In our geeky daily life we are able to access to Wikipedia anywhere (home, work, transport), on high-res full color devices (computer, phones...). Because hi-tech and Internet/Phone are everywhere.
This device gives you : - offline access to Wikipedia - on a cheap device (it could be cheaper if the company were bigger I presume) - which uses AAA batteries, available anywhere in the world. We (US/EU/Jap) almost don't care about these 3 points, so I can understand the "omg fuck**g useless I've already got a wikipedia apps on my iPhone, with images, colors and ponnies!". But (IMHO) this device represents a new way to distribute Wikipedia. Let's see the existing ones : - a computer + internet : you need electricity, phone, Internet, a computer (+ knowledge to use it) - a computer + dvd : the same but you have removed the phone/Internet dependency - a smartphone (with or without provider) + an ebook reader software : usually naked phone are a bit costly, but it could be cheaper than a computer. You will need specific batteries when yours will die. - a true ebook reader : ~= smartphone+software but easier to use I presume (I don't know if there is an existing ebook reader able to read Wikipedia but it seems a good solution) - a real book (still a good way, maybe a bit heavy because of Wikipedia size) The wikireader : - AAA batteries - 3 buttons, and supposedly easy to use - open soft and hard (I presume), sturdy Ok this is the english version of wikipedia and it is sold in US/EU/Jap (not the best market for it), but it's not *that* bad for a start : geeks make you earn a bit of cash, and could start tweaking the device... (ebook reader feature someone ?) Xavier Cremaschi. _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community