Do you actually NEED a dictionary on your reader?

[IgnareAcademy]

C'mon, everybody knows what a dictionary is.
Everyone has used a paper dictionary.
So the poll is very good and clear.
What would be better is a marketing survey offering people to use an e-reader equipped with a dictionary for a month, and then the same e-reader without a dictionary the following month. We would then really know the proportion of people who really need a dictionary.

[HarryT]

The main problem with the poll is that word "need" - that's a hugely ambiguous word. I've not filled in the poll because I don't know how to answer it. I would not like to be without the dictionary lookup on my CyBook, and I'd hesitate to buy a reader which didn't have dictionary support, but does that mean that I "need" a dictionary? I honestly don't know the answer to that question.

[cheese bogart]

Originally Posted by IgnareAcademy

C'mon, everybody knows what a dictionary is.
Everyone has used a paper dictionary.
So the poll is very good and clear.
What would be better is a marketing survey offering people to use an e-reader equipped with a dictionary for a month, and then the same e-reader without a dictionary the following month. We would then really know the proportion of people who really need a dictionary.

I know every one has heard of a dictionary and maybe not everyone who owns a kindle has heard of other formats such as epub. But as HarryT has already said, this poll isn't very clear and thats all I was pointing out as well.

Thats why I put forward my idea/suggestion for a poll. If it had been done like that my answers would have been: dictonary, WiFi, 3G, MP3 (in order of what I would find most useful)

[rogue_ronin]

Floccinaucinihilipilification of e-dictionaries seem an unwise abnegation by a few. The perspicacious however, when dealing with the hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian note the anodyne of their propinquity.

m a r

[cheese bogart]

Originally Posted by rogue_ronin

Floccinaucinihilipilification of e-dictionaries seem an unwise abnegation by a few. The perspicacious however, when dealing with the hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian note the anodyne of their propinquity.

m a r

I know this is slightly off topic, but your post reminded me of my favourite phobia: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (the fear of long words).

I often wonder, not to the extent that it keeps me up at night, if the person who named it such, was trying to mess with the sufferers minds as they would be unable to say it or write it down.

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by rogue_ronin

Floccinaucinihilipilification of e-dictionaries seem an unwise abnegation by a few. The perspicacious however, when dealing with the hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian note the anodyne of their propinquity.

m a r

You know what ? Google Toolbar translator doesn't recognize these words... Strange, isn't it ?
And for "Floccinaucinihilipilification", the only one that found it was my SOED (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary), not an ebook halas !

[fugazied]

I read a lot of non-fiction and sometimes a dictionary would be good.

I'd actually enjoy a wikipedia install on every device! I guess that's what the internet is for.

[basschick]

i voted no. i've only used dictionary lookup in my cybook maybe 10 times, if that. i must admit, however, that i was very happy to have dictionary lookup at those times, since i didn't have to either read on without understanding the word at issue or leave what i was reading to look it up.

[astra]

I am curious. What is a proportion of non-native English speakers who voted for No, I do not need a dictionary on my reade?

I have a hunch it tends to zero.

[gerraldo]

Originally Posted by astra

I am curious. What is a proportion of non-native English speakers who voted for No, I do not need a dictionary on my reade?

I have a hunch it tends to zero.

Should read: "What is the proportion of readers that like to read books in other languages then their own, who voted for..."

(Friend of mine just reads german books and being a native speaker needs no dictionary.)

[IgnareAcademy]

Originally Posted by gerraldo

Should read: "What is the proportion of readers that like to read books in other languages then their own, who voted for..."

(Friend of mine just reads german books and being a native speaker needs no dictionary.)

Ask him if he knows all the words in the best German dictionary, and if he says no ask him how many German words he does not know, if he plans to learn them or to intellectually stagnate all his life, if he wants to learn new things/concepts and how they are named, if he reads challenging books or just easy books,...

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by gerraldo

Should read: "What is the proportion of readers that like to read books in other languages then their own, who voted for..."

(Friend of mine just reads german books and being a native speaker needs no dictionary.)

Yep ! Other languages than their own... I have english dictionaries, and spanish one, as I try to learn spanish too !

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by astra

I am curious. What is a proportion of non-native English speakers who voted for No, I do not need a dictionary on my reade?

I have a hunch it tends to zero.

Likewise I have a hunch that if you asked people with kids if a built-in dictionary would be a compelling feature in choosing a device for them, that pretty much all of them would say yes. As ebook reading becomes more popular and accessible, I do think we'll see more kids reading ebooks, especially in school. At that point, dictionary (and other reference) lookup support will be a must-have feature.

I still don't think "need" is the appropriate word since none of this is about need. It's about how much you want something and how much you're willing to pay. Using the word "need" just gets folks who take it literally to vote no because technically they don't need it even if they would prefer it. It seems like a poll question geared to get the answer the writer wanted, not to find out how important dictionary lookup is.

Besides, my understanding is that this sort of feature is often part of the software API for a given format. It's not like everyone who implements it has to do it ground up. It's not a big money saver to leave it out. How much do you think most people would pay extra for a dictionary? $5? $10? When you look at the per-unit cost of the dictionary on something like the Kindle, it's probably fairly negligible. A little time on developing and QA-ing the UI is likely all it took since it's already part of .mobi. Half a million units sold and we're probably looking at a cost of pennies per unit. The cost is obviously higher with the lower-volume products but it's not like it's a $50 feature. Maybe Whispernet approaches that, but not taking a string and searching for it.

[Idoine]

Originally Posted by IgnareAcademy

Ask him if he knows all the words in the best German dictionary, and if he says no ask him how many German words he does not know, if he plans to learn them or to intellectually stagnate all his life, if he wants to learn new things/concepts and how they are named, if he reads challenging books or just easy books,...

Stagnate ? It's a little bit harsh ! Now I stagnate, too, because I don't have a french dictionary on my Cybook... Just a hardback one, plus Google, plus Encarta on my PC...
But I must confess my french readings are mostly fictions (and software oriented ones, for business !), and they don't necessitate dictionary...

[JSWolf]

Since most of the voters voted for a dictionary, if the new Sony PRS-600's dictionary works with ePub, will you buy one since it will be the only ePub capable reader to have ePub and a dictionary?