Atiz rolls out "first consumer book ripper," the BookSnap

We've certainly seen plenty of book scanners before, but upstart Atiz has now rolled out what it claims to be the very first "consumer book ripper," although with a price of $1,595, that title is certainly ripe for a challenge. Still, it looks like the system should get the paper-to-PDF conversion job done quite nicely, with a promised scanning rate of 500 pages per hour (although that partly depends on how fast you can flip the pages -- no robot arm here, unfortunately). The "ripping" itself is done by a pair of digital cameras (not included), and it seems that only a select number of Canon cameras are compatible with the device (at least officially). Atiz also apparently offers a DIY model, but those looking for a more polished solution can order the ready-made BookSnap directly from the company right now.