4 ms·

Its such a struggle for me deciding if I want print or Kindle. I'm doing research from these books usually so I need to be able to extract the text from them. F

Its such a struggle for me deciding if I want print or Kindle. I'm doing research from these books usually so I need to be able to extract the text from them. For a print book, this involves a photography+OCR setup, which isn't that convenient but much quicker than transcribing. For Kindle, I have to transcribe because my OCR software screenshot reader only works on PC (which is 3 lbs heavier, is permanently married to an outlet, and sounds like an airplane taking off compared to my mac air). On the issue of price, usually kindle is pretty good but so far used books+amazon prime can beat that price.

mikecane 15y ago
FYI, for portable OCR, you might want to try: http://www.wizcomtech.com/eng/home/a/01/defaultpromo.asp http://www.wizcomtech.com/eng/home/a/01/defaultpromo.asp I own an old version. It's line by line, and accuracy depends on the typeface used, but I have generally loved having mine. (Sorry for the pop-up. It seems the URL will 404 without it.)
JulianMorrison 15y ago
Kindle is a reflective display, right? So put it in the scanner.
- MaxGabriel 15y ago
  Oh, that's actually a really cool idea! I use kindle for iPhone/PC/Mac though. I googled around for a few pages and didn't seen anyone doing that, but some of my relatives have a kindle so I could try out theirs sometime.
- davidw 15y ago
  Or just use Kindle for PC, or Kindle's own 'notes' function...
  - esrauch 15y ago
    Doesn't the notes function has a limit to how much text you can save/publish? Or is is that just for what you can publish to the website?
    - davidw 15y ago
      It does have limits, but I haven't hit them yet. I suppose that means the optimal strategy is to try notes first for any given bit of text, then use something else as a fallback.
jonknee 15y ago
Isn't the Kindle's DRM is pretty easy to break? You shouldn't have to OCR Kindle books.
- runevault 15y ago
  Everything I've heard (haven't actually TRIED it, mind you) all the various eBook DRMs are easily crackable.
  - mikecane 15y ago
    Generally, yes. From time to time, though -- like just last week -- Amazon will roll out an update that will break DRM-breaking.
- tghw 15y ago
  Yes, it is. https://github.com/danielgtaylor/kindledecrypt https://github.com/danielgtaylor/kindledecrypt
  - ay 15y ago
    Did this work for you on the latest versions ? I tried a couple of these programs - but none worked. There was a voodoo trick which involved running the kindle on windows (which I do not have) and snarfing the book from within memory while it is decrypted... It reportedly worked, but I could not check because I do not have Windows. For myself I found an approach which I might finish sometime: Kindle on wine, a small X application that takes a screenshot of the Kindle window, OCRs it via tesseract, and then sends the emulated "right" keypress. The OCR quality was pretty good, of course I'd lose the formatting, but then no need to worry about Next DRM Format. Just to clarify: all of the above is for purely being able to search/copy, etc. from the contents. I love the auto-sync capabilities to a point that when I see a pdf of some book that interests me, I go and try to buy a kindle version. But the DRM is the most annoying thing since the nail in the shoe :)
gnosis 15y ago
I'm also struggling with deciding whether to buy a Kindle. For me the biggest deal breaker is that it's not an open platform. As much as I crave a Kindle, I think I'll wait a bit until the technology matures and more open alternatives surface.

mikecane 15y ago

FYI, for portable OCR, you might want to try: http://www.wizcomtech.com/eng/home/a/01/defaultpromo.asp http://www.wizcomtech.com/eng/home/a/01/defaultpromo.asp I own an old version. It's line by line, and accuracy depends on the typeface used, but I have generally loved having mine. (Sorry for the pop-up. It seems the URL will 404 without it.)

JulianMorrison 15y ago

Kindle is a reflective display, right? So put it in the scanner.

MaxGabriel 15y ago
Oh, that's actually a really cool idea! I use kindle for iPhone/PC/Mac though. I googled around for a few pages and didn't seen anyone doing that, but some of my relatives have a kindle so I could try out theirs sometime.
davidw 15y ago
Or just use Kindle for PC, or Kindle's own 'notes' function...
- esrauch 15y ago
  Doesn't the notes function has a limit to how much text you can save/publish? Or is is that just for what you can publish to the website?
  - davidw 15y ago
    It does have limits, but I haven't hit them yet. I suppose that means the optimal strategy is to try notes first for any given bit of text, then use something else as a fallback.

jonknee 15y ago

Isn't the Kindle's DRM is pretty easy to break? You shouldn't have to OCR Kindle books.

runevault 15y ago
Everything I've heard (haven't actually TRIED it, mind you) all the various eBook DRMs are easily crackable.
- mikecane 15y ago
  Generally, yes. From time to time, though -- like just last week -- Amazon will roll out an update that will break DRM-breaking.
tghw 15y ago
Yes, it is. https://github.com/danielgtaylor/kindledecrypt https://github.com/danielgtaylor/kindledecrypt
- ay 15y ago
  Did this work for you on the latest versions ? I tried a couple of these programs - but none worked. There was a voodoo trick which involved running the kindle on windows (which I do not have) and snarfing the book from within memory while it is decrypted... It reportedly worked, but I could not check because I do not have Windows. For myself I found an approach which I might finish sometime: Kindle on wine, a small X application that takes a screenshot of the Kindle window, OCRs it via tesseract, and then sends the emulated "right" keypress. The OCR quality was pretty good, of course I'd lose the formatting, but then no need to worry about Next DRM Format. Just to clarify: all of the above is for purely being able to search/copy, etc. from the contents. I love the auto-sync capabilities to a point that when I see a pdf of some book that interests me, I go and try to buy a kindle version. But the DRM is the most annoying thing since the nail in the shoe :)

gnosis 15y ago

I'm also struggling with deciding whether to buy a Kindle. For me the biggest deal breaker is that it's not an open platform. As much as I crave a Kindle, I think I'll wait a bit until the technology matures and more open alternatives surface.