Thursday, August 25, 2011

Exciting times for the Frankenkindle!


Yesterday was a huge day for the Frankenkindle!


Site traffic jumped, to say the least, as word of the functional prototype demo spread.  Special thanks to Drew from Build Lounge, who saw the post on Reddit and forwarded the link to a few other websites. 

Throughout the day it spread all over the world.  Here are some other sites promoting the project.  I urge you to take a moment to check them out, as many of these sites are dedicated to making devices for disabled individuals just as I am, and could benefit from some additional exposure.  




Tinta-e (from Spain! Translated to English)



The Digital Reader

The Nerd Insurance

MobileRead Forums (these guys are great.  I got the Launchpad script I used to hack the Kindle on a different thread on this site.)

Richard's Notes (personal blog)

I also sat for a couple interviews, so be on the lookout for those stories to be published soon.  I’ll post links when they’re up. 

Stay tuned for an update on the project itself, where I will attempt to answer some of the questions posed by comments to the above linked stories.  There are some fantastic discussions going on in this niche market, and it’s exciting to be a part of it. 

Finally, we also received our first donation!  I’m not sure if it was intended to be anonymous so I’ll err on the side of caution.  You know who you are, and we thank you.  Just to recap, we accept donations through PayPal or Bitcoin (information on the sidebar).  If you want to help but don't have / don't want to send the cash, just have a look at the ads on the side of the page.  Every little bit helps!

Thanks again for taking the time to follow my little project. 

2 comments:

  1. Hi, Glenn

    I'm going to answer both here and in your blog. I really appreciate all your efforts, and I'm sure that frankenkindle 2.0 is going to help a lot of people. Now, I would like to ask you if you are sure that it is not possible to use USB Host connection of K3 in order to use USB connector directly. If it is the case, and I am afraid so, I would like to propose you to contact Amazon together (and better, involving as much people as possible) in order to ask them for a solution to this problem.

    Probably it is not easy, since a "USB Host App" would be used by people for other uses rather to increase accesibility to people with physical disabilities. Anyways, such a solution is barely needed. Indeed, an Android tablet with USB host could work, but it would be as efficient as the kindle is in order to read long texts.

    What do you think about it?

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  2. @ Juan:

    Hi Juan!

    The Kindle doesn't (currently) support USB Host functionality. If it did, you're correct in your understanding that all of this could be done without removing the rear cover, preserving the physical integrity of the unit.

    You can also use something like an Android tablet or iPad, install the Kindle app, and plug in a standard USB keyboard. This is very doable, but was not attempted here because the Kindle is far cheaper and my sister doesn't really need a tablet for what she does. Also, as you mentioned, the Kindle is much better at reading long texts - that's what it was designed for. The tablets are made for general use, and are too complicated for a lot of people who just want to read a book.

    Eventually I will probably make a similar system for use with the iPad that will allow users with disabilities to operate the device. For now though, it's just the Kindle.

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