Comments on: XO laptop e-book video reminds us that the Kindle isn’t the be-all and end-all for every reader http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:50:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Mary Minot on Kindles in Libraries… « If Only I Had Known….GPL RefDesk http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-674363 Mary Minot on Kindles in Libraries… « If Only I Had Known….GPL RefDesk Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:32:45 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-674363 [...] at least one library is experimenting with Kindles. (Thanks, David Rothman at Teleread). I think XO’s would be a much better durable choice.  Kindles are a bit too fragile, IMHO, for library [...] [...] at least one library is experimenting with Kindles. (Thanks, David Rothman at Teleread). I think XO’s would be a much better durable choice.  Kindles are a bit too fragile, IMHO, for library [...]

]]> By: Greg http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-661886 Greg Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:29:57 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-661886 XO seems to be a pretty neat ebook reader. I've been looking at a fairly nice sized 181 page ebook I downloaded from a site called, "Adopting an Abandoned Farm". I've found the XO loads the large ebooks rather slowly. At least on my XO but I'm still learning. The pages are not all loaded in memory or it doesn't seem like they are. They are queued up, so a larger PDF file isn't something you can quickly scroll through, as you could on an ibook G4 or some other modern powerhouse. The resolution is really GREAT on the XO. It's great, some of the smaller EBOOK scans could be magnified a bit more for some books like the one mentioned above. For elderly readers who want larger fonts or diplays the 400% resolution limit might be a little on the low side. I've seen some Ebooks that looked fine and huge at much lower scaling on the XO more in the 200% range, so it's dependent about the book. The sunlight screen is really sharp and DEAD on accurate and matches the color screen nicely. Video doesn't do it justice. The sunlight screen mode is easily as good as the Sony Ebook reader you'd see at a local bookstore like Borders. I'd say this is a winner from a gadget geek point of view. There are some caveots however. Sometimes the machine seems to act slow or hang up unexpectedly. I expect this to improve with better version updates over time. Sometimes it's a bit of a pain to wait and wonder how long it will take for the thing to work and get going. I suppose if your a kid in the third world and not loading a huge PDF file, it's not going to be as much of a problem for younger kids. They might seem impatient waiting, but if it's their only experience, they'll just learn some patience and learn to wait a bit. That's my first impression, but my XO is only a couple of days out of the box. We'll see what happens later. I actually have two of them so I can play with mesh. I'm working on learning about what is going on with that. WOuld like to see a comprehensive all in one spot manual for basic XO stuff in PDF format, that I could print off for quick reference and learning. It'd be nice to have that stuff in a printed manual for those of us in the first world, with access to other computers and printers. XO seems to be a pretty neat ebook reader. I’ve been looking at a fairly nice sized 181 page ebook I downloaded from a site called, “Adopting an Abandoned Farm”. I’ve found the XO loads the large ebooks rather slowly. At least on my XO but I’m still learning. The pages are not all loaded in memory or it doesn’t seem like they are. They are queued up, so a larger PDF file isn’t something you can quickly scroll through, as you could on an ibook G4 or some other modern powerhouse.

The resolution is really GREAT on the XO. It’s great, some of the smaller EBOOK scans could be magnified a bit more for some books like the one mentioned above. For elderly readers who want larger fonts or diplays the 400% resolution limit might be a little on the low side. I’ve seen some Ebooks that looked fine and huge at much lower scaling on the XO more in the 200% range, so it’s dependent about the book.

The sunlight screen is really sharp and DEAD on accurate and matches the color screen nicely. Video doesn’t do it justice. The sunlight screen mode is easily as good as the Sony Ebook reader you’d see at a local bookstore like Borders. I’d say this is a winner from a gadget geek point of view. There are some caveots however. Sometimes the machine seems to act slow or hang up unexpectedly. I expect this to improve with better version updates over time. Sometimes it’s a bit of a pain to wait and wonder how long it will take for the thing to work and get going. I suppose if your a kid in the third world and not loading a huge PDF file, it’s not going to be as much of a problem for younger kids. They might seem impatient waiting, but if it’s their only experience, they’ll just learn some patience and learn to wait a bit.

That’s my first impression, but my XO is only a couple of days out of the box. We’ll see what happens later. I actually have two of them so I can play with mesh. I’m working on learning about what is going on with that.

WOuld like to see a comprehensive all in one spot manual for basic XO stuff in PDF format, that I could print off for quick reference and learning. It’d be nice to have that stuff in a printed manual for those of us in the first world, with access to other computers and printers.

]]> By: Bryan http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-639306 Bryan Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:57:01 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/11/26/xo-laptop-e-book-video-reminds-us-that-the-kindle-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-for-every-reader/#comment-639306 I can see that OLPC would be pretty uncomfortable for reading with. Two issues: 1) Watch Brewster's hand as he pages through the book. It's bent into a pretty unnatural position. So this would likely be uncomfortable during any reding session of more than a couple minutes. 2) Still have doubts about the screen. I know that video is harsh, but I saw glare and washout in that video. Hard to know if these would be avoided in the many places one reads a book. OLPC shows that it <i>may</i> be possible to lower the hardware price to more acceptable levels. But let's keep in mind that the OLPC guys seek zero profit. We'll soon see how sustainable that is. And, as an ebook device, it needs a redesign - buttons in more hand-friendly places at a minimum. I can see that OLPC would be pretty uncomfortable for reading with. Two issues:

1) Watch Brewster’s hand as he pages through the book. It’s bent into a pretty unnatural position. So this would likely be uncomfortable during any reding session of more than a couple minutes.

2) Still have doubts about the screen. I know that video is harsh, but I saw glare and washout in that video. Hard to know if these would be avoided in the many places one reads a book.

OLPC shows that it may be possible to lower the hardware price to more acceptable levels. But let’s keep in mind that the OLPC guys seek zero profit. We’ll soon see how sustainable that is. And, as an ebook device, it needs a redesign - buttons in more hand-friendly places at a minimum.

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