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by rbanffy·17y ago·view on hn ↗
What I want is an e-book reader that, when connected to the computer presents itself as both a printer and a disk drive. If I copy a .txt or PDF file over to the disk, it will be available when I unplug the device. By unplugging, it will automatically start indexing whatever changed. When printing, the disk drive will be automatically unmounted and, when done, there will be a PDF file with whatever I printed already indexed. It should make for a good reading experience without reformatting anything.

I have a ton of stuff to read, but I generate a whole lot more every day. Diagrams, spreadsheets, documentation in every conceivable format...

BTW, if the thing has 3G and wi-fi built-in and makes for a passable browsing experience, it would be great. I would love if it presented itself as a Samba server and a LPR PostScript color printer.

It's sure not that much to ask. Is it?

1 comments
You could probably pull that off with existing software.. There are programs that let you "Print" to a PDF file (Such as CutePDF for windows).. combine that with some shell/bash scripts, and you could set it up to automatically email they to the kindle when they are printed. Bonus to emailing them would be you don't need to be tethered.
Of course I could, but I don't have the time to put into this. And that would still do nothing to the fact that reading PDF files not formatted to the Kindle (such as magazines) is painful. A 12" 4xXGA (2048x1536) screen would be my guess as what's needed for this to work. 800x600 just doesn't do it.

There _must_ be someone willing to explore this niche. Where's the TechCrunch tablet?