The drive for dictionary support

[Be Szpilman]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I'm a few steps from a dictionary, too. I still find it darned convenient to not have to stop my reading to go get it.

Not by the least similar, in my opinion. Ever heard of the 5S, common in japanese businesses ? In a nutshell, it is a set of directives for how your workspace and tools should be arranged as to minimize your interruptions and maximize productivity. What you use the most should be the easiest and closest.

A dictionary is something I would use every couple pages (indeed, I do take note of words that often, and look them up all later), while getting a new book is something that might happen once a day, and that's a big stretch.

[Mycropht]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I honesty can't recall when I last came across an English word whose meaning I didn't know. I would consider myself pretty "well read", and hence have an extensive vocabulary.

Originally Posted by HarryT

I then sold my Sony and bought an iLiad, and on that I started to use a dictionary, and realised just how amazingly useful it was.

Then you realized how amazingly mistaken you were about meaning of some words?

Just joking, of course. Couldn't resist.

On the subject, from what I have seen, they can add dictionary support just like that. The Sony would be completely crazy not to do it. I plan to buy a PRS-700 on a premise that it will have an English - English dictionary.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, what I said above was perfectly true. To elaborate:

When I owned a Sony (and wrote the posts that you quoted) I didn't see the point of a dictionary and didn't see the need for one.

I then sold my Sony and bought an iLiad, and on that I started to use a dictionary, and realised just how amazingly useful it was. I decided, though, that I preferred a 6" screen device to the iLiad, and so, when I was looking around for a new 6" device to buy, the fact that the Gen3 supported dictionary lookup was indeed one of my my prime motivations for buying one, as I stated above.

It's kind of like having air-con in your car - you can go for years without it and not miss it, but once you're had it, you'd never want another car without it .

The posts I quoted was written in the end of october or in the beginning of november 2007. The links do not work anymor for some reason. They were written when you had ordered a Cybook .

[rebarnmom]

I was finally compelled to join this forum, just so I could add my input to this request. I've been using all the info gathered from this site to help with the decision of picking an eBook reader. I've narrowed it down to the Sony 505 or 700, the BeBook or the Astak EZ Reader. The addition of integrated dictionary support would be invaluable and would definitely push me to seriously consider the Sony if it were a feature. I'd say that it is an important feature on my wish list!

Dictionary support would be a great resource & learning tool for the younger audience that Sony is aptly trying to capture! (Are pronunciations of the words part of the dictionary support? I'm hoping so!) If Sony is reading this, I'm a homeschooling mom of a ten yr-old daughter who thinks that eBook Readers are "way cool"! This homeschool will definitely be adding at least one eBook Reader to our resources very soon!

[Ebookerr]

Hi All,

Dictionary support, similar to Mobipocket, where you highlight a word and get a definition would be great on the Sony reader. I would to see multilingual support as well (at the very least English and French).

Ebookerr

[soalla]

I'd like to have dictionary support on the PRS-700... as a non english speaker (i. e. - english is not my natural language, I learned it on school and through my own efforts) who reads mostly in english, it's a essential function on a device like this. I think Sony didn't notice yet that for most users who are not english speaking naturals, the PSR-nnn is of somewhat limited value if not with dictionary support, as for us there is not a great variety of ebooks in our own languages and we must read in english most of the time... and if even an englishman or an american feels that need, what about the others?

[Be Szpilman]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

I was finally compelled to join this forum, just so I could add my input to this request. I've been using all the info gathered from this site to help with the decision of picking an eBook reader. I've narrowed it down to the Sony 505 or 700, the BeBook or the Astak EZ Reader. The addition of integrated dictionary support would be invaluable and would definitely push me to seriously consider the Sony if it were a feature. I'd say that it is an important feature on my wish list!

Dictionary support would be a great resource & learning tool for the younger audience that Sony is aptly trying to capture! (Are pronunciations of the words part of the dictionary support? I'm hoping so!) If Sony is reading this, I'm a homeschooling mom of a ten yr-old daughter who thinks that eBook Readers are "way cool"! This homeschool will definitely be adding at least one eBook Reader to our resources very soon!

Welcome to the forums, rebarnmom! I must say you (and presumedly your daughter) have exquisite taste for ebook readers! As a semester old owner of a Sony 500 and a week's old of a 505, I can attest to their quality and design. The +5 is definitely superior with contrast, sleekness, and especially the just-in PDF reflow support, a fine acquisition for any purpose!

And you are definitely in the right place as far as ebook readers are concerned.

Lastly, I'm with you as to pronunciation support! Having the word optionally spoken through the reader's audio capabilities would be a deal closer!

