Kids are always breaking or losing things though, text books get beat up real bad, will an ebook hold up?
John Aravosis
· 10 months ago
Well I know my nephew, for one, would have to have the thing locked to his wrist, or he'd lose it. Also, in our country, kids would be probably be robbed for their e-books. Still, it's an interesting idea. And in a country like Greece, that still has a way to go technologically, it's good to have a politician who gets technology - I'm told that the ebook is in fact Papandreou's own that he's showcasing.
SeekTheTruth
· 10 months ago
Good point, John.
Nick
· 10 months ago
It's a great idea. This semester alone cost me $420. But the schools love to get books that are new each year so you can't get them online in time for class.
stephanie miller
· 10 months ago
not every book is available on a kindle, that is a misonception.
vegasbaby
· 10 months ago
This is a fantastic idea. And it would save our eduction system billions of dollars.
Someone tell Obama!
houstonray
· 10 months ago
My fondest dream is that Apple will take the bull by the horns and develop the ultimate eBook reader. I think they could do for eBooks what they did for downloadable music. The Sony is neater than the Kindle in my opinion, but the Kindle is great because of downloading books right off of Amazon. But couldn't the iTunes store do the same thing?
SeekTheTruth
· 10 months ago
It's a good idea, but people should remember one fact: e-books are not as good as real books as far as comprehension goes.
I don't expect John to appreciate this, but even those of us who are constant Internet users still prefer hard copy--and with good reason. The issue of comprehension will never change; ebooks are terrific in some applications, but like e-newspapers, they signal a great falloff in literary comprehension and appreciation.
Best to keep both formats in use.
MNPundit
· 10 months ago
The appreciation stuff? Total hot air and I have a personal anecdote against it but the point is, unprovable.
Anyhow, the comprehension stuff seems to be a more solid argument that we can go find some numbers on. That said, if the books were on something like e-paper, it might work better. I personally LOVE LOVE LOVE the gell-like feel of modern screens and some epaper and I can't wait until I can just pull stuff up on them and grab 'em to read them.
SeekTheTruth
· 10 months ago
'Total hot air' is a silly thing to say. If you can't see the falloff in appreciation for literature, you're part of the problem.
Ebooks are a great device, and as a college prof, I think they're the solution to the textbook problem. Literature, though, is a different animal.
And you won't have to look far for reading comprehension studies involving hard copy and screen copy. It's already proven.
John Aravosis
· 10 months ago
That's an interesting point. I grew up in the pre-computer years, and then computers came of age in the 70s when I was in high school and college. I studied everything out of books, and it was nice to be able to mark up the margins etc. I've never tried to read a 300 page book on a computer, no idea how it would work out.
Iowan
· 10 months ago
Text books . . . YES! With the simplest of texts going for $100-$200 each schools and students are strapped with huge costs even before a class starts. What a deal for students and (I think) even for the book companies. Even if students/schools were charged $25 per semester per book, the company would only have to have the book used by a few college or high school classes to recoup their cost. Everything else would be gravy for the company and a HUGE windfall for students. No printing, no shipping, and great for the trees!
renegademom
· 10 months ago
I like it, especially for kids. Aside from the cost of books, both in dollars and in environmental consequences, my experience is that my kids (3 of them) are more likely to read something in a hand-held device than an actual book. The destruction factor is big (for example, my eldest son dropped his brand new cell phone into a glass of orange soda the other day), AND it is easier to remember to stuff one kindle into your backback than to remember textbooks. Also, those texts are HEAVY. this should go to the white house web site!
Amaliada
· 10 months ago
As an American living in Greece, I can state that the government NEVER buys the books in time for the new school year and that most classes only use ONE book. In fact, Greek students are not taught critical thinking skills, instead they are required to memorize the details stated in their books. The Greek educational system is absolutely horrible for these and many other reasons and then the Greeks don't want private colleges or to acknowledge the degrees that many Greeks (whether American citizens or not) receive in European or American universities because they don't conform to Greece's absurd standards. Suggest you start reading the Athens News - www.athensnews.gr, and get another version of Mr. Papandreou and Greece. I just spent three days stuck in Athens because the farmers are striking for better market conditions - what government has control of market conditions?
kh7463
· 10 months ago
Can you imagine the savings for college students here? They could get one of those at the start of their first semester, download the required books they need say for $10 a pop and have all their texts available that way.
I work in a university, and the biggest complaint (well, next to parking) is how much textbooks are and how few used books are available.
benb
· 10 months ago
Why not Open Source Books for school or college? How many Calculus, History, French, Philosophy, basic Science books etc...do we really need? It costs a fortune for students and it's wasteful. I cringe when I have to pay more for a textbook than I do tuition for a class at a community college.
leo
· 10 months ago
First, this is a bad buy. For the same amount, you could get a 'netbook' which does five million more things. If you want to fit every child in Greece with a piece of hardware, a netbook would be it.
