Amazon makes big Kindle push in U.S. schools

[John F]

http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-makes-b...--finance.html

[tubemonkey]

This is a stupid idea. eInk Kindles are fragile devices in the hands of kids primarily because of the glass substrate. Until ereaders come with unbreakable substrates and more durable designs, they shouldn't be pushed into the schools.

Who's gonna pay for a new Kindle when Johnny accidentally knocks Suzie's Kindle off her desk and onto the floor where it breaks?

Didn't they learn anything from the 40% breakage rate in the Ghana Pilot?

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

This is a stupid idea. eInk Kindles are fragile devices in the hands of kids primarily because of the glass substrate. Until ereaders come with unbreakable substrates and more durable designs, they shouldn't be pushed into the schools.

Who's gonna pay for a new Kindle when Johnny accidentally knocks Suzie's Kindle off her desk and onto the floor where it breaks?

Didn't they learn anything from the 40% breakage rate in the Ghana Pilot?

I think this is a better idea than outfitting students (and faculty) with $500 iPads.

[rogue_librarian]

Wasn't there a project by Pocketbook or some such company to use plastic-based readers for the educational market? Whatever became of them? I, too, could really do with a semi-rugged reader, my children are slowly getting in the market for one.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by obsessed2

I think this is a better idea than outfitting students (and faculty) with $500 iPads.

Agreed. I'd have rather enjoyed having a Kindle or something similar when I was in school. That would've been great and would've saved me money on book bags.

[gastan]

Breakage or cost issues won't be Amazon's nemesis. They need to worry about the Americans With Disabilities Act and the National Federation of the Blind.

The NFB is very proactive in litigating ereader programs that they feel don't meet ADA requirements. They have been involved in more than several dozen cases in the last few years; and AFAIK they have always won. They isssued a press release just last month concerning the new kindles in which they stated: "...there is no evidence that these new Kindles are accessible."

http://www.nfb.org/national-federation-blind-comments-new-kindles

Based on this press release alone, I would expect that the NFB will be very active in policing any ereader program initiated by Amazon.

I haven't been able to find any "approved" list of ADA complient devices but the iPad seems to always be mentioned because it includes the Voice Over app which uses voice/sound cues which enable a disabled (blind) person to use it independently.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by gastan

I haven't been able to find any "approved" list of ADA complient devices but the iPad seems to always be mentioned because it includes the Voice Over app which uses voice/sound cues which enable a disabled (blind) person to use it independently.

An iPod touch will do the same thing at a much cheaper price.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

An iPod touch will do the same thing at a much cheaper price.

Probably also iPad Mini, soon. I'd argue that is one of the major justifications for the Mini.

Amazon still sells Kindle Keyboard, which is the closest thing to a ADA compliant device that is in their lineup. There's also an accessibility plugin for Kindle for PC, so someone with accessibility issues could use that on a netbook or laptop.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by gastan

The NFB is very proactive in litigating ereader programs that they feel don't meet ADA requirements. They have been involved in more than several dozen cases in the last few years; and AFAIK they have always won. They isssued a press release just last month concerning the new kindles in which they stated: "...there is no evidence that these new Kindles are accessible."

No problem there. All schools need to do is buy different devices for these students. The rest can use standard Kindles.

[david_e]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

No problem there. All schools need to do is buy different devices for these students. The rest can use standard Kindles.

Aren't you the one who said the Kindle was too fragile??

Maybe the biggest failure of the education system is that the first thing some people always consider is cost, never value.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by david_e

Aren't you the one who said the Kindle was too fragile??

Maybe the biggest failure of the education system is that the first thing some people always consider is cost, never value.

Yep

Which devices do you consider to have value?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by obsessed2

I think this is a better idea than outfitting students (and faculty) with $500 iPads.

Agreed

[fjtorres]

Uh, guys, two points of note:

1- Amazon's "educational push" is for the Kindle Fire as well as the eink devices.
2- The really *big* news in the article is WhisperCast.

Remember all the to-do over the US State department buying Kindles instead of somebody else's favorite brand? The wondering why?
WhisperCast is why. The cat's out of the bag.

Remote management of Kindles and remote deployment of content? That is taking the game beyond the consumer to volume institutional sales, where each deal brings in--like the State Department deal still in process--millions of dollars in *services* contracts.

So yeah; Apple can offer up $300 iPods and $500 iPads.
Amazon can now offer up $199 FIREs *and* IT friendly remote administration and content delivery. That is stuff you only used to get with full PCs.

The game is on.

[teh603]

Kinda late for my district. They're pushing iPads to as many teachers and students as they can afford, which means we'll have one on every student somewhere around 2030.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by teh603

Kinda late for my district. They're pushing iPads to as many teachers and students as they can afford, which means we'll have one on every student somewhere around 2030.

Makes sense.
By then the students will have graduated and found jobs and can afford them.