Princeton gives mixed report card on Amazon's Kindle DX reader |
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Princeton gives mixed report card on Amazon's Kindle DX reader
Amazon.com has been testing its Kindle DX electronic reader with a handful of universities as a replacement for printed materials in courses. Now Princeton University — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' alma mater — is giving its assessment. While the DX earned praise for its battery life, portability and paper reduction, students and faculty had issues with the device's ability to highlight and annotate text, its folder structure and navigation controls.
The feedback, which mirrors what we heard last year from some University of Washington students who are testing the DX, may inform Amazon's development of future e-readers.
The Princeton press release on the Kindle pilot results is an interesting read, full of comments from students and faculty. You can find more detailed information on the Princeton pilot here.
It's not clear if any of the universities taking part in the pilot will adopt the Kindle DX for wider use.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department announced a deal with three of the universities, saying they would not buy or promote the Kindle DX or other e-readers unless the devices are made more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Advocacy groups for the blind have taken issue with the Kindle's read-aloud feature, which does not extend to the Kindle's menu or navigation controls (meaning visually impaired people can't buy e-books or select them for reading).
Apple's recently unveiled iPad is also targeting the textbook market, raising the stakes for Amazon in academia.
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