4 ms·

I grew up with Microsoft Encarta, but still enjoyed encyclopedias and such. So I think these are compatible. Talking about kids in the next generation, I've alw

by shas3 12y ago

I grew up with Microsoft Encarta, but still enjoyed encyclopedias and such. So I think these are compatible. Talking about kids in the next generation, I've always wondered about whether Kindle / iPad / etc. encourage discovery of books and information. Information is available if you seek it, but how about discovery? As a kid, I picked up many books because they were either lying around at home or caught my curiosity in the library. Same with music! Because I had some casettes and CDs at home, I picked them up and listened to them. But Kindle, etc. are not designed for this kind of accidental discovery or for igniting your curiosity to pick it up and see what it is. Again, if you seek information, it is available, but if the books or music want to seek you out, (pardon the floral language), Kindle / iPad / etc. are suboptimal.

mgkimsal 12y ago
"Accidental discovery" also comes with a price. Even at 99c kindle ebooks... it still adds up. Going to the library as a kid, I could pick out 5-10 books for a week or two at no cost.
- shas3 12y ago
  Also a few more things to add to your comment: 1. Real world spatial discovery is easier than 'virtual' discovery. Exception is probably Wikipedia, but it is not as well curated as your typical public library. Probably easier to discover music through CDs in a rack (curated by parents' tastes) and books in a library (curated by librarians, etc.) or home (parents). Is there an application for virtual reality here? It sounds a bit like science-fiction and funky, but perhaps an e-book library / bookstore where you pick books in VR. Or more realistically, perhaps book and music discovery game apps? 2. For discovery of books and music, algorithmic recommendation systems are not sufficient. You also need curation. IIRC, as a kid, I did not look at books simply because they are similar, but mostly because I just found them in the shelves, where they were because a librarian or teacher or parent had found it to be worthy.

by shas3 12y ago

mgkimsal 12y ago

"Accidental discovery" also comes with a price. Even at 99c kindle ebooks... it still adds up. Going to the library as a kid, I could pick out 5-10 books for a week or two at no cost.

shas3 12y ago
Also a few more things to add to your comment: 1. Real world spatial discovery is easier than 'virtual' discovery. Exception is probably Wikipedia, but it is not as well curated as your typical public library. Probably easier to discover music through CDs in a rack (curated by parents' tastes) and books in a library (curated by librarians, etc.) or home (parents). Is there an application for virtual reality here? It sounds a bit like science-fiction and funky, but perhaps an e-book library / bookstore where you pick books in VR. Or more realistically, perhaps book and music discovery game apps? 2. For discovery of books and music, algorithmic recommendation systems are not sufficient. You also need curation. IIRC, as a kid, I did not look at books simply because they are similar, but mostly because I just found them in the shelves, where they were because a librarian or teacher or parent had found it to be worthy.