Even beyond the donation barrier, I can't see the JWs doing anything like this. As far as I can see, I don't see much online. Some books, but no downloadable content or monthly mags. You would think that all of this information from God's faithful slave and the "one true religion" should all be available for download to the masses. But it isn't. Why? Not sure myself, but I would guess it could have to do with cash flow.
People don't see a need to ante-up some cash for a bunch of bits that they realize didn't cost anything in the way of materials to distribute a million copies of. And might not even cost extra for the download bandwidth (flat rate). So who's going to send them money for the publications?
If I recall the trends, JWs are losing ground in affluent and/or well-educated demographics and gaining ground among people who are poor, less-educated, etc. Are these the sort of people that would have the means to buy one or the skills to use one? Although not being techno-savvy, they are more likely to buy into anything offered.
And as far as a JW proxy, I would think most JWs secretly would rather have their freedom. Maybe they want to watch an R-rated movie on Netflix, see the joke everybody else at the office is laughing at, etc. Without an occassional peek at the outside world being able to be blocked and/or monitored and reported to your elders.
Although on the plus side for the JWs, you could make articles on-demand. Maybe downloadable, but where it checks to see that it's the latest copy every time you bring it up and auto-downloads the new one if not. That way, there is no old-truth lying around. If you want to re-read an old article, you find the latest version on-line. The Winston Smith edited version that contains the "new truth" that always was "the truth" (as far as you know). The nifty thing about this is hackers could automate the process save old copies and continually download the latest, compare, and expose what the JWs are changing without having to do extensive manual comparisons.
As far as reading and underlining, that still is possible with downloaded books (highlighting). It's probably even easier and they could even provide an "answer" button to highlight it for you. And, unlike the Watchtower library, which has old publications, you could have current publications with hyperlinks built in for scriptures, etc. You could point them at a ton of reference info to immerse themselves in, like with the Watchtower CDs. How many people go back and do that with old stuff on the CDs? If it's relevent to the stuff you have to study for the week, you're more likely to look up the extra stuff, further indoctrinating yourself.
And think of the preaching possibliites. They could go back to the days of carrying phonographs door-to-door and playing records for people. Except this time, it's a video or powerpoint on a portable device. Assuming you're in a neighborhood where you won't get mugged and have it stolen.
There certainly is the opportunity for indepenent JWs to take this and run with it. There are unofficial iPhone apps that JWs have written. The biggest problem is how much you can do, seeing that the information is copyrighted. Any third-party product would have to have the blessing of the Watchtower Society to be able to present that content. Without that content, what do you have? Some apps to help you record your time maybe? Powerpoint or something like it? BFD.
