When you try to google information about Michael Stern Hart, the man who invented a digital book, most articles are obituaries from 2011. This extraordinary tech visionary who devoted his life to ebooks, died on September 6, 2011 – 40 years, 2 months and 2 days after he created the first ebook in the world.
Leaving Michael Hart in the land of obituaries is just not right. They create an impression that it’s the end of a certain era. On the contrary, his tremendous work and sacrifice are continued by volunteers from Project Gutenberg, and are translated into how much we enjoy ebooks today, and will enjoy them in the future.
Obituaries are also not right, because Michael Hart lives in every ebook we download and read, no matter whether it’s from Project Gutenberg, Amazon or Apple’s iBookstore. Without typing the text of The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1971, there would be no Kindle, no Nook, and nobody would think of creating advanced multimedia ebooks.
Michael Hart enjoyed life, and these wonderful images I’ve found on a Flickr group The Michael S. Hart Photo Pool are the best ones to recall when you open the next ebook.
Don’t hesitate to check out the entire collection of photos on Flickr.
Michael Hart at John Guagliardo’s place.⇢ Photo by Benjamin sTone.
Michael Hart and John Guagliardo. ⇢ Photo by Benjamin sTone.
⇢ Photo by Benjamin sTone.
I finally got Michael to try Chinese food with me at Evo and he loved it. ⇢ Photo by Benjamin sTone.
Frisbee golf. ⇢ Photo by Kahn.
⇢ Photo by Kahn.
June 28, 2008 Tea Time. ⇢ Photo by Kahn.
My dear friend Michael Hart: inventor of the e-book, founder of Project Gutenberg, and motherfucking outlaw badass. ⇢ Photo by Benjamin sTone.
Michael And Me, 2001. ⇢ Photo by Maitri.
Birthday & Joy. ⇢ Photo by Kahn.
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