Register Guidelines E-Books Today's Posts Search

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > News

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 10-22-2011, 11:41 PM   #1
khalleron
Kate
khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
khalleron's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,700
Karma: 3605799
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Oregon, United States
Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour
Aid organization provides African schools with Kindles and ebooks

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/a...020874118.html

http://www.worldreader.org/
khalleron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2011, 03:51 PM   #2
Quexos
Member Retired
Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Quexos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,999
Karma: 11348924
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Limbo
Device: none
They probably provided one school for the purpose of getting publicity on it.
I don't believe in human benevolence
Quexos is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-23-2011, 05:36 PM   #3
khalleron
Kate
khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
khalleron's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,700
Karma: 3605799
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Oregon, United States
Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quexos View Post
They probably provided one school for the purpose of getting publicity on it.
I don't believe in human benevolence

Then you are a sad little man or woman.

I'm glad I'm not you.
khalleron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2011, 05:37 PM   #4
avantman42
Wizard
avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.avantman42 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,090
Karma: 6058305
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Paperwhite
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quexos View Post
They probably provided one school for the purpose of getting publicity on it.
I don't believe in human benevolence
World Reader, the organisation behind it, is specifically working to get e-readers and e-books to developing countries. The first paragraph of their about page says:

Quote:
Worldreader.org’s mission is to make digital books available to all in the developing world, enabling millions of people to improve their lives. We identify schools, train teachers, work with communities, and partner with publishers to bring millions of books to underserved children and families in the developing world.
avantman42 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2011, 05:50 PM   #5
carpetmojo
Wizard
carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carpetmojo ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 3,117
Karma: 9269999
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: UK
Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5
Cool Mmmmmm............

I simply can't see how these devices are going to stand up to the presumably harsher conditions, and rougher treatment - you have only to see any Forum to see how fragile they are in our pampered surroundings, and with expensive covers too.
And we can, mostly, I suggest, better afford to replace ours once we've found them essential equipment.

Unless, that is, the technology has suddenly become more robust - or should we say, can be more robust........
Too much to hope we also see it, if so ?

(Oh, and the production costs can be trimmed - or more probably "cross subsidised".)
carpetmojo is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-23-2011, 11:16 PM   #6
RainingLemur
Spork Connoisseur
RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.RainingLemur ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
RainingLemur's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,355
Karma: 16780603
Join Date: Mar 2011
Device: Nook Color
I applaud the organizations efforts. I was surprised at the list of their partners.

Quote:
Originally Posted by carpetmojo
I simply can't see how these devices are going to stand up to the presumably harsher conditions, and rougher treatment
Looks like M-Edge (one of their partners) provides lights and cases to help keep them a little safer in the more treacherous environments.
RainingLemur is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 12:08 AM   #7
SmokeAndMirrors
Addict
SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 280
Karma: 2064388
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MN, US
Device: Kobo Touch, Asus Eee Pad Slider
That's friggin' awesome. Yes.

The Kindles look to come with a shell case of some kind, with an extra padded layer on one side that the screen would be cushioned by. I'm sure there will be screen casualties eventually, but I don't think it'll be an enormous issue.

1. These kids have *nothing.* Having an ereader is like being given a box of gold. I bet they treat it a lot better than Western kids do.

2. Even with the occasional broken screen, it's probably still cheaper and has a broader reach to more kids than a physical library would.
SmokeAndMirrors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 07:04 AM   #8
xg4bx
Are you gonna eat that?
xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.xg4bx ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
xg4bx's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,633
Karma: 23215128
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ
Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG
i hate to be such a negative nancy but i'm sure some warlord will enjoy the fat stack of ereaders coming his way.

just being a realist. *shrug*
xg4bx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 11:08 AM   #9
Andrew H.
Grand Master of Flowers
Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Andrew H. ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 2,201
Karma: 8389072
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokeAndMirrors View Post
That's friggin' awesome. Yes.

The Kindles look to come with a shell case of some kind, with an extra padded layer on one side that the screen would be cushioned by. I'm sure there will be screen casualties eventually, but I don't think it'll be an enormous issue.

1. These kids have *nothing.* Having an ereader is like being given a box of gold. I bet they treat it a lot better than Western kids do.

2. Even with the occasional broken screen, it's probably still cheaper and has a broader reach to more kids than a physical library would.
All of this is true. And the cost of shipping paper books to an isolated village in the middle of Congo is a *lot* higher than the cost of shipping paperbooks to my local B&N.
Andrew H. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 11:10 AM   #10
HappyMartin
Martin Kristiansen
HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HappyMartin ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HappyMartin's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,546
Karma: 8480958
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Johannesburg
Device: Kindle International Ipad 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by xg4bx View Post
i hate to be such a negative nancy but i'm sure some warlord will enjoy the fat stack of ereaders coming his way.

just being a realist. *shrug*
You are not being a realist. You are being ignorant. A lot of Africa is poor by it is a big place and is not overrun with warlords.

