Princeton Boasts Its Kindle Project Is Noblest 116
theodp writes "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what's the noblest Amazon Kindle DX project of all? While other universities announced similar programs, Princeton is boasting its project is unique in that it will focus on sustainability by reducing the amount of electronic-reserve course materials that students print. Under the pilot program, $60,000 will reportedly be used to provide 50 lucky Princeton students with $489 Kindle DX devices loaded with materials for three courses. In a FAQ, students are told not to worry about 'this time of severe economic constraints' — Princeton and Amazon have managed to tap into a fund specifically endowed to support sustainability projects to provide Kindles at no cost. In addition to a $30,000 grant from the High Meadows Foundation, which is headed by Princeton alum Carl Ferenbach (who, coincidentally, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund with the wife of Amazon Director John Doerr), a matching amount will be provided by Princeton alum Jeff Bezos' Amazon. The E-reader Pilot Program has more information."
Kindle 2 (Score:4, Interesting)
I never buy books because I'm lazy and I never know if I'll like them, plus the hassle of having to acquire them and then wait for them to get to you. I've never read Larry Niven, instead opting to read the synopsis of the plots of Wikipedia, but I have read three short stories (Core, Neutron Star, and now in the middle of Flatlander) and I am loving it. I'm writing this because an eBook reader is better than I thought it would be, and it would probably be better than you think, as well. I like it and I'm impressed.
Re:VERY cool (Score:3, Interesting)
The Kindle supports text copying from a book, so you can clip out a section of text and it would likely be more usable than something scanned from a physical book. Not an issue at all. You can also take screenshots of the Kindle screen but that is limited to the physical display, not any particular text.
I am sure the DX will have at least this capability, if not something better in terms of screen shots.
Re:Sustainable? (Score:2, Interesting)
In my experience, the lifespan of a modern textbook is about 3 years. I mean, you can still read it after that, but good luck trying to use it in a class.
There is some potential that e-readers could be used to replace coursepacks and other printed/photocopied material, so it isn't just textbooks that might be replaced.
Also, the article mentions that there are 60 people trying it, so I wouldn't freak out just yet.
Re:60 000$ for 50 students? (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe my case is unusual, but I'm fairly sure I never spent more than $150 on books for a single class, and even that was rare. I went to a state flagship university for undergrad.
The most expensive books were for basic science classes (well, and that one accounting book I bought before realizing that I wanted nothing to do with the business school), running around $80 to $110...
This year, I had to buy a law textbook... the "revised" 4th edition was selling at Barnes and Noble for about $100. I bought the (not revised) 4th edition off of Amazon for $20. While I was waiting for it to ship, I sat in B&N drinking hot chocolate, and wrote down all the changes in the revised edition (which were helpfully noted in two pages at the beginning).
The slightly older version was practically identical; it lacked two cases that were very recent, both of which I found the opinions for online. The extra footwork was well worth the $80 saved.
Re:60 000$ for 50 students? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sustainable? (Score:2, Interesting)
Considering that textbooks get replaced all the time, your estimate for 20 years is unrealistic.
You are correct that the information doesn't change much, but the companies who make textbooks want to sell more, so they issue a new edition, rearrange some of the information in there, and then suddenly the secondary market now has an obsolete book which isn't acceptable for whatever class you are taking.
As for lifespan, my Sony Reader is still going strong after a year of pretty heavy usage. Considering that the original Kindle has been out for barely over a year, you can't say that the Kindle's lifespan is 2 years. No Kindle has reached 2 years yet!