Saving Paper with the Kindle dx
We all know that the Kindle 2.0 has a superb display. Anyone who has physically looked at a book on the Kindle 2.0 will agree with me in saying that the clarity of print is amazing. Amazon recently premiered the new Kindle dx and eluded
to the fact that it was being marketed to students for textbook use. Why students would want the Kindle dx is no surprise – it will lighten their load and provide a very mobile solution for their textbook needs.
What does surprise me is the forward thinking of Princeton University. I recently came across an article in The Daily Princetonian that details the university’s plans for the Kindle DX. They will be offering the Kindle DX to the students (and faculty) in three courses next fall. As part of the program, it is expected that Princeton will offer the Kindle DX to students for use in reading their textbooks. But what is surprising is that Princeton has plans to use the Kindle DX to cut back on printing as well.
While other universities also announced similar Kindle dx initiative programs, Princeton’s project may be unique in that it will focus on sustainability by reducing the amount of electronic-reserve course materials that students print.
“Over 10 million pages were printed out in cluster printers [last year],” OIT director of academic services Serge Goldstein said, adding that “a lot of that is students printing e-reserves.” He emphasized that the other schools partnering with Amazon were more focused on providing students with textbooks on the e-readers rather than reducing paper use on campus.
“These devices have a screen technology that is really designed to optimize the reading experience,” Goldstein said, adding that students print e-reserves rather than read them on their computers because “laptop screens are not designed for supporting lots of reading.”
And while the university is standing behind the Kindle and what it offers, it is also standing behind its students. The article goes on to say:
“We don’t force technology on people because we think it’s cool or bleeding edge,” Temos said. “If it turns out that it’s not working, we’ll abandon it.”
Source: The Princetonian, U. to launch Kindle pilot program
Related posts:
- Saving the New York Times with an Amazon Kindle
- 5 Reasons to Love the New Kindle DX
- Kindle 3 Coming Soon!
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