Winthrop University testing the Sony Reader

Alexander Turcic · 01-31-2007, 10:42 AM

Imagine the only thing you need to bring to school is your brain and the Sony Reader. Faculty members of the Winthrop University are currently evaluating the Sony Reader as an alternative to hauling 10-pound books to class.

Quote:

Students will get a chance to test out the e-readers next semester. Based on all the feedback, school leaders will decide whether or not to make a larger investment.

Read the full article here.

Related: Dutch school to launch iRex iLiad experiment

Bob Russell · 01-31-2007, 12:44 PM

I hope it succeeds. But I still see UMPCs as a better solution long term. Hopefully, we'll see great displays be married to inexpensive and capable UMPCs, which might meet the mobile computing and e-book reading needs of everyone.

NatCh · 01-31-2007, 01:05 PM

A fast, color, bistable display on a UMPC .... that's the stuff dreams are made of.

Anchoku · 01-31-2007, 04:37 PM

I, perhaps over critically, don't believe UMPCs will find much market in the classroom due to their lack of work space - they're just too small. E-books have a better chance but must change radically to incorporate the benefits of a true notebook PC.

These are my prediction for requirements to succeed.
Secure wireless network connectivity and applications
Fast display response and enough processing power for real-time video and digital notepad functions
Full color - what good is red ink if the display doesn't show it? Color has great value from a human factors point of view
Enormous display area - imagine writing notes on a sheet, watching instructional video, referring to an e-textbook and using a digital high-lighter to mark important sections and running Matlab, or some other application required for the class, in the background. The new Vista thing is handy, but not as handy as having more working area. Perhaps building a large display with digitizer into the table top and synchronizing it wirelessly to the student's hardware is the answer.

radleyp · 01-31-2007, 05:02 PM

One student has raised an issue I had not thought of: students are much rougher on books, almost careless in their handling of textbooks in particular. Dropping a book is one thing, but dropping a $350 device quite another. Perhaps the student market will require a more durable (and hence more expensive) device.

scotty1024 · 02-01-2007, 06:02 AM

Based on my experiences with my wife-as-student I have to say the Sony's screen is too small for many, if not most, text books. I've reflowed several for her but she wants the pictures/tables/diagrams to all line up with the text so "(see diagram on left)" makes sense. She also wants to be able to flip to page 251 when the teacher announces that page number for discussion, which is a teensy bit awkward when her text book is reflowed.

We went to see a UMPC: too small, feels like a brick, too short on the battery life.

The iLiad takes too long to turn on/off (especially with no suspend feature), is too delicate, is too awkward/expensive/unpredictable/takes too long to be repaired and it's screen is too small as well.

She hates dragging the "heavy" Motion LE1600 to class but it's lighter than her books and she positively loves One Note 2007. For my part I like that it is durable, rapidly repairable in-country and I can keep a battery charged, for her when she forgets to plug it in to recharge.

She spends more time reading her CONNECT ebooks on the LE1600 than on the Sony Portable Reader. She professes to like the Sony Reader but I think she says that because I got it for her for Christmas. What she really seems to like is being able to buy and download ebooks.

ojleblanc · 02-02-2007, 07:39 PM

I think in order for the Reader to be successful at schools and on college campuses, at least two things need to happen. One, publishers of textbooks and other academic books need to be very involved; they need to produce nicely-formatted electronic versions of their books. Second, Sony (desperately) needs to implement some way to go to a particular page on the Reader with ease. There is no reason I can see why we cannot invoke a small "Go To" window on the Reader by, say, pressing the joystick, then entering the page number using the number buttons to go to a particular page in a text.

I am a college professor and everyone who sees my Reader asks me about the two things mentioned above, and I regret having to tell them neither exists yet. Upon hearing that, I can just see their interest drain.

Btw, I bought the Reader specifically to reduce the amount of heavy paper (student work, articles, etc.) I tote around. I would **love** to be able to buy electronic copies of academic texts. There is a market for this if Sony can make it work.

