Instant EBooks

Forget about dedicated eBook readers, like Amazon's Kindle, and printed material may be on the way out with Nintendo saying that in early 2009 it will add a digital book reader software to its DS portable game machine. It’s a sure bet that most kids in just about any class has played with a DS in the previous week, so adding books to its repertoire is a big deal for education. On top of adding new volumes via WiFi, the DS eBook reader will come with a bunch of classic works. The software will be able to search for words or phrases, add bookmarks and zoom in and out of the text. Now, what’s really needed is software to turn the hundreds of standard documents, like worksheets, into eBook files so that a curriculum can be built around the DS and other eBooks.