$99 Wikipedia reader - Hardware & Software

[QUOTE=cosmic duck;17827133]I just believe in fairness. [editline]03:56PM[/editline] Yeah and how much is that, plus monthly fee?[/QUOTE] Phone was 200€ and I pay 15€ a month for the 3.5G connection. But you have to take in consideration that I do a lot more with it than read Wikipedia, I use it to connect my netbook to internet at school.

Interesting gadget, I doubt many people would have no use for it though. And no pictures, so it's pointless to search mammary intercourse. :(

It seems okay a tool, but god is it ugly.

Obviously, power [I]IS[/I] being used (impossible to have no power be used at all, as you need power to run through the circuits for it to work) but its just such a small amount of power that it's practically not worth considering.

I'd like it if it came in armband form and/or could read itself to you in a suave English voice.

That's pretty neat, kind of small screen but that's what you get for that price.

[QUOTE=KrAzY_nikomo;17827239]Phone was 200€ and I pay 15€ a month for the 3.5G connection. But you have to take in consideration that I do a lot more with it than read Wikipedia, I use it to connect my netbook to internet at school.[/QUOTE] You have to take into consideration that this is a one-time fee of $99, so anybody that just wants Wikipedia access won't have to pay 380€ for their first year and then 180€ after that. So your phone can do all that; congratulations, you're getting your money's worth. I think this is a pretty good idea; sure, it can be done with other methods, but not for this little cash down. Besides, doesn't this cost you British people half as much? :] [QUOTE]I'd like it if it came in armband form and/or could read itself to you in a suave English voice.[/QUOTE] It -is- supposed to be hackable...

[QUOTE=The Epidemic;17827281]Obviously, power [I]IS[/I] being used (impossible to have no power be used at all, as you need power to run through the circuits for it to work) but its just such a small amount of power that it's practically not worth considering.[/QUOTE] No, you don't. Read the thread. You need power when you browse shit, but if you leave the device running with text shown up it will not use any power for displaying the text, only for whatever else it is doing if anything. [QUOTE=cosmic duck;17824340]It's nowhere near 40Gb, Maybe if you stored all the separate php files of the site you might get close.[/QUOTE] It's actually vastly above 40 GB, if you're talking about the storage it would take to make a local copy of wikipedia. The text is about 4 GB (The reader is text only for that reason), the images bring it close to the terabyte, and the revision history/user accounts/everything else make it far above that. [QUOTE=Takoto;17824279]What a load of bollocks, just view wikipedia on your phone if you need to.[/QUOTE] What a load of shit, why would I spend a ton of money on a phone and internet access when I could have a one-time fee of $99? You're saving money over time.

[QUOTE=gparent;17827492]No, you don't. Read the thread. You need power when you browse shit, but if you leave the device running with text shown up it will not use any power for displaying the text, only for whatever else it is doing if anything.[/QUOTE] Well, unless they've made some major revision, the pixels stay in place thanks to an electric field. While this can be achieved with very, very little power, it still does take energy to hold the field in place. Again, that's assuming they didn't use some other way to lock the beads.

[QUOTE=falkflyer;17827513]Well, unless they've made some major revision, the pixels stay in place thanks to an electric field. While this can be achieved with very, very little power, it still does take energy to hold the field in place. Again, that's assuming they didn't use some other way to lock the beads.[/QUOTE] Ah well, sorry if that's true. I was going off on what cosmic said.

It happens. I think it's also worth mentioning that if you haven't visited their site, you're not missing much. It's about as pretty as the device itself. (read: -vomit-)

[QUOTE=ashxu;17824336]I Remember there was a homebrew application for the Nintendo DS, and you can run a downloaded Wiki, they said if you put the whole English wikipedia into a folder, i'd be over 40gb with pictures, 8gb without. So while you guys waste $99, i'll be using my homebrew app.[/QUOTE] That's dumb because even if you have the largest MicroSD (32GB), you'd take up 1/4th of it with fucking wikipedia. You could be using that space for DS, GBA, GBC, GB, NES, SNES, ect games. Have a box. [b]Edit:[/b] I just noticed something. Look at the top of the device. IT ISN'T FUCKING LEVEL AAARRRGGGHGHH

Yeah, it's all squiggly everywhere. The concept is nice, but the execution is poor.

If they made this like 50$- 60$ then this would be really good.

Hopefully, nobody will buy it and they'll have to drop the price or have some special deal. Of course, most people aren't smart enough to realize that... Actually, it would probably make sense to include the first year of updates in the base price. I think that's incentive enough to buy it, for most people.

[QUOTE=falkflyer;17827738]Actually, it would probably make sense to include the first year of updates in the base price. I think that's incentive enough to buy it, for most people.[/QUOTE] The updates are free, the post-you-a-sd-card-with-updates method is for areas without internet access like African schools. The company want to give away the devices to them.

:O What about me? I'm a needy college student, I deserve free Wikipedia! Wait...

[QUOTE=falkflyer;17827513]Well, unless they've made some major revision, the pixels stay in place thanks to an electric field. While this can be achieved with very, very little power, it still does take energy to hold the field in place. Again, that's assuming they didn't use some other way to lock the beads.[/QUOTE] all the balls are either negative or positive, and are attracted to the base plate, a charge is pulsed which changes the polarity and they will stick with that polarity for a very long time, probably like 50 years without any external power, kind of like a magnet.

[QUOTE=cosmic duck;17824333]Not everyone has internet access on their phone, and how many hours can you browse the internet on your phone for?[/QUOTE] If you can afford $99, you can afford mobile internet.

[QUOTE=Takoto;17828139]If you can afford $99, you can afford mobile internet.[/QUOTE] Not the point. You would need more than just the access to use it.

[QUOTE=Takoto;17828139]If you can afford $99, you can afford mobile internet.[/QUOTE] That's just one months worth of cellular bill, not even counting the cost of a web accessing phone.

should have called it the iReader

[QUOTE=Ajacks;17828248]That's just one months worth of cellular bill, not even counting the cost of a web accessing phone.[/QUOTE] £20 a month for me. The phone came free with the contract.

[QUOTE=Hellduck07;17829680]£20 a month for me. The phone came free with the contract.[/QUOTE] It's still more expensive over a few months, so people should get over it. Some of us don't have/need phones.

[QUOTE=gparent;17829755]It's still more expensive over a few months, so people should get over it. Some of us don't have/need phones.[/QUOTE] I'm not disputing that. I'm saying that it doesn't cost $100 a month. And if you don't need a phone for it you don't need the Wiki reader for it.

[QUOTE=Ajacks;17828248]That's just one months worth of cellular bill, not even counting the cost of a web accessing phone.[/QUOTE] I get unlimited for £15 a month. [editline]09:31PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Parky;17828278]should have called it the iReader[/QUOTE] It's not connected to the internet :(

That's pretty cool!

[quote]average battery life from 2 AAA batteries (included) is about ONE YEAR! [/quote] FUCK ING HELL I am so going to buy one of these

[QUOTE=Dr Egg;17824501]Should make an iPhone version if it is only 4GB[/QUOTE] Look up Encyclopedia. It's offline, too.

[QUOTE=Takoto;17832034]I get unlimited for £15 a month. [editline]09:31PM[/editline] It's not connected to the internet :([/QUOTE] Imagine being somewhere without Internet and cellphone signal, and you want to wiki some something. That's where this thing comes in.