Full FeedStudent-oriented Papyrus could be e-book reader 2.0
The future is interconnected, and that’s where the Papyrus e-book reader concept gets all its strength. Designed to be a low-cost and better alternative to current generation e-book readers, the Papyrus will be a student-oriented e-book reader that will take advantage of collaboration and connectivity. It’ll have a stylus-based touchscreen where contents on the current page can be tagged, to be gone back to at a later time or answered, just like discussion threads in a forum. The designers hope to put its price at lower than $100 in order to hit a far larger market than today’s e-readers can, and can last for up to 30 hours, which seems reasonable since most people can only really keep reading for a few hours a day. We’re convinced that the Papyrus certainly looks good on paper (pun intended), but the question is, who will have the will to realize such a concept? That’s right, unfortunately, this is only a concept. For now at least. I guess I’ll have to stick with my good old paperbacks, then.
Read [The Greener Grass] Via [Engadget]
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It’s about time a sub $100 e-book reader is released. From what I’ve read in different forums, a large number of people read their e-books on cheap pdas and even cell phones because they can’t afford an exorbitantly priced amazon kindle or a sony reader. I myself am a victim of this phenomenon. No matter how good or bad the connectivity option of the papyrus is, if it has a decent battery life and is tagged below $100, it will sell like crazy. I’ll be buying one myself.
on April 19, 2008 at 10:39 PM - LINKSee you in line for the Papyrus then, Tahsin. I’m fond of reading ebooks on my mobile phone myself because dedicated devices like a Sony Reader or the Amazon Kindle just seem like overkill, especially since they’re both still too pricey. I’ve always thought that an e-reader would be OK if it only had a standard word processing program that could open up standard word docs. Or even just .txt files. But that’s just my opinion. Still, manufacturers of readers should be reconsidering their choices, I think.
on April 20, 2008 at 04:14 AM - LINK产品外观设计
on August 21, 2008 at 02:56 AM - LINKI think the quest to create specialized e-book readers is misguided. By the time a reader includes a screen, memory, and a network connection it costs just about as much as a low-end notebook. The papyrus people hope that some day they can build the device for under $100 with substantial support from the textbook publishers. That’s not going to happen.
Instead of focusing on specialized hardware, it seems to me that we should focus on functionality—the features digital books should offer that are not available with paper books.
Think for a bit—what features do you think the digital textbook of the future should provide?
I propose the following as a good starting point:
1. Photos that come to life as video
2. Illustrations that turn into animations to illustrate processes
3. Interactive end of chapter and end of section material
4. Extensive learner feedback
5. Assessment and tracking options to help the instructor identify and assist students who are having trouble before they get hopelessly behind
6. Web links to additional information
7. Pop-up definitions
Textbooks with such features do exist. In fact, many of the best-selling college computer textbooks already offer these features and more. Check out titles like the BookOnCD version of New Perspectives on Computer Concepts, 11th Edition or The Practical PC, 5th Edition at http://www.mediatechnicscorp.com. Or, to see the same technology applied to a non-fiction history book, visit http://www.sixstarsinthewindow.com and try the BookOnDownload or BookOnBrowser.
Those are examples of what digital publishing can—and should—be about.
on December 3, 2008 at 02:49 PM - LINK