I have ridden a bicycle from Israel to South Africa and never encountered a single warlord
HappyMartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 01:18 PM   #11
khalleron
Kate
khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.khalleron ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
khalleron's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,700
Karma: 3605799
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Oregon, United States
Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour
I just LOVE the way cynics and pessimists always describe themselves as realists, as though only bad things are true.

I'd laugh if it weren't so sad.
khalleron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 06:55 PM   #12
SmokeAndMirrors
Addict
SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.SmokeAndMirrors ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 280
Karma: 2064388
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: MN, US
Device: Kobo Touch, Asus Eee Pad Slider
Quote:
Originally Posted by khalleron View Post
I just LOVE the way cynics and pessimists always describe themselves as realists, as though only bad things are true.

I'd laugh if it weren't so sad.
What's really funny about it is that they assume the problem is all Africa and everyone over there is totally evil. We (and by that I mean the West) are actually the biggest part of why Africa is still so poor and war-torn. And I don't just mean colonization of by-gone days. I mean NOW.

We gave a lot of countries in Africa some of the worst, most scammish loans in the history of loans. The interest is positively explosive. These countries are trying - valiantly - to pay their debt. For the size of their economies, they're actually phenomenal at being good for their payments. But the interest is so high that they'll never be able to pay them off.

In addition to that, we did the loans under the condition that they have to live under an "austerity budget." They are not allowed, under the terms of the loans, to expand their government and do things like build schools.

So not only can they never pay off their loans, but they can also never develop their countries.

There is no doubt there is a plethora of corruption in Africa. But if you want to know the root of most of it, look at your own government, not theirs.

Their governments are actually relatively good at distributing goods they're given - better than some American charities are. There's cases of fraud, and major ones, but they're not the rule.

This applies, contrary to most people's beliefs, to food aid as well. African governments that receive food aid usually DO distribute it, and they do it at the prices they're told to. So what's the problem?

The subsidized food we sell them is so cheap that whenever there's an influx of it, it puts African farmers out of business. So between shipments, there's no farmers, and everyone starves.

Once again, look to your own government, not theirs.

Last edited by SmokeAndMirrors; 10-24-2011 at 06:58 PM.
SmokeAndMirrors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 08:09 PM   #13
Serpentine
Evangelist
Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Serpentine ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 416
Karma: 1045911
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Device: Kindle 3
While this is lovely and all the rest of it, I often have to deal with supporting things like this as a service for friends' NGO and living in SA.

Kindles are most likely the worst devices to hand out, specifically K3's - they are pretty damn fragile compared to most phones and such. They are a closed platform in almost every regards above replacing a battery. There is no software that is reasonably easy for syncing documents (i.e lesson plans) - let along authoring them - for educators (and getting them using Calibre/kindlegen - good luck!). Prepackaged and free books are fantastic, but at some point you leave the bounds of English setwork and there's very little other practical use outside of reading the supplied free novels (which are likely in a second or third language).

A complete lack of app support outside of America and no native, trivial note taking (or other functional case) seems questionable. Library support - wishful. Amazon aftermarket support? if you need a replacement, however I doubt these would qualify, even in SA we're only able to use the Amazon International Services items, which is about 5% of the Amazon marketplace, book prices and limits are rather draconian.

All of this often leaves some pretty decent hardware taking damage extremely quickly without anyone to really do something about it; or not understood gifts being sold/traded as soon as the teacher/church/someone isn't looking (just look at the culture of smoking ARV's).

At some rather low point $40? * x students is most likely far better spent on employing actual teachers or working on a more open reader for this outreach (even if that excludes amazon).

Last edited by Serpentine; 10-24-2011 at 09:35 PM. Reason: a few missed things :/
Serpentine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2011, 09:19 PM   #14
OtterBooks
Wizard
OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
OtterBooks's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,262
Karma: 2979086
Join Date: Nov 2010
Device: Kindle 4, iPad Mini/Retina
I wonder how many of the Kindles were eaten.
OtterBooks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-26-2011, 09:49 AM   #15
teh603
Autism Spectrum Disorder
teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.teh603 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
teh603's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,212
Karma: 6244877
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Coastal Texas
Device: Android Phone
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokeAndMirrors View Post
The subsidized food we sell them is so cheap that whenever there's an influx of it, it puts African farmers out of business. So between shipments, there's no farmers, and everyone starves.
But isn't that one of the points of capitalism, to put as many of your competitors out of business as efficiently as possible? If the African farmers can't produce food cheaply enough, then they deserve to be driven out of business.

/sarcasm
teh603 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Content Google eBooks will be readable on Kindles sirmaru Amazon Kindle 6 12-02-2010 05:04 AM
eBooks in Schools? Hampshire Nanny News 13 09-01-2010 11:40 AM
African Reading M0zza Reading Recommendations 5 01-22-2009 06:51 AM
Visual Aid? DixieGal IMP 4 05-08-2008 05:56 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:57 PM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.