Report: A Kindle for college kids?

[brn_eyed_girl81]

Somewhere I'd heard that part of the reason for getting rid of the SD card was that it was a hold up for the text book manufacturers - they didn't want people to be able to share them. Although my understanding is that they are encoded and therefore wouldn't work on someone else's Kindle anyway.

I would have loved to have Kindle textbooks when I was in college/med school - I always hated buying used books because I don't like previous owner's notes/highlights, but they are so expensive new.

[maos]

i just want ebook versions of texts so i can just carry it all around in one device.

[giddion]

Why don't they just offer educational discounts on the current kindle model? Course being that I'm on the staff at a college it could be just that I want a discounted price

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by giddion

Why don't they just offer educational discounts on the current kindle model? Course being that I'm on the staff at a college it could be just that I want a discounted price

Even if they did offer educational discounts most books are either not available as e books, or they are unreadable because of the tables and diagrams.

[Seant018]

I tried using my Sony Reader in a literature class one time and it just isn't practical. Sure, I can read the book cover to cover, but I couldn't make notes (different on the Kindle, I know), and I couldn't easily flip to different parts of the book unless I made bookmarks, which was still pretty slow.

I know the Kindle is in a completely different league compared to the Sony 500 that I had, but it is still hard to use it in a college classroom where you need to quickly flip between pages and jot down notes just as quickly. All of this even more so when you have a huge textbook and not just a little novel.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Seant018

I know the Kindle is in a completely different league compared to the Sony 500 that I had, but it is still hard to use it in a college classroom where you need to quickly flip between pages and jot down notes just as quickly. All of this even more so when you have a huge textbook and not just a little novel.

The kindle allows you to quickly jump to a location. So, if the teacher used it also, then they could specify the location. Also, you can jot down notes fairly quickly with the kindle.

BOb

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by Seant018

I tried using my Sony Reader in a literature class one time and it just isn't practical. Sure, I can read the book cover to cover, but I couldn't make notes (different on the Kindle, I know), and I couldn't easily flip to different parts of the book unless I made bookmarks, which was still pretty slow.

I know the Kindle is in a completely different league compared to the Sony 500 that I had, but it is still hard to use it in a college classroom where you need to quickly flip between pages and jot down notes just as quickly. All of this even more so when you have a huge textbook and not just a little novel.

I agree. I think the Kindle is better at getting from point A to point B in a book but even so, eink hasn't developed enough to make for quick hopping around. If I wanted to use e-books in a classroom setting (and I'm sure I will when I'm out of the navy) I would use a laptop. Or maybe get something like an Eee PC for that purpose. Hopping around an e-book works pretty well on an LCD screen.

[JSWolf]

Actually, I think the Sony Readers are better at going from point A to point B given that all you do is type in the page number, hit enter, and there you are. So if a teacher said "Now turn to page 45." you would be at page 45 in almost no time.

But as for notes, I'm not sure any of the current devices (700, K1/K2, iRex) are good enough yet for in class note taking.

[giddion]

Actually the IEEE Computer Magazine did a very good story on the usability of ebook interfaces.

http://www.computer.org/portal/cms_d...eb09/r2wit.pdf

They found people were much more comfortable with random access in ebooks when the interface generated simulated page edges on either side of the reading area. Gave the user a better feel of percentage complete then a slider, and adding chapter or section tabs made user very comfortable with jumps. The peanut reader on a PC gives a static page edge, not one that reflects the percentage complete but I have to agree there is a comfort the edges provide. The article cover animated page turns but I can easily live without that.

Unfortunately with the cost of e-ink screen real estate I doubt the findings in this article will effect anything other then PC interfaces.

[maos]

does the kindle not display equations and diagrams correctly or something?

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, I think the Sony Readers are better at going from point A to point B given that all you do is type in the page number, hit enter, and there you are. So if a teacher said "Now turn to page 45." you would be at page 45 in almost no time.

But as for notes, I'm not sure any of the current devices (700, K1/K2, iRex) are good enough yet for in class note taking.

I'm thinking about a more likely scenario in which most people in the class are not using e-book readers. And even if many were using them, there's no reason to expect everyone to use Sony Readers. Even then, not everyone would necessarily have the same font size, thus changing the number of pages. You can type in a location on the Kindle and always wind up in the same spot. You can also search for the opening line of a paragraph and get there. I would find these features more useful today since most people don't have e-book readers much less the same e-book reader. But again, I don't think either device is ideal for an academic setting. I would prefer to whip open a laptop with an e-book open in one window and a document for note-taking in another.

[europas_ice]

Originally Posted by giddion

They found people were much more comfortable with random access in ebooks when the interface generated simulated page edges on either side of the reading area.

What they need is something like the "cover flow" view in the mac finder. It would let you scan through pages just about as fast as flipping through them by hand. I just thought of this and I think it's a great idea. Of course, most ebook readers right now aren't up to the display challenge. But maybe someday...