Michael Stern Hart was an American author, best known as the inventor of the e-book and the founder of Project Gutenberg (PG), the first project to make e-books freely available via the Internet. He published e-books via ARPANET years before the Internet existed, and later on BBS networks and Gopher servers.
Michael Hart of Project Gutenberg at H.O.P.E Conference, 2006
An ebook, also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book", some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Someone reading an e-book on an e-reader
Michael S. Hart (left) and Gregory Newby (right) of Project Gutenberg, at Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) Conference, 2006
The first portable electronic book, the US Department of Defense's "Personal Electronic Aid to Maintenance"
Reading an e-book on a third-generation Kindle
