Sure there were plenty of pronouncements about it's eventual release to the us market,
in those days. Most of the statements were along the lines of "We plan to release it in
the US market soon." The device that is now available is obviously an English version
of the Academic market device and even has reading list support for US schools. At first,
it was talked about as being available ONLY through academic programs.
They have yet to have found time or the resources to provide a general purpose or
non-academic version of the device/firmware. As it is now, it certainly could form the
center piece for Home Schooling efforts, as well as in the more traditional academic
setting. Even Ectaco's product description includes a link to
http://www.ck12.org. It is
obviously still tailored to a structured instructional setting, not to its potential as a
general purpose reading device.
I certainly hope that this device, with its existing firmware would not be Ectaco's idea
for the broader ereading market. They appear to be letting us have a device they made
and intended for release to a particular specialized market. I may be being a little egotistical to assume that my and other's requests might have had some impact on Ectaco's decision, to make it available - as is.
Luck;
Ken