Or is this a hoped for but never realized item? There are times I would like one so I would not have to break the spines when scanning pages.

How about a 'No Hands" scanner?
[query.nytimes.com]

Interesting . where do I buy one. I'll have to clean out my garage tho because I don't think it will fit in my house!

Sometimes a common consumer-level digital camera will work.

I was able to do this in a pinch when a presenter at a small workshop only brought color printouts of the photos he wanted to share with the audience. Instead of having him pass around the photos to the attendees, I took out my camera and quickly snapped a full-frame shot of each one. I then slipped the memory card into my laptop, copied them over, and displayed the photos in a slide show on the room's projector. I was surprised at the fine quality of the results.

I used to have one back in 1990 --- because $300 was all I was going to pay for a scanner!

I loved those days when MacXxxxxx catalog stores let you try and return everything!

I agree with the camera method. Set up a table with bright diffuse lighting and get a 5mp camera on a tripod. If you already have the camera and tripod (or can borrow one), all you need are a couple of bright lights.

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