Poor Anne of Cleves. Or should I say, lucky Anne of Cleves? This historical character, played by Joss Stone on Showtime’s The Tudors, is one of the most enigmatic of Henry’s wives. She acts as a kind of historical pivot on which Protestantism, international politics, the changing character of Henry VIII, and the ineffabilities of…
Why Educators Should Mourn the Departure of the SD Chip Slot from the Kindle 2
by Will DeLamater
Can’t find the expansion slot for additional memory on your Kindle 2? That’s because there isn’t one. And, as I have indicated in earlier posts, that’s not a good deal for educators. This change seems to be part of the “closing” of the Kindle, where a sleek form factor trumps functionality. If the Kindle is…
Why Fewer Buttons On the Outside of the Kindle 2 is Bad News for Educators
by Will DeLamater
There is another way in which Amazon is “veering away from supporting educational uses.” The Kindle 2 actually makes it harder to manage the settings of the device. How? Most importantly, the Kindle 2 pushes the wifi “on/off” setting into a menu and removes the button from the exterior of the device. Stylish, yes. Helpful,…
Why Kindle 2 Isn’t Good for Education
by Will DeLamater
OK, ket’s be fair. Amazon created the Kindle as a consumer device for reading books, novels primarily, with a little assistance on the side for newspapers, magazines, and blogs. As a business system, the device actualized the ebook value chain for the biggest etailer of books on the planet. It only makes sense. It also…
Read About Swine Flu and Pandemics on the Kindle
by Will DeLamater
I have been learning a lot about pandemics in the last few weeks. Who knew that the risk level for pandemics now stands at five out of six? The Wall Street Journal, which I read on my Kindle, has two articles in today’s paper, looking at worst case (The Age of Pandemics) and the most…
Tudors’ Pilgrimage on Kindle
by Will DeLamater
If you want to prep for tonight’s new episode of The Tudors on Showtime, I have pulled a short article from Wikipedia on “The Pilgrimage of Grace” to assist you. As with all these articles, click on the download link and save the file to your computer. Then connect to your Kindle using the USB…
The Logic of the Kindle
by Will DeLamater
Someone said “Why would I want to carry another device just to read a book?” I guess they missed the fact that they were already carrying a device just to read a book, and that would be the book itself…
More Tudors on Your Kindle
by Will DeLamater
I don’t know if anyone else has gotten hooked on the Showtime series that portrays the life and times of King Henry the VIII of England, but after catching up with seasons One and Two on DVD, our household settles down on Sunday nights for a journey back to the 16th-century and the Tudors. Of…
Books Smell Fine on the Kindle
by Will DeLamater
It has been amusing to hear over the last months how many people are wed to the way that books smell. The smell of books is cited as a primary objection to the Kindle, which, as far as I can tell, has no discernible smell. That sensory exploration of books by the nose seems almost…
Kojo and the Kindle
by Will DeLamater
Great show on WAMU with Kojo Nnamdi this Tuesday concerning “The Future of the Book.” Kojo talks with guests and listeners about how ebooks are growing in popularity and how far this trend may go. Of particular interest to EduKindle is the part of the show that featured Dean Hubbard from Northwest Missouri State University…