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01-31-2007, 12:44 PM	#2
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I hope it succeeds. But I still see UMPCs as a better solution long term. Hopefully, we'll see great displays be married to inexpensive and capable UMPCs, which might meet the mobile computing and e-book reading needs of everyone.

01-31-2007, 01:05 PM	#3
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	A fast, color, bistable display on a UMPC .... that's the stuff dreams are made of.

01-31-2007, 04:37 PM	#4
Anchoku Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 164 Join Date: Jan 2007	I, perhaps over critically, don't believe UMPCs will find much market in the classroom due to their lack of work space - they're just too small. E-books have a better chance but must change radically to incorporate the benefits of a true notebook PC. These are my prediction for requirements to succeed. Secure wireless network connectivity and applications Fast display response and enough processing power for real-time video and digital notepad functions Full color - what good is red ink if the display doesn't show it? Color has great value from a human factors point of view Enormous display area - imagine writing notes on a sheet, watching instructional video, referring to an e-textbook and using a digital high-lighter to mark important sections and running Matlab, or some other application required for the class, in the background. The new Vista thing is handy, but not as handy as having more working area. Perhaps building a large display with digitizer into the table top and synchronizing it wirelessly to the student's hardware is the answer.

01-31-2007, 05:02 PM	#5
radleyp Evangelist Posts: 499 Karma: 20623 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Salem & NYC, NY Device: Kindle Global, iphone4, ipad	One student has raised an issue I had not thought of: students are much rougher on books, almost careless in their handling of textbooks in particular. Dropping a book is one thing, but dropping a $350 device quite another. Perhaps the student market will require a more durable (and hence more expensive) device.

02-01-2007, 06:02 AM	#6
scotty1024 Banned Posts: 1,300 Karma: 1479 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Peoples Republic of Washington Device: Reader / iPhone / Librie / Kindle	Based on my experiences with my wife-as-student I have to say the Sony's screen is too small for many, if not most, text books. I've reflowed several for her but she wants the pictures/tables/diagrams to all line up with the text so "(see diagram on left)" makes sense. She also wants to be able to flip to page 251 when the teacher announces that page number for discussion, which is a teensy bit awkward when her text book is reflowed. We went to see a UMPC: too small, feels like a brick, too short on the battery life. The iLiad takes too long to turn on/off (especially with no suspend feature), is too delicate, is too awkward/expensive/unpredictable/takes too long to be repaired and it's screen is too small as well. She hates dragging the "heavy" Motion LE1600 to class but it's lighter than her books and she positively loves One Note 2007. For my part I like that it is durable, rapidly repairable in-country and I can keep a battery charged, for her when she forgets to plug it in to recharge. She spends more time reading her CONNECT ebooks on the LE1600 than on the Sony Portable Reader. She professes to like the Sony Reader but I think she says that because I got it for her for Christmas. What she really seems to like is being able to buy and download ebooks.

02-02-2007, 07:39 PM	#7
ojleblanc Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: iPhone/Sony Reader	I think in order for the Reader to be successful at schools and on college campuses, at least two things need to happen. One, publishers of textbooks and other academic books need to be very involved; they need to produce nicely-formatted electronic versions of their books. Second, Sony (desperately) needs to implement some way to go to a particular page on the Reader with ease. There is no reason I can see why we cannot invoke a small "Go To" window on the Reader by, say, pressing the joystick, then entering the page number using the number buttons to go to a particular page in a text. I am a college professor and everyone who sees my Reader asks me about the two things mentioned above, and I regret having to tell them neither exists yet. Upon hearing that, I can just see their interest drain. Btw, I bought the Reader specifically to reduce the amount of heavy paper (student work, articles, etc.) I tote around. I would love to be able to buy electronic copies of academic texts. There is a market for this if Sony can make it work.

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