Second, assuming such a device were adequate for the task (and why assume that?), as far as overall cost is concerned, I really wonder if there'd be that much of a savings. I mean, we're not talking $10 a pop but considerably more. Remember, textbook publishing is about as closed a system as you can get.
Even the books Amazon is selling for its Kindle are only cheaper by maybe 20%. For a textbook costing $150 (and yes, that's what they cost), you'd be paying $130 instead.
John Aravosis
· 10 months ago
Well he wasn't talking about Kindles, I just happened to mention Kindle. He was talking about a $100 device that I'm not familiar with.
leo
· 10 months ago
I still think it's a bad deal. I mean, would you rather have a Kindle even for $100 when you could have this baby for not much more.
Basically all of these devices are 'eReaders'. The more dedicated devices just seem like proprietary lock-in to me.
Indigo
· 10 months ago
Good for business if you're an optometrist.
Martha
· 10 months ago
Mr. George Papadreou has never had any good ideas. One reason Greece is in the state it is today, it is because of his farther.
John Aravosis
· 10 months ago
I kind of like this one.
JRH
· 10 months ago
I have a Kindle and love it. I bought it when it first came out so paid $399 for it without any discounts. I now have thousands of books on SD chips and even more on my computer. The only problem I could see with kids having a Kindle is breakage. The Kindle is pretty sturdy and mine has taken alot of drops and bumps, but on the other hand I am not a 9 year old either.
dula
· 10 months ago
I hope they eventually use touchscreen technology so you can highlight passages of textbooks by dragging your finger across the screen...and then just put a slide-out keyboard and word processor on it so you can take notes...a little email and texting capability would be nice(then you could take the cell phones away from the children...I hate a cell phone on a child.)
nikto
· 10 months ago
Oh, come on. Students don't need books--They need lots and lots of multiple-choice tests to help them learn the State standards.
Memorize, regurgitate, memorize, regurgitate, until Margaret Spellings (or Arne Duncan) is happy.
That's the Amurkkkan (NCLB) way.
What could Papandreou be thinking?
What's he trying to create---Intellectuals??
My God.
Nick_Papandreou
· 10 months ago
Besides the actual costs and benefits of the specific proposal, george papandreou's proposal kicked up some dust on the issue of education in Greece, and any discussion is better than the stagnancy concerning the education system right now. His proposal might or might not pass muster, but it should certainly be considered and also gets going discussion on textbooks,quality of education, use of modern technology et cetera. So let' not simply address this proposal of $100 ebooks in a vacuum but as part of a broader effort to kick-start discussions on technolofy and education today. Sidenote: George Papandreou, in a similar vein, has openly promoted the $100 laptop by fellow Greek American Negroponte of MIT Media Labs and has opened doors in that direction as well. (I am his brother.... so you will allow for some positive bias...)
Lambis Platsis
· 9 months ago
George Papandreou’s proposal actually tries to cover the lost ground in the Greek educational system with a single giant, difficult but absolutely necessary leap forward. In a system that the student books in all educational levels –if and when they are available-, are at best, years outdated, this proposal will at least solve these fundamental problem. It opens the door to new horizons for all Greek students, specially these at elementary and basic level. The economics of the proposal is indeed an issue, especially under the current conditions, but if the political will exists, difficult thinks do get done. George Papandreou’s proposal is both, politically and socially correct. It must be considered seriously.
All Comments
Someone tell Obama!
I don't expect John to appreciate this, but even those of us who are constant Internet users still prefer hard copy--and with good reason. The issue of comprehension will never change; ebooks are terrific in some applications, but like e-newspapers, they signal a great falloff in literary comprehension and appreciation.
Best to keep both formats in use.
Anyhow, the comprehension stuff seems to be a more solid argument that we can go find some numbers on. That said, if the books were on something like e-paper, it might work better. I personally LOVE LOVE LOVE the gell-like feel of modern screens and some epaper and I can't wait until I can just pull stuff up on them and grab 'em to read them.
Ebooks are a great device, and as a college prof, I think they're the solution to the textbook problem. Literature, though, is a different animal.
And you won't have to look far for reading comprehension studies involving hard copy and screen copy. It's already proven.
I work in a university, and the biggest complaint (well, next to parking) is how much textbooks are and how few used books are available.
Second, assuming such a device were adequate for the task (and why assume that?), as far as overall cost is concerned, I really wonder if there'd be that much of a savings. I mean, we're not talking $10 a pop but considerably more. Remember, textbook publishing is about as closed a system as you can get.
Even the books Amazon is selling for its Kindle are only cheaper by maybe 20%. For a textbook costing $150 (and yes, that's what they cost), you'd be paying $130 instead.
Basically all of these devices are 'eReaders'. The more dedicated devices just seem like proprietary lock-in to me.
Students don't need books--They need lots and lots of multiple-choice tests
to help them learn the State standards.
Memorize, regurgitate, memorize, regurgitate, until
Margaret Spellings (or Arne Duncan) is happy.
That's the Amurkkkan (NCLB) way.
What could Papandreou be thinking?
What's he trying to create---Intellectuals??
My God.