Ellen Hage’s Juice Box photos
From Ellen Hage, proud owner of a Juice Box now used as an e-book reader: Here are the pictures. I also put them on the ebook community forum for a couple days. My plans are to scan flash cards and place them on the juice box as a learning tool. My son is four now and is learning his letters. I also want to put flash cards to help him learn all his shapes and colors.
I found that with the paper version they get used for things other than learning, only to get lost or chewed on. This way I won’t have to keep buying more sets. Another idea could involve us doing something together is to make up stories. I have some coloring book programs that he can color in and then make a story up about it and then “publish” to the Juice Box. He is already quite excited about it.
From what I can tell there are some nice ebooks for children online and are available for free. So that will be a good source (I hate scanning). Unfortunately the ones that I really like use Flash. Those we will look at on the Cybook together if it has that capability (haven’t had a chance to try it yet).
Please note that I cropped Ellen’s photos and that, while consulting with her, I used L View to reduce the brightness to make the view more realistic. In the original photos, the Juice Box screens were obviously overexposed. Probably I have not compensated enough. – David Rothman
Hates the Juice Box idea: Ed Howershelt isn’t as enchanted with the Juice Box. Here’s what he wrote me: “If it doesn’t have a decent display, I’ll use my Tosh lappie. Until last year I didn’t need reading glasses for any but the finest print. Anything that taxes my eyes isn’t entertainment.”
I reminded Ed he isn’t a a kid and that their preferences may differ. Ed says: “Shrug. Their eyeballs can take the strain.”
Well, each to his/her own. E-book devices are like hearing aids; you more or less have to custom-fit them. If kids like the Juice Box and can learn from text displayed that way, why not honor their wishes?
June 6th, 2005 at 5:16 am
I also own a laptop. My main reason for not using it as an ebook reader device is that it is too heavy. I more or less need to sit in front of it the same way I sit in front of a desktop PC, which leads to neck and back pain.
June 6th, 2005 at 5:46 am
Right on, Branko! The selection of reading devices is a rather personal matter. I myself avoid laptops because I can’t seprately vary the distances between me and (1) the keyboard and (3) the screen. Certainly weight could be another factor. – David
September 11th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Do you have a list of book titles that converted well to the Juice Box? I just picked up a couple for my young kids and would love to convert a slew of stuff for them.
Thanks.