You've probably heard of the Kindle already, when the original was launched in late 2007 the buzz spread like wildfire, Jeff Bezos was everywhere with the thing in hand. Today, the ever-secretive Amazon has released a new version, the Kindle DX. It has a way bigger screen (9.7") which auto-rotates so when you turn it the screen changes from landscape to portrait, and a larger storage capacity for up to 3,500 books. Everything's larger, including the price, of course: $489 instead of the original's $359.
But all those features aside, what really will get the attention of ed. tech enthusiasts is the declared strategy behind the larger size: to make newspapers, magazines and textbooks easier to read. And so, not only is Amazon teaming up with the Washington Post, Boston Globe and New York Times, but also with university-level textbook publishers Pearson, Cengage Learning and
Will this catch on, and could K12 be far off? We'll see. As of now, I think the device is still way too expensive. "iPods are just as expensive!" some might say. Sorry, the comparison doesn't fly. iPod content, mainly music but also TV shows and movies, is timeless--my late 80's Rush collection notwithstanding--just as books are. Newspapers, magazines and textbooks are different in that they are much more temporal. People sit and listen to classic Motown on their iPods, or read Hemingway or Shakespeare on their Kindles... but nobody is going to casually peruse a Boston Globe from 1986 on their way to work or study a Biology textbook from 1980. These things are only relevant for a very short time, like a day, week or a year, unless you're an historian. That's why consumers will pay $400 for an iPod or even $359 for an original Kindle to carry 1,000 books around... but widespread use of a $489 device, plus the cost of content, to read the paper, District Administration or school textbooks? Not going to happen if you ask me.
The prospect is exciting, of course, carrying around a device 1/3 of an inch thick instead of the backbreaking load I remember taking to school every day is pretty appealing. But that upfront cost is the elephant in the room. If there could be a lease/rental program, or at least a significant discount for bulk purchases, then having licensing be cheaper for a district than purchasing paper textbooks.... we could be heading in the right direction. Here's hoping.
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