Comments on: The Kindle DX is available for pre-order, does anyone care? http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/ Educational Technology Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:02:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Claunda Clearwater http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26749 Claunda Clearwater Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:11:33 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26749 so how many electronic devices should one person have to carry...sorry but to me a kindle is just plain redundant when I already carry around a netbook....and quite frankly eventually that will be obsolete as the phones become more and more sophisticated....it is just that 60yr old eyes can't deal with the smaller screens (maybe another technology such as lazer eye surgery soon will be able to address that condition). Oh and bty I think watches are redundant too and don't understand why they are marketed as "status" items. Look at me I have a watch on my wrist that I paid too much for when I have the time on my netbook, ipod and phone!!!! so how many electronic devices should one person have to carry…sorry but to me a kindle is just plain redundant when I already carry around a netbook….and quite frankly eventually that will be obsolete as the phones become more and more sophisticated….it is just that 60yr old eyes can’t deal with the smaller screens (maybe another technology such as lazer eye surgery soon will be able to address that condition). Oh and bty I think watches are redundant too and don’t understand why they are marketed as “status” items. Look at me I have a watch on my wrist that I paid too much for when I have the time on my netbook, ipod and phone!!!!

]]> By: Mr.Rcollins http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26702 Mr.Rcollins Thu, 07 May 2009 12:30:52 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26702 I didn't think about the "Teacher Acceptance Factor" which is pretty important, but I think as soon as they realize that it has unfiltered Internet browsing the acceptance will go down. :-( For the K-12 education market I would suspect they'd need to remove the EVDO modem and replace it with wifi. This should also lower the price since you wouldn't need to pay Sprint for network access. The other change would be to make it easy to deploy content to the device. A classroom set of these, with wifi, becomes a lot more usable, basically an iPod Touch with a better screen. It will be interesting to see what Apple releases this summer. College would've been nice with it, if, they lower the cost of the textbooks. I hope they do! I didn’t think about the “Teacher Acceptance Factor” which is pretty important, but I think as soon as they realize that it has unfiltered Internet browsing the acceptance will go down. :-(

For the K-12 education market I would suspect they’d need to remove the EVDO modem and replace it with wifi. This should also lower the price since you wouldn’t need to pay Sprint for network access. The other change would be to make it easy to deploy content to the device. A classroom set of these, with wifi, becomes a lot more usable, basically an iPod Touch with a better screen. It will be interesting to see what Apple releases this summer.

College would’ve been nice with it, if, they lower the cost of the textbooks. I hope they do!

]]> By: Steve Dickie http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26701 Steve Dickie Thu, 07 May 2009 09:36:25 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26701 Well, the Kindle has a couple of advantages over Netbooks. First is battery life. Most netbooks come with smaller batteries that won't even come close to making it through a school day. The second advantage is that a Kindle would not be as threatening to many teachers. I can't tell you how many teachers complain at me when I mention how great it would be if all our kids had a laptop. I'm continually told how off task and distracted students would be. Most teachers simply don't want to adapt their teaching styles to suit a 1 to 1 environment. My wife has a Kindle and I should point out that it is easier to read a lot of text on it than a laptop screen. With all that said, I do have to agree that it is still way too expensive. I don't really think it has much of a place in high school, but I would have loved one of these in college. Especially if it made text books were cheaper. If it cut the textbook price by a quarter you'd pay for it in a couple semesters. Well, the Kindle has a couple of advantages over Netbooks. First is battery life. Most netbooks come with smaller batteries that won’t even come close to making it through a school day.

The second advantage is that a Kindle would not be as threatening to many teachers. I can’t tell you how many teachers complain at me when I mention how great it would be if all our kids had a laptop. I’m continually told how off task and distracted students would be. Most teachers simply don’t want to adapt their teaching styles to suit a 1 to 1 environment.

My wife has a Kindle and I should point out that it is easier to read a lot of text on it than a laptop screen.

With all that said, I do have to agree that it is still way too expensive. I don’t really think it has much of a place in high school, but I would have loved one of these in college. Especially if it made text books were cheaper. If it cut the textbook price by a quarter you’d pay for it in a couple semesters.

]]> By: John Rundag http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26700 John Rundag Wed, 06 May 2009 23:35:46 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26700 I have been following the Kindle, but until the get the right price point, I will not purchase one. I am an online reader. I do not read very many books. I read to keep up on new technology and to soak in information. If I were going to read a book for enjoyment, I would be more apt to buy it on Audible and listen to it on my iPod. I have been following the Kindle, but until the get the right price point, I will not purchase one. I am an online reader. I do not read very many books. I read to keep up on new technology and to soak in information. If I were going to read a book for enjoyment, I would be more apt to buy it on Audible and listen to it on my iPod.

]]> By: Mr.Rcollins http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26699 Mr.Rcollins Wed, 06 May 2009 18:43:56 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26699 Do they offer any way for schools to own the Kindle and setup the account to have purchases approved and billed to the district? Another thought also hit me, the fact that they haven't released a Kindle reader for any operating system other than the iPhone is probably because of the netbook issue. Why would you buy a Kindle when you could just use your current laptop or buy a netbook? Do they offer any way for schools to own the Kindle and setup the account to have purchases approved and billed to the district?

Another thought also hit me, the fact that they haven’t released a Kindle reader for any operating system other than the iPhone is probably because of the netbook issue. Why would you buy a Kindle when you could just use your current laptop or buy a netbook?

]]> By: Chris Hamady http://ryancollins.org/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/comment-page-1/#comment-26698 Chris Hamady Wed, 06 May 2009 17:32:45 +0000 http://ryancollins.org/wp/2009/05/06/the-kindle-dx-is-available-for-pre-order-does-anyone-care/#comment-26698 Ryan, You hit the nail on the head. I was planning on giving the evaluation Kindle that our department purchased to our school library. The trouble is, the content that we purchased for it is tied to my dept. credit card and my Amazon account. So I would have to get a new CC from the library and jump through hoops moving the Kindle and the content to another account/credit card (if that's even possible). DRM is a pain and I don't see anything that embraces it standing the test of time. Chris Ryan,
You hit the nail on the head. I was planning on giving the evaluation Kindle that our department purchased to our school library. The trouble is, the content that we purchased for it is tied to my dept. credit card and my Amazon account.

So I would have to get a new CC from the library and jump through hoops moving the Kindle and the content to another account/credit card (if that’s even possible).

DRM is a pain and I don’t see anything that embraces it standing the test of time.
Chris

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