Originally Posted by soalla

I'd like to have dictionary support on the PRS-700... as a non english speaker (i. e. - english is not my natural language, I learned it on school and through my own efforts) who reads mostly in english, it's a essential function on a device like this. I think Sony didn't notice yet that for most users who are not english speaking naturals, the PSR-nnn is of somewhat limited value if not with dictionary support, as for us there is not a great variety of ebooks in our own languages and we must read in english most of the time... and if even an englishman or an american feels that need, what about the others?

I'm in a similar situation, soalla! I'm a non-native speaker, though I read in English by option, as I did with pbooks. Actually, I like to read the original whenever possible, and when it's a language I do not know I opt for the English translation. And yes, the dictionary for us, as for anyone reading in a language they have yet to master, is very necessary.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

I was finally compelled to join this forum, just so I could add my input to this request. I've been using all the info gathered from this site to help with the decision of picking an eBook reader. I've narrowed it down to the Sony 505 or 700, the BeBook or the Astak EZ Reader. The addition of integrated dictionary support would be invaluable and would definitely push me to seriously consider the Sony if it were a feature. I'd say that it is an important feature on my wish list!

I'd suggest that you add the CyBook Gen3 to your list of machines to consider. Its version of the MobiPocket Reader is significantly better than that of the BeBook, and it's the only device out of those you list which does have fully-functional dictionary lookup.

[Mike's Place]

What does 'dictionary support' mean? Would we use a touch keyboard or would words NOT in a differential dictionary (containing common words: is, the, and, but, or) be underlined? Would the underlined words reply to a touch with a partial screen pop-up?

I'd love to see a wiki for statistically improbable phrases, but now I'm just asking for a spanking.

Hey, wait a minute... I love my little 505 as is. Is feature creep going to turn our beloved reader into a bloated ipod touch or tablet pc?

**A race horse becomes a camel by committee**

Mike

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Mike's Place

What does 'dictionary support' mean? Would we use a touch keyboard or would words NOT in a differential dictionary (containing common words: is, the, and, but, or) be underlined? Would the underlined words reply to a touch with a partial screen pop-up?

The way it works on the Gen3, Mike, is that you select "Lookup Mode" from the main and that activates a word highlight cursor which you can move around the screen, up, down, left, right with the navigation control. When the desired word is selected, you press the "Select" button and you're taken to the definition of the word in the dictionary. You press the "Back" button to get back to the text.

[Dave Berk]

Originally Posted by Mike's Place

What does 'dictionary support' mean? Would we use a touch keyboard or would words NOT in a differential dictionary (containing common words: is, the, and, but, or) be underlined? Would the underlined words reply to a touch with a partial screen pop-up?

What I would want to see is that when you highlight a word, and press options, there will be an option to look up the selected word in your installed dictionaries. Another possibility is that a double click on a word will bring up that word's definition in the dictionary.

Of course there will have to be an option to choose between installed dictionaries, or even - dare I suggest it - a way to compare defintions between dictionaries. Or open up both a thesaurus and a dictionary together.

[gegkro]

I'm in for dictionary support as well for any sony reader...by the way in the meantime is there any dictionary available I can download onthe reader and consult for any term I need?

[dhbailey]

I'm all for dictionary support, but I would like it to be an option, configurable by the person using the reader.

I'd like to have a "Dictionary Mode ON" option, whereby highlighting the word and double-tapping would automatically open the dictionary, showing the definition, in the other half of the screen from where the highlighted word is showing in the text.

With "Dictionary Mode OFF" set in the options, double-tapping the highlighted word might bring up a submenu of options, such as "Search; Add To Notes; Annotate; Dictionary" and whatever other options the device can handle.

I don't care for audible pronunciation, but if it can be done without bulking up the device and definitely not including a speaker, so that people who want pronunciation have to use earbuds, I won't mind (always provided it doesn't increase the cost of the device!)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dhbailey

I'm all for dictionary support, but I would like it to be an option, configurable by the person using the reader.

I'd like to have a "Dictionary Mode ON" option, whereby highlighting the word and double-tapping would automatically open the dictionary, showing the definition, in the other half of the screen from where the highlighted word is showing in the text.

There are benefits in doing what the Gen3 does, and simply replacing the page of the book with the page of the dictionary, showing the definition, in that then the dictionary becomes your current book, which you can page backwards and forwards through, look up additional words, etc. When I'm reading a dictionary definition I often find myself becoming interested by something else on the page, looking that up, and so on. The "Back" button takes you back through the "chain" of lookups to the book that you were originally reading.

[dhbailey]

I find that I agree with Harry on this point, about half the time I look up words. Half the time I get intrigued by other words in the dictionary, but the other half of the time I simply want to know about one word and get back to my reading, so perhaps this could be another configurable option: A) display only that part of the dictionary page which contains the highlighted word (tapping anywhere on the original page closes the dictionary); B) display the full page of the dictionary containing the highlighted word (clicking BACK returns through all clicks eventually to the original book.)