Princeton Students Don't Like Free Kindles

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Cheap car insurance quotes » Tips on getting cheap car insurance quotes ... of AL 6:07AM December 02, 2009

I am currently a university student, and I agree with the article and with Debora of NJ - reading novels and such for pleasure is a very different creature than studying books for classes. While I have found a PDA to be highly useful for taking my notes in some classes, because it allowed me to organize my information easily as I went, the same is not so true for reading materials.

I treat my school books as the students described, marking them up in many ways, and writing in the margins. I can see some interface options, like making a marker that lets me insert a note or somesuch working for readers like this, perhaps.

--Ember--

Ember of CA 6:10AM October 07, 2009

Technology, Its great but takes getting used to. I like Technology but I like Linux and will not roll over and support Microsoft. So if kindle works with Linux. I would love to purchase it. Otherwise the technology is useless to me.

People like sheep go where they are told to, Except once in awhile one will stray and check out the rest of the world. The dog could never catch me and I like what I see.

Don D. Brock of AZ 7:43PM October 03, 2009

and my visually impaired daughter loves her kindle DX. For the first time in her life, she can actually hold her "book" at a comfortable distance from her face when she reads. I love my Kindle 2 because when I travel, I can bring as many books as I want without sacrificing space in my suitcase. Reading for pleasure is very different than reading for a class, so I get the complaints and concerns of the students, but (20 years after graduate school) all of my reading is done for plasure and the Kindle increases that pleasure exponentially.

Debora of NJ 5:40PM October 02, 2009

I was a retail buyer 15 - 20 years ago and there were several companies trying to develop a format for textbook e-books. At that time the concern was size and download format. The pitch only focused on the amount of material you could load onto the device. I hope it doesn't take another 15 years for companies to figure out how to make the interface work. I think the concept is an excellent idea.

RW of IL 12:52PM October 02, 2009

This is just one case study and one review by 50 students using one type of device. If you follow the industry, then you know that Asus, Microsoft and others are coming out with new devices by the end of the year. These devices are either new eReaders or tablet devices. Interface design is very important. I find the eReader on the iPhone for Kindle hard to use for longer books. However, for a short book or reference book, it is fine.

I use e-books downloaded from Amazon or my local public library (free) on my NetBook. It's much lighter than my other laptop. I can put it in my travel bag. And the battery life is good.

E-books are the trend in organizations and universities. It's a matter of finding the right interface design and device to make them intutitve for users. Sticky notes, adding bookmarks to pages are part of some e-book interfaces.

This is just the beginning. The industry will get it right, eventually. However, in this case the first, most popular device, may not be the best.

LGH of WI 9:27PM October 01, 2009

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