The founder of the ebook movement and creator of one of the largest free electronic libraries on the Web has died.
Michael Hart was the creator of Project Gutenberg, a volunteer organization that has spent the last 40 years digitizing books and posting them online for people to read for free.
He was 64 years old.
Hart was a Vietnam and Korean War veteran who invented the electronic book, or ebook, in 1971, according to Project Gutenberg. He credits his parents, both professors at the University of Illinois, for inspiring him to create the project.
“I grew up in a house full of books and electronics, so the idea of combining the two was obviously not as great a leap as it would have been for someone else,” Hart said in an interview with Planet eBook. “I repaired my Dad’s hi-fi the first time when I was in the second grade, and was also the kid who adjusted everyone’s TV and antennas when they were so new everyone was scared of them.”
The first text Hart digitized was the Declaration of Independence and since then more than 36,000 books have been uploaded in 60 different languages, according to Project Gutenberg.
Hart’s creation revolutionized the book industry and helped companies like Google develop their own online libraries. In 2009-2010, more than 65 percent of public libraries in the U.S. offered access to ebooks, according to a study by the American Library Association.
Even though there have not yet been any books published on Hart’s life, you can bet that once one is written, it’ll be available on Gutenberg.
Hart is survived by his mother, Alice, and brother, Bennett.
Photo by guldfisken
