Scanners that don't suck for reading paperbacks/other books

[Sam Hartman <hartmans mit edu>]

So, I'm beginning to believe that perhaps computers and OCR technology
has advanced somewhat from the days when I bought my Xerox Reading
Edge.  I suspect I could OCR pages faster and with higher quality with
modern hardware/software.

I got a trial of Vividata's OCR Shop and it worked fairly well with
the system I was using.

There's one problem.  I'm used to being able to borrow books and scan
them without destroying them.  I'm looking for a scanner that will
allow me to do this under Linux.

The advantages of the scanner integrated into the Reading Edge is that
it is tilted to put less stress onto the book's spine and the edge of
the glass is directly at the front of the scanner.  Thus, you don't
have to crumple and squish the book to get words at the edge of the
padge.

I looked at the local computer store and on the web.  The best fit I
found was an Epson Perfection 1240U.  It's edge is fairly narrow and I
suspect one could get a tilt stand built for it.

Sadly, not good enough.  On the paperbacks I tried, the last word on
the line was cut off.

Does anyone make a scanner that works well and nondestructively for
books?  If not, were they ever made and were they stopped for a
reason?

--Sam