Prime View International, maker of electrophoretic displays AKA epaper makes the screens for Amazon’s Kindle 2. That much we know. However, rumors that they are working on a larger-sized touchscreen makes us think they are now ramping up production of the “student’s Kindle” we talked about last year. This Kindle will have a larger screen and more research-oriented features – Wi-Fi, anyone?
While one line in a boring DigiTimes story does not a confirmation make, it’s a compelling enough reason to run around naked for the rest of the day yelling “The Kindle 3 is coming.” Go ahead. We’ll wait.
Looks like I’ve started a rumor. Great.
10 reasons to buy a Kindle 2… and 10 reasons not to (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/25/10-reasons-to-buy-a-kindle-2-and-10-reasons-not-to/)
From xkcd Having used both Kindles 1 and 2, I thought it would helpful to list where the new Kindle excels and where it falters.
I learn most of the knowledge I have in my head from the Discovery Channel, Wikipedia, my connections on Twitter, Networking Socially, etc. I doubt students will be flocking to buy this product.
Yes, and that’s really scary.
they’re coming!
freefreebiefinder.com/
Do you know how much money they are making on textbooks , especially those arts course ?
Unless you can find a way to convince those greedy professors to give up their fat income source, it is not going to happen.
Btw, have you seen those retard i-clickers they use in universities right now ? It is all about money.
I suppose there are some greedy professors making a “fat income” but the truth is most of them make very little on textbooks (maybe $4-6 a book). The truth is that a student Kindle would allow many professors the ability to create textbooks using public domain texts and there own writing to create textbooks that might net them double the returns but cost the students 50-60% less. A more affordable Kindle for Education could pose a serious threat to over-priced textbook publishers.
and so it goes
And they’ll only cost $782 a piece! A steal.
It’s brilliant: follow Apple’s strategy of seeding Macs with the next generation. Kids in college spend a heck of a lot more than $300 on textbooks these days so it could be a cost effective win-win all around.
Even I would consider buying a Kindle 2 if it had a textbook-sized screen.
Yay, instead of a book that you can buy used (if you are lucky) and resell (if you are lucky) you get drmed files that you can’t do anything with and doesn’t offer any of the advantages of a plain text file!
Are you kidding?
1. My sons pay more for books in a single semester than what a single Kindle costs.
2. Have you even used a Kindle? This has tons of advantages over paper books. You can’t highlight with color, but you can add your own annotations.
If it has the ability to read academic papers in their pdf form (and to download them from a library-linked Google scholar maybe), then I’m sold!
If not, then still not getting one…
I’d probably buy the student version over the standard Kindle.
lets just pray that it doesn’t look like the one in this pic!
Students pay on average $700 per year on textbooks. If the Kindle were sold at a discount to students at lets say $300, then they’ve got a winner.
Amazon should see the value in pushing this product throughout the college system. Apple & (dare I say) Microsoft caught onto this along time ago. This is the easiest demographic to do market research on & they’re the trend setters.
Over a year after Kindle first launched, I have yet to see a ‘kindle in the classroom’. Colleges and Universities should have been their first market. Young people crave technology. If they can save money on books…well that’s good too!
I imagine a world where digital textbooks cost $10, paperback is only an option, wikified textbooks are online & each school has the power to print wikified copies royalty free. Whoever creates this solutions will be both rich and gracious.
Discount??? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Whooo that is a good one… ohh that hurt
Digital text books at $10????? No stop…. it hurts too much… Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Please! You will get, a best, a 10% discount from the publishing price (if not higher)
You can laugh all you want. It’s only a matter of time before students & faculty find a better way to obtain quality, inexpensive content for the classroom.
Only a fool would pay for 1’s and 0’s at a discount of 10%. Or shall I say 10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%.
I agree IF, and only IF, there was a competitive situation between textbooks. But unless things have changed in the past several years, there is only one text book required for the class. If your prof said you need book xyz for your class you cannot go and get a competitor’s book. And if you believe that the publisher will sacrifice profits… you are still feeling the effects of frat row.
If the profs wanted (or cared) to keep the costs down for the students then they would pick a book from Barns and Nobles instead via a book dealer who visits the campus pushing the latest version of the same info… Calculus has not changes in the past 50+ years but the latest copy is required.
This would be a boon for the publishing houses because they make additional profits from distributing books electronically.
You’re right about the competitive situation. The current model is non-competitive. There are many flaws regarding price gouging and consumer lock-in for textbook. This model is broken and it’s only a matter of time before some entrepreneur questions the status quo and builds something better.
Do we NEED traditional publishing houses?
