The Kindle the Ideal Tablet Teaching Tool

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2 Aug, 2010 2:30 pm

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A topic that I can’t go 20 minutes at any tech conference with out hearing is Convergence. Everyone is always talking about convergence and the converged device. I think, yeah, one day, but I don’t want to get stuck using the complicated, anti user friendly device that the industry thinks is the new end all be all converged device. (See many any Pre Android or Pre Apple Smartphone) What we have to do to get the average consumer on the technology train, is to leave them a trail of bread crumbs showing them the mobile computing way.

Devices like the Amazon Kindle are paving the way to show the average consumer how to move forward with technology, the new slimmed down Kindle is now shipping with the Webkit browser making it faster and easier to navigate and even offers an article mode which extracts the main text based content. The idea that ebooks and tablets are going to converge into one device isn’t new. The only thing holding it back is the display technology. Ebooks use Epaper, tablets use LCD or TFT displays which aren’t outdoor friendly and consume a lot of power.

Display technologies like Qualcomm’s Mirasol stuff will change this by CES this coming January where, as rumor has it, they will be showing off a Kindle with Mirasol Display. Mirasol uses tiny mirrors, known as microelectronic machines, to create its display, which has the low power characteristics of E-Ink displays and the video-playing and color abilities of LCDs.

As the line between e reader, tablet and netbook continues to blur I’m thankful that eReaders are teaching mobile computing rookies to expect connectivity out of the devices. What I’m worried about is naming them, marketing spin doctors try to create new categories every time their device does one or two things that that all the others can’t. If we can keep the marketers in line we might actually have a shot at actually educating consumers on how to use their technology.

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  • aftermath

    To be honest, I ONLY read your article because I misread your headline. I thought it was going to be an article about how the Kindle was a good device for educational/classroom/instructional environments, which sounded intriguing to me because those are areas that I am pretty passionate about but have no experience with the Kindle. Of course, I was wrong, but didn't realize that I was wrong until I got to the end of your article.

    I'm very glad that I read it. It was very well written, and you bring up some very good points about low-resource personal mobile computing and barriers to its adoption. It's nice to see coverage that's obviously opinion, but opinion that's well-reasoned, thoughtful, insightful, and not a Trojan horse for the hype or marketing of a product/brand/company/technology. I also appreciate that you seem to care about the consumer and want to respond to the consumer's predicament of not realizing that they need to educated. I hope to read more from you in the future. Thanks.