Slashdot Mirror
Wikipedia In Your Pocket, $99
An anonymous reader notes the announcement by Sean Moss-Pultz (Openmoko, Inc.) of a new geek device: The $99 WikiReader. All of Wikipedia in your pocket with no Internet connection required. Works in bright sunlight. 3-button interface. You can update the information in the WikiReader either by mail (they ship a microSD card) or by downloading a 4+ GB file.
Finally we have a hitch hiker's guide to Earth!
Great! Now I can regale and browbeat others with authoritative sounding misinformation wherever I go. Cafe discourses and dinner discussions will never be the same again!
May the Maths Be with you!
Have these people never heard of a diff? How about just letting me download the changes! The Wiki can tell them what they are.
That's worse than useless if I have to redownload all of wikipedia to keep it up to date.
Luckily I have a smart phone with internet access.
Three points to consider:
- It's openmoko based, so it's extremely hackable.
- It uses standard AAA batteries. I can't overstate how important this is to me.
- No contract, hard copy of reference information, safe to give to a kid.
This seems like a good gift solution for
a. hackers
b. travelers
c. parents
yeah, there's no use for an encyclopedia with detailed information on all edible plants out in the middle of nowhere where there's no cell access.
and you couldn't possibly find yourself in a situation where you need information but can't access your wireless, despite being in a 'covered' area, cell phone coverage is, practically, perfect.
Oh, also, power outages. Infrastructure is all well and good, but having all the knowledge you need about the world around you at your fingertips regardless of the state of the outside world is great.
I'd say the places that matter the most are precisely the places that don't have cell access.