Do musicians NEED to get signed by a major record label?
Open Source Textbooks Ted Talk
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/richard_baraniuk_on_open_source_learning.html
A Better Business Model
http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/
These walls will surely fall…
The proposed larger screen is a good start. One important factor: the ability to mark up and annotate easily, intuitively. Also: PDFs are a must.
While we didn’t have one available for them to test, I spoke with several University of Washington students recently about textbooks and the Kindle 2. Many were hesitant to make the switch (we have to remember, not all students are as tech-savvy as you and I).
http://www.techflash.com/UW_students_react_to_the_Kindle_most_say_no_thanks_40307282.html
Being a future college student, this technology would be interesting but at the same time most college students already have a tool that has the same capacity as a kindle, a laptop.
What would be nice is if the books were online and viewable through your student account for the school.
There are already many laptops that students can borrow for many hours a time, and if students can each have a laptop they can then all look at the book online, and they could probably have it at a much cheaper price. (The ones who dont have a laptop can still buy a paper version if they want to anyways, so having a laptop is not required).
I have also heard after many college tours that books were quite expensive, and well an online version would most definitely be less expensive.
Laptops cost over $1000 and not EVERYONE has one. Almost everyone has to buy textbooks and having an alternative is a pretty fantastic product.
I agree with you that there should be an online version, but make an offline version as an option.
Amazon is carving a niche as the ‘iTunes of Publishing’.
http://twitter.com/socialcoop/status/1208483390
Welcome.
b ackels…
over a $1000!!! you’re on crack my friend… on almost every other fry’s ad in my local paper, i can see a 17″ toshiba with 4G, 250-320GHD for <700…
so, ease up on the hyperbole..
peace..
Okay. The point is not everyone in school has a laptop. Even those who do, don’t always want to carry it around with them.
In my own situation, I’m thinking of getting a digital reader so I don’t have to haul my $1400 laptop around with me to class and the gym. I’d rather carry a $300 device with non-sensitive data then my laptop which is loaded with sensitive information. In addition, my assumption is the data’s retrievable. So if I lost my device, I could recover the data.
Cute baby by the way. I hope you don’t share my crack addiction…;)
This will save college students lots of money on textbooks. If you could do your work and search the internet on it then the kindle will be a big seller.
Absolutely.
A pay-to-play model just might work when you look at the alternative pricing scheme. Students pay an outrageous prices for textbooks. I’d be more than happy to pay $300 for a device that serves up quality content for $10 per textbook.
In addition to Cost savings the following benefits apply:
* Searchable
* Paperless (waste)
* Lightweight
* Omnipresent
Am I missing something? Can’t ebooks be pirated as easily as music?
Web geeks seem to regard the music industry as a bunch of stupid, greedy dinosaurs who just don’t get the new reality, so why is Bezos treated like the second coming of Jezos? Because he’s one of them? Isn’t his business model more or less the same–trying to squeeze enormous profits out of copyrighted digital stuff that can be fileshared for free?
ditto on the first point… but love Bezos’ laugh very addictive!!
Is that picture doctored? I could have sworn the screen was larger than that.
Yup, definitely doctored.
Maybe TechCrunch doesn’t like Kindle?
This would be amazing!!!
http://tr.im/gQS7
Some time ago, the Greek opposition leader suggested we (in Greece) give each student an e-book.
Here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z_ydmO1yQ0
Humm if my teenager daughter cannot keep her mobile in one piece for longer than a year then this would be toast!
Quite an innovative idea, but I doubt that students will ever use the Kindle as a research tool, even with Wi-fi and Internet. Why? Well, because any modest Netbook can do all of the tricks that would lure students to Kindle plus a lot.
This looks like a sure shot plan for another great device that just didn’t work out. Anyway, if Amazon is bringing Kindle 3 out for students, I’d wish them luck.
Guys, just hang on for a little while – Kindle3 Advanced is about to be announced:
http://www.memberwing.com/__DOWNLOADS/kindle3-advanced/
Gleb
Ever since the first days of ebooks I thought that the best use of them was for schools. You reminded me of that with your post here and I just wrote my own post of all the reasons I feel that ebooks should be used in schools, both college and k-12.
http://connectwithyourteens.blogspot.com/2009/02/kindles-for-students-great-idea.html
Thanks for bringing this up.
Amazing, looks great.. i thinks will be accessible for everyone.
If I were still in college, I would totally get a student Kindle… You’d save sooo much in books.
How is this substantively different from the new, larger Kindle that’s already out?
This would be amazing!!!
larger Kindle that’s already out?