Don't Want to Scan Your Books One Page at a Time? Try This

By

I have a lot of books.

It’s kind of a weakness of mine. Even now, in the day and age of the e-reader, I still horde “dead-tree” books by the dozens. I have a Kindle Fire, but I use it more to watch streaming movies and play Freecell. When I read books, I still prefer to pick them up, smell them, feel the pages between my fingers and have the ability to pull them off the shelf and lend them to people.

Still, I am not a complete Luddite (well, maybe I am, but for the sake of this article, I’ll pretend I am not) and I realize that e-books are the future. Now, when I saw the transition from VHS to DVD, I ended up selling all my movies on eBay and repurchasing them in the updated format. It was annoying and exhausting, so I have not recreated the process in the advent of Blu-rays (well, with some titles, maybe. Boba Fett looks pretty stunning in high definition). Likewise, I don’t feel like tracking down every book I own in electronic format, especially since many of them are not available. So, what is a guy to do? I can scan in the books, but unless I have unlimited time (or an intern. Apply here if you are interested) that seems like a daunting proposal.

Or so I thought.

Thanks to the life-hackers at Google who, apparently can use 20 percent of their work time for personal projects (!), I can make my very own automatic book scanner, which has a far better design than the automatic kickball pitching machine I tried to create in 4th grade (designing the contraption around a lawn chair was probably a mistake).

The device incorporates a scanner, a vacuum cleaner and other pieces and can automatically digitize your books quickly and efficiently. Check it out in action:

According to sources, the device will run you about $1,500 and is capable of scanning a 1,000 page book in about 90 minutes. The vacuum turns the pages for you and the scanner does the grunt work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with Hoover and J.R.R. Tolkien…




Edited by Rachel Ramsey
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Web Editor

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Lessons Learned from Enterprise Oracle Cloud Migrations

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Switching to Oracle Cloud can feel daunting. Security risks, unexpected expenses, and performance troubles often turn what seems like an effortless up…

Read More

Protecting Business Assets with Smarter Security Frameworks

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Protecting your business is more challenging than ever. Cyber threats are increasing every day. Hackers target small and large businesses alike, searc…

Read More

Emerging Trends in Technology and Their Impact on Future Innovations

By: Contributing Writer    7/1/2025

Technology is changing faster than ever. Business owners often struggle to keep up. What's trending today might be outdated tomorrow. Falling behind c…

Read More

Tech Podcast Award Winners Bring Excitement and Enthusiasm to a Range of Important Tech Topics

By: TMCnet Staff    6/18/2025

Tech Podcast Award winners produce engaging, informative, and often entertaining content, bringing valuable insight from industry front lines to the e…

Read More

How Mobile Technology is Driving the Shift to Casino Apps

By: Contributing Writer    6/12/2025

Recent years have seen casino apps completely changing the online casino experience. Thanks to mobile-first technology, apps are becoming the default.…

Read More