This is quite a sad announcement. But hopefully it might bring a bit more publicity to a project this man loved. Michael Hart invented the eBook, all of you digital marketers, twitter hounds and keyword junkies who try to leverage your knowledge into a revenue source. Think about that. This man, in 1971 invented the eBook, because it would be a good way to share information. And unlike so many other people today do, he chose to release the technology and concepts into the world without first monetizing it.
That selfless act, and his desire to preserve and share knowledge allow for stores like amazon, and apple and beyond to flourish with kindles and ipads alike.
He also founded Project Gutenberg, which is were I got my first lesson in the ridiculous nature of Copyright law, and a wonderful introduction to the world of free literature. I owe this man for the hours of enjoyment I revived reading classics and learning.
According to his obituary on Project Gutenberg one of his favorite quotes was
“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
And he strove to be as unreasonable as possible.
So head on over to the website and download a classic novel. Enjoy some knowledge, on his behalf.
Project Gutenberg founder Michael S. Hart has died – latimes.com.