Michael Hart is credited with the creation of the first e-book. Mr. Hart was born in Tacoma, Washington on March 8, 1947. He obtained his Bachelors in Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1973. As a student he was fascinated with how humans interact with technology. It was this deep interest that would lead him to creating the first eBook and the development of Project Gutenberg, which is recognized to this day as one of the earliest online literacy projects. His belief was that everyone should have equal access to information.
Michael Hart, while an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created the first eBook on July 4, 1971 when he typed the Declaration of Independence into the Xerox Sigma V computer in the Materials Research Laboratory on UIUC engineering campus. He was inspired by a free printed copy of the Declaration of Independence he had received. After discovering that the file was too large to send it to everyone on the network. He decided to upload it for users to download at their convenience, resulting in the creation of the first electronic e-book. This was not only the birth of the eBook but also the genesis of Project Gutenberg – one of the largest collections of free eBooks in the world.
Work Cited
Grimes, W. (2011, September 8). Michael Hart, a Pioneer of E-Books, Dies at 64. Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/business/michael-hart-a-pioneer-of-e-books-dies-at-64.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&
Image of Michael Hart. (2011, September 8). Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/8750768/Michael-Hart.htm
Project Gutenberg. Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.gutenberg.org
