Thursday, May 27, 2010

Kindle DX Fails The College Test

Last year Amazon went on a campaign to win over college campuses with to their Kindle DX. The big question is whether it passed or failed their exam? Jeff Bezos said at Pace University in New York that the 10” screen and storage capacity were especially suited for college students but they agree?.

They passed the reading test with 90% approval among MBA students at The University of Virginia, but failed the classroom study test with some 80 percent saying they would not recommend it. Others such as at the Princeton University and Portland-based Reed College, liked its long battery life, paper savings and portability, but importantly said no to the inability to scribble notes in the margins, highlight passages or fully appreciate colour charts and graphics.

A continual issues is the availability of digital content and devices that are able to meet student needs.

Amazon appears undaunted and have announced software upgrades to sort books into collections and zoom in on PDF documents. After all, the market is huge with a prize worth some $4.3 billion and a growing concern by both students and colleges on spending budgets and the cost of higher education. Market-research firm Student Monitor claim that the average student spent $659 on textbooks in 2009. The used book trade is significant and ironically one of the benefactors is Amazon.

Now the iPad steps up to the exam table with a number of colleges planning to test it. However its limited capabilities are likely to put it into the same result band as the Kindle and unless textbook prices fall the intial investment may prove a test to far.

Source: Seattle Times

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