Normally we concern ourselves with the hardware and business aspect of e-readers: the latest gadgets and gizmos, firmware upgrades, how-to guides and industry happenings. Today we're doing something a little different in noting the passing of a person without whom the e-book (and subsequent e-reader) industry would likely be a very different one — if it existed at all.
Michael Stern Hart, who passed away on September 6, 2011, is widely recognized as being the inventor of the e-book, as well as being the founder of Project Gutenberg.
Hart's foray into e-books began on the 4th of July, 1971. Hart typed the entire text of the Declaration of Independence into a computer, then made the copies available for others on the network to download freely. This led to his manually typing and uploading over 300 public domain books by 1987. Project Gutenburg was founded by Hart under the mission statement: "To encourage the creation and distribution of e-books." Today Project Gutenburg has over 26,000 titles in 60 different languages available for free download — it's an excellent resource for people looking for free content for their e-readers.
Without Hart, e-books would certainly have happened eventually. However, he was the person who had the vision to make it happen when it did and the determination to see the technology evolve from a technological curiosity to a major industry over the course of 40 years. All the while he fought for the preservation of literacy in an increasingly computerized world and to maintain public domain rights.
You can read Hart's obituary on Project Gutenburg for more information and insights about this e-book pioneer.