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Originally Posted by LDBoblo
Once there are some good devices out there that can handle input and dynamic content, I think there'll be more vindication with regard to the school's choice. Kindles are a looong shot from optimal research devices though.
I think it's good that institutions are making better use of book collections and journal collections like JSTOR and what-not...I just disagree about their technology choices. I *could* see something like that stupid-looking Alex reader or the Entourage Edge thing or 3Qi-equipped netbooks, but Kindles?
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Yes, I generally agree. I think the Kindle DX for a textbook replacement actually makes the most sense for K-12, actually 7-12, but whatever. The reason is that you are not supposed to be marking up the text books in those grades anyway. Assuming the text books were formatted with an eBook reader in mind with regards to chapter/section demarcation and chaptering, then it could be easily as effective as the paper books.
But to replace the "open" studying habits of higher education students where they own their books and have little reason (besides potential resale) to mark them up... well really any time you're studying anything seriously, it's good to be able to make annotations. Hell, the most common PC based PDF readers have annotation support, which is why it absolutely baffles me that anyone thought putting out an eBook reader "supporting" PDF without at least partial annotation support would be a good idea.
It's all about the usability, not the concept. Quick referencing of locations in the text is a must, and the ability to annotate as freely as possible given the device is also a must.
I'm sure it will happen at some point. I think the majority of students are rational enough to see the potential in digital texts. The last thing they need is to be tied to a specific device though so this whole Kindle experiment is a non-starter in my opinion.