http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/index.cfm?forumid=11 FuseTalk Standard Edition http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=102&threadid=429 2010-07-02T13:06:15 -05.00 rabel 1
This week Amazon announced a new large screen Kindle DX. Basically the same as before but a brighter screen/clearer image - even better in direct sunlight than before.

As pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, the prior large screen device has already failed in education:
Amazon's Kindle DX Re-Enters Ring by Geoffrey A. Fowler and Shira Ovide, Wall Street Journal, 2 July 2010

Also, this week, there was more news about U.S. Fed warnings about how Kindle fails the important test in education of accessibility for the blind - making it a legal liability:
Inaccessible E-Readers May Run Afoul of the Law, Feds Warn Colleges by Marc Perry, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 June 2010

Well, there are no perfect solutions for textbooks on e-readers in education, but it certainly seems that the iPad is distancing itself as a possible way forward on an almost daily basis. All we need is an iPad e-Book app that is based on open standards and lets anyone play regardless of the distribution channel . . .

Hey - on the bright side for Amazon at least the Kindle may be the choice for students taking courses on the beach!

-Rob Abel]]> http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=102&threadid=426 2010-06-27T08:14:52 -05.00 rabel 1
Been awhile - anything happening on the e-reader for education front? You bet. Lately there have been some important clues about how the positioning of e-readers vs the iPad or iPad-like devices for use in education will shake out. A cover story in the Wall Street Journal from last week highlights a new price war for "low-end readers."

Price Cuts Electrify E-Reader Market by Geoffrey A. Fowler - 21 June 2010

Even the terminology used in the article - low end - is very revealing.

In a move that the article heralds as threatening the success of the iPad and having the potential to make e-readers more mainstream, e-reader price cuts have been announced taking them down to $149 for the Barnes & Noble Nook and $189 for the Amazon Kindle.

This, is, of course, the old razor and razor blade strategy. The money to be made is in the e-books - not the reader. And, this is perceived as a response to Apple because in just 65 days the iPad has captured a reported 22% of the e-Book market.

What does this mean for e-readers in education? Well, in some sense it means nothing because the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble have pretty much already conceded that these text-reading things are consumer devices and not for the education market. But, what the price cutting does is further limit the e-reader functionality by limiting the motivation to invest in the hardware. In other words, there seems to be a market for the low end - text-only - e-Book. It's high margin, low unit pricing. So, why not take up that position - one that Apple probably does not want. Apple is clearly going after a higher functioning set of e-Book products that can therefore be higher priced. Ergo - what education primarily needs if e-Books are going to replace textbooks.

Will some students or libraries buy Kindles and Nooks and download text-only books to supplement where and how they can read? - sure. Will these things ever replace textbooks? No.

-Rob Abel]]> http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=102&threadid=392 2010-05-27T11:05:50 -05.00 rabel 1
The Wall Street Journal had a good article today laying out the dilemma in the commercial book market (not textbooks specifically):

The Chapter And Verse on E-Bookstores By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER - 27 May 2010

- Rob Abel]]> http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=102&threadid=349 2010-04-16T09:03:32 -05.00 rabel 1 namely the bar has been raised now for the reader devices to become more computers and app machines and that each major vendor with a direct link to consumers is relentlessly pursuing their individual proprietary platform strategies.

Also, as I have written here before, the hope for the education segment is that a new and upcoming provider will "break the mold" by implementing open standards like IMS Common Cartridge - that fit the needs of the education segment.

I'm very happy to report that we have one such provider - Entourage Edge - coming to our Learning Impact conference, May 17-20 in Long Beach, CA, USA. Entourage Edge is also giving away one of their e-Book reader "Dualbooks" at the conference to those that visit their booth and enter. Now, this is pretty neat because since this is a small conference - 250 people or so - you actually have a pretty good shot at winning.

The other important point to mention is that I expect that some of the institutional members of IMS will want to pilot the Edge - and IMS will help facilitate those discussions at the conference and beyond.

We have a way to go in terms of the evolution of these devices as they become more like the hybrid computers/eReaders that are needed. But, it is clear to me that a platform like the Edge is a way to see where this can really go from an institutional adoption perspective - as opposed to the direct to consumer iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc.

I look forward to seeing you at Learning Impact 2010! If you come you will find out from the leaders in digital education content and e-Books - such as CourseSmart, VitalSource, CafeScribe, Pearson, Cengage, McGraw-Hill, and Connexions about where things are really headed . . .

-Rob Abel]]> http://www.imsglobal.org/community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=102&threadid=319 2010-02-19T08:45:46 -05.00 rabel 1