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:
Larry Dignan reported last week that $150 was a magical pricepoint at which we could expect to see a whole lot of e-readers getting sold. Citing research by the Yankee Group,
…the e-book reader [is defined] as devices with the following characteristics:
Processor speeds limited to 700 Mhz or less;
ePaper displays;
Storage capped at 4 GB.
Yankee Group’s forecast is based on the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Interead’s COOL-ER, Plastic Logic’s Que, enTourage’s eDGe, Hearst’s Skiff and Foxit’s eSlick.
These all share the limitations I’ve discussed before and yet Calibre has the potential to transform these cheap, limited devices into a portable reference and pleasure library that is hard to match. Check out this video overview of Calibre, an open source e-book management system that replaces management systems sold with a variety of mainstream e-book
|