windows Server and pennies on the dollar compared to proprietary Unix offerings like HP-UX?

Convenience sells. I believe the next wave of "convenience" for open source will be software-as-a-service offerings of SugarCRM, Loopfuse, MindTouch, JBoss, etc. Yes, you can (and many will) download and install these for themselves. But for those who value convenience highly, a SAAS offering will be critical. Try with the on-premise solution, but with SAAS.

Can I get the same reading experience on my Kindle with the free Project Gutenberg texts? Sure. I just need to reformat the .txt files for the Kindle. Or I can pay a few dollars for someone else to do that for me at scale. My time doesn't scale, and is worth a lot more to me than $1.60.

The same is true for IT workers. They can roll their own open-source projects into production, or they can choose to work with vendors that make it easy through support, SAAS, and other convenience-adding features.

[seo2seo]

But what the Kindle REALLY needs is an open source program that converts all these out-of-copyright books into a kindle-friendly format.

Doesn't sound like rocket science to me, but I guess where there's people willing to pay $1.60 rather than convert a file, there's really no need ....

... maybe we need the book version of Napster?

Actually, you CAN convert the content for free. Simply email "yourkindlename"@free.kindle.com. In a few minutes you receive an email with your converted files, ready for you to copy to your Kindle via USB. It would be nice to have the conversion software local, but emailing the files isn't difficult either.

Actually, instead of downloading PDFs of the content, get the TXT versions converted. TXT file conversions have worked FLAWLESSLY in terms of line breaks and chapter breaks for me. The only time it hasn't worked is in a PDF.

[Matt Asay]

It was a txt file that I was trying to import. It had screwy line breaks. I'll try with another few files to see if they have the same issues.

[-fjtorres-]

Uh, nothing new is needed, guys...

First of all, the Kindle reads DRM-free Mobipocket format. Which is the Kindle's native format and readily available all over.

Want high quality SF? Go to Baen.com. Lots of fabulous freebies and even more fantastic DRM -free contemporary works at great prices. (Say 6 books for $15?)

Want the bulk of the Gutenberg collection already cleaned up and nicely formated? Go to mobipocket.com and download them for free. Or, dig up the Silk Pagoda edition of the BlackMask collection (there is a whole story there that has going ridiculously unreported) for a single DVD with 10,000 classics already in Mobipocket (or MS-Reader or Rocket ebook) format at $10 for the full library..

Second, there are *multiple* free converters that will automatically clean up the Gutenberg TXT files into nice, flowing HTML. Just run a simple word search, folks...

A lot of things, good and bad can be said about Kindle 1.0 (me, i hope 2.0 gets rid of the keyboard and mandatory wireless) but the fact remains, paying $2 for a public domain book is not necessary. At all.

You just need to know what you're talking about.

[whjensen]

The problem is that Project Gutenberg is the elephant in the room. Other sites such as Manybooks.net have taken care of the formatting for you. Can even download them in the AZW (kindle) format.

The battle right now, to me, is a VHS versus Beta. PDFs have many useful qualities but they are awful on ebook readers. The mobi/prc/Kindle format is a good e-reader format. The problem? For non-technical readers, figuring out which side is up can confuse the heck out of you.

[jamesurquhart]

I like this analogy. As the earlier comment suggests, it even maps well to what a technically minded person with time on their hands could do with the raw text/raw code.

Perhaps what we need is a SourceForge for translations of Gutenberg books...

[slipstream345]

There are two ways to do what you desire. #1 is identical to buying them for $1.60, so I think you will find it useful.

1) www.feedbooks.com These books are preformatted for the Kindle and already contain a good selection of the Project Gutenberg texts. You can get the books either from the website, or by using this file: http://www.feedbooks.com/kindleguide That file allows you to search and use the Kindle's EVDO modem to download books directly. This is the same level of effort you would use to purchase the book, so I view it as identical. Total cost: $0.00. Very cost effective.

2) Use the Mobipocket Creator software from http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=EN
If you use the "TXT" versions of the Project Gutenberg texts, they convert rather nicely. This mechanism is fast, and takes total time of about 30 seconds per book. You can then transfer your converted file via USB or pay 10 cents to e-mail it to the book. So, $1.60 - $0.10 for transmission still leaves about $1.50 for let's say 1 total minute of conversion time. (The searching time for your title is identical if you are using Gutenberg or Amazon). That is $1.50 per minute for your time, which is equivalent to $187,200 per year. So, rather cost effective in my opinion as long as you make less than that for your time.

Matt