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01-25-2010, 11:15 AM | #1 | |
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Can Calibre overcome basic e-reader limitations for schools? - ZDNet
An article from ZDNet on how Calibre could allow students to buy a cheaper eReader and actually use it for course material. If it catches on, it could be the tipping point for educational ereading.
http://education.zdnet.com/?p=3575 Quote:
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01-25-2010, 11:45 AM | #2 |
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Why should processor speed have any impact on the type of device it is? Shouldn't the display, and intended use determine that?
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01-25-2010, 11:51 AM | #3 |
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Thanks for posting this!
And way to go Kovid! This is great publicity for your excellent program. My hopes: 1) You make a ton of money off Calibre somehow - you deserve it. Hard to do with an open source product. Maybe customized support contracts like Red Hat. 2) Publishers and bookstores never get control of Calibre. I shudder to think what BN or Amazon would do to it if they could. It is best just like it is - open source, independent platform, with support for about every device made. Thanks again! Robert |
01-25-2010, 11:53 AM | #4 |
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And why should a general content management system suddenly conquer all the hardware and software limitations of the devices that render them very poor tools for academia? I don't quite understand this article.
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01-25-2010, 11:56 AM | #5 |
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The big thing here also is that calibre can not convert DRMed ebooks and that is for legal reasons. So unless the textbooks or open and not DRM then this can not help either.
Chuck |
01-25-2010, 12:21 PM | #6 |
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I imagine it's just the idea of carrying a lot of documents at once. Texts aren't the only thing students use: journal articles, newspapers, and regular ol' trade books are part of standard curriculum.
ITunes for research sources is more the pitch, or so I read; although the article doesn't describe that very well. |
01-25-2010, 12:40 PM | #7 | |
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The problem would be if the schools begin making text book purchases based on whether or not they can be read in their reader and not based on the merits of the book itself. |
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01-25-2010, 12:46 PM | #8 | |
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And if it does then I think Kovid needs to add some support for notes and highlighting. Of course that would be device specific so maybe that is where some money may be made. |
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01-25-2010, 12:47 PM | #9 | |
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01-25-2010, 01:10 PM | #10 | |
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01-25-2010, 01:29 PM | #11 | |
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One day in the future, it'll be easy and useful to do this sort of things with ebooks, but not today, unfortunately. |
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01-25-2010, 01:32 PM | #12 | |
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01-25-2010, 02:03 PM | #13 |
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I'm sure Calibre will be a handy tool, but I don't know if it will really make a huge difference. However I do see how some sort of content management system that is specifically designed for education will probably be a necessary component in educational ebook infrastructure.
Maybe Calibre or a derivative work could handle that, as a paid or service-supported add-on. Of course, it may also be possible for an organization like Amazon to leverage its existing infrastructure for this task. E.g. the school's IT admin logs into a site, queues up certain texts to distribute to the users, and manages the email addresses associated with the devices. |
01-25-2010, 04:34 PM | #14 | |
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calibre, education, ereader, zdnet |
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