Microsoft Reader for Tablet PCs
Lora Heiny rates it:
 
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As a person who goes on reading binges of a novel a night, I adopted a snobby attitude toward electronic books. I preferred paper books.
For me, the impact of a book begins with stacks in used books stores like those in Columbus, OH, West Chester, PA, just north of Decatur, IL, and even right here in Modesto. Details of bookbindings, texture of pages, and even the acrid smell of paper all enhance themes within a book. I appreciate the redundant cue of the thickness of the book that constantly reminds me how many pages I?ve read and how few pages I have to go before I finish the book. All this is before I start to appreciate the combination of words, style, and symbolism of poetry and prose.
A single paper book is portable. It can fit in a purse, bag, or just be carried in a hand during a trip. It can go through airport security scans. I don?t have to wait for the power to turn on to read. I only have to find a source of light so I can just start reading. If, goodness forbid, I accidentally drop my book it is usually unharmed. Of course, I?ve dropped my bird identification key into a lake when canoeing, but even then the book dried out eventually? though it grew mold.
Why in the world would I want to replace what was mostly perfect already?
I?ve used the past tense on purpose. I preferred paper books. With Microsoft Reader for Tablet PC, I?m enjoying the vast instant library that is made possible by electronic books. I can carry with me a library of books, along with my everyday work. Best yet, I don?t have to increase the size of a bag just to take another book or two with me. If I want to scribble a note to myself, I can do so directly on the Tablet PC and it is stored in line with the text.
Several attempts at electronic books have received criticism for everything from ?eBooks are not flexible? to ?eBooks are difficult to annotate.? Recent PDAs helped eBook growth by allowing some of the portability of a regular book.
However, avid book users who did not already own a PDA or have additional uses for a PDA decided, understandably, that they could stick with good ol? ink and paper books. I know several people who have purchased multiple PDAs over several generations, each time hoping it will be better. Each time, the PDA ends up in a drawer or on a closet shelf within a few weeks after the newness wears off.
Tablet PCs have allowed a renewed level of acceptance in eBooks. You can read from your digital library while at your desk, in the airport, or lounging in bed. Plus, with Tablet PCs you have all the capabilities of a traditional computer in the same physical location. Yes, you can still get your regular work done.
Show a young person a Tablet PC and an eBook reader with book and they see possible uses immediately. Get rid of heavy textbooks. Use electronic books.
After all, a Tablet PCs remains the same weight no matter how many eBooks you add, it is easy to carry, and the computer will even read the story out loud to those who need assistance by listening to a story.
Young people who attend public schools continually encounter worn textbooks with missing pages, classrooms where students need to share books to complete homework assignments, and restricted access to primary sources that are even located on the campus or public library. For young students, the leap from paper books to electronic books is obvious and practical.
From the administrator?s standpoint, Tablet PCs equipped with electronic books are an expense just like paper, pencils, erasers, computers, and books.
With Tablet PCs already entering classrooms, the question on how to use electronic books in the classroom is disappearing.
When I described the basics of this article to my thirteen-year-old niece, she commented that in class they usually read portions of text (anthologies) versus entire published works. She being a book lover and appointed student librarian she came up with the idea that she would consider her Tablet PC with eBooks as a Room of Requirements and continue to read entire works of literature as if in the D.A. If you are a muggle who is not familiar with these kid, code words, she is referring to the self-initiative by students in the latest Harry Potter novel.
With that said, here are instructions for using eBooks as material in a course, the most recent version of Microsoft Reader for Tablet PCs, and hopes for the future.
Added: Sunday, April 18, 2004
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