When the Kindle was introduced in November 2007 by Amazon, it was a natural progression for books to the digital world, but it's overall scope reached beyond that, beyond any digital media player seen. Download new books over EVDO from anywhere, daily paper subscriptions, highlighting text, playing audiobooks to name a few features that caught my eye - a larger list of surprising features. I've seen it a few make apperiances on the Metro in the morning, and it's well received by reading enthusiasts.
Based on Amazon's track record of innovation - EC2, S3, and product reccommendation engine - they'll continue to refine and develop the electronic reader, but I've taken the liberty to do my own imagining.
There is buzz all over the net about universities and schools distributing iPods for podcasts of lectures or important announcements; however, using Kindle, in the same device used to store textbooks, novels, and periodicals, teaches could push content like lecture notes, podcasts, assignments, handouts, and anysort of paper material.
The Kindle could have a Scholastic OS where a textbook is not a book but a group of content that encompasses notes, chapters, lectures, assignments, highlights, and online supplements. Essentially, instructors would publish content and students would subscribe. While this could be done to an extent now through a related system of RSS feeds, podcasts, notebooks, and textbooks the all-in-one simplicity, ease of use, and portability of the Kindle could pull it off.
Rumor has it that Kindle v2 is coming out in October, since I'm not an early adopter I'm excited to see it.
Remember how heavy those textbooks were?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Kindle for Kinder
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I was the first in line for the initial Kindle, and I've enjoyed being able to pull up a new book in one minute for much less cost and much more eco responsibility than buying paper versions.
Not being someone who needs all the sensuousness of a "true" book, I am ecstatic at being able to take any number of chosen books on vacation and order more along the way.
I totally concur with the great academic promise in future. Now, it would be a bit premature, given the poor graphical quality that the present Kindle generation offers, but, as you say, things will be R 'n d\ D'd by Amazon until the product is totally great.
With newsprint going the way it is, the Kindle is ideal also for newspaper subscriptions, and more and more are appearing.
Then, too, many of the features such as interlinear notation and saved "clips" within reading text will have extraordinary appeal to teachers who will not have to use sticky notes and haul around a mega bunch of paper entries.
Kindle also has a somewhat primitive e-mail function and other experimental things going on -- more promise that great things are ahead, and it's $50 bucks cheaper than at Christmas time. It's also far ahead of SONY since with S. one needs to go on line to order and load choices. With Kindle, interchangeability with PC storage, kindle storage, and Amazon archive storage does super things for the user. We are looking at the 21st century library with frills....
Charles above comments are from my friend Eileen
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