News - WikiReader takes free, web-based encyclopedia offline and on the road

[HEXUS]

Ever wanted to carry three million Wikipedia articles in your pocket? Now you can.

Read more.

[stavroshamster]

Why would it be 'useful to have around the house'??
For most people it's made redundant by a computer.

And who exactly is going to want to access Wikipedia articles that desperately? - the only possible use I can think of for this device in this country is cheating in a pub quiz.

Have I missed the point here?

[Andeh13]

Good idea but i cant help but think putting the information on a MicroSD card then selling that for use on smart phones, laptops etc would be cheaper, easier & more user-friendly then a black and white, 3 button device the size of a tomtom!

[jimbouk]

And who exactly is going to want to access Wikipedia articles that desperately? - the only possible use I can think of for this device in this country is cheating in a pub quiz.

Surely that's what a mobile phone which is connected to the web is for... it does sound useful for people who are offline, kindof a side step from the OLPC.

[Saracen]

....
And who exactly is going to want to access Wikipedia articles that desperately? - the only possible use I can think of for this device in this country is cheating in a pub quiz.

Have I missed the point here?

As Andehh said, having the database available offline would be useful, be it on an SD card or my HD. That's why I have Encyclopaedia Britannica on DVD, Encarta on DVD, OED on DVD, and a number of others. I also have my own reference library on HD, with a LARGE collection of articles, texts etc which I use when I'm travelling and don't have access to a net connection. And before anyone says "mobile data connection", I have neither the need to justify the cost, nor the inclination. I manage fine doing it my way, and this could be one more step in that direction.

But a $100 charge and an annual subscription for the privilege of having yet another device to carry about? No thanks. Put it on my laptop, or my PDA and I'm interested, but another device? If you've missed the point, so have I.

[TheAnimus]

Wouldn't it be simpler to work on an eBook reader platform?

[nichomach]

But a $100 charge and an annual subscription for the privilege of having yet another device to carry about? No thanks. Put it on my laptop, or my PDA and I'm interested, but another device? If you've missed the point, so have I.

Ah, but shortly an enraged and stampeding mob of wikifiddlers will be along to claim that you're wrong, and by the rules of wikitruth, therefore, you will be...

[Saracen]

I await being Wikied with anticipation, Nicho.

[mikerr]

Does wikipedia gain from having its data published elsewhere ?

Not sure everyone would be happy spending time editing articles when someone else is profiting from their content...


The $100 yearly fee isn't exactly a small nominal fee as you get with linux distro DVDs etc.

[scaryjim]

The $100 yearly fee isn't exactly a small nominal fee as you get with linux distro DVDs etc.

... with a yearly subscription plan priced at $29.

Slight reading error there The device is $99 up front, the subscription a further $29 but presumably you could just not bother updating your subscription - then you get to be all cool and retro because you know what Wikipedia *used* to say!

I have to say that I personally don't see the attraction of a special device just for reading wikipedia. Making wikipedia downloadable for use on ebook readers, on the other hand, seems eminently sensible. Me, I own an HTC Magic so have wikipedia anywhere I have network reception *or* an accessible Wifi access point, and I would struggle to imagine a situation in which I had no network access but *depserately* needed to consult wikipedia on something. I think if that happens it's probably already too late for you...

[Revilgo]

Isn't this device kinda redundant? Apart from access via smartphones as already mentioned, why not put it on an xd/sd card, along with a desktop app for easy update and synching? Britannica take note?

[Spud1]

I have to admit that when I first read the article..I thought this was genius.

I've changed my mind however. Thinking about who actually uses/reads wikipedia - I would place a bet that the majority of them are more "techie" than most of the population, and they know what wiki is and rougly how it works (basically that its user edited content - NOT from an "official" source). I think that the majority of these people take the information from wiki with that in mind - that it *might* not be 100% trustworthy. It is well known however that you can trust the majority of it anyway and totally incorrect items are usually corrected within minutes or hours.

That last part - the fact that the articles are updated very often to fix issues, almost totally mitigates the fact that some of the info is false, as it will be corrected.

This is not the case with an "offline wikipedia", it will be months before incorrect information is updated..so suddenly your little device is actually untrustworthy as a real data source as soon as you get your updated memory card. This renders it pretty much useless to be honest - and if anything "dangerous" (from an information POV) for the non techie people who may pick one of these up, believing it to be an electronic encyclopedia...

Apologies for the slightly rambly post but hopefully you get my point - I think what could be nice is one that can auto-update when you plug it into the net - would be useful to have out and about in the car etc then, but as has been said..there are so many better ways for implementation than a dedicated device..I think it will die a death alongside all the dedicated ebook readers out there.

Cool but ultimately useless.

[SiM]

Ever wanted to carry three million Wikipedia articles in your pocket? Now you can.

A near fail by Hexus, this has been done years ago...

... but I don't think it hase been updated in a long time...

http://revolution.cx/Lexipedia/Lexipedia.htm

How hard would it be to dump the whole of wiki in html? It would be free and offline for all mobile devices then

[mikerr]

I'm sure I had a wikipedia offline app on my old ipaq .. but maybe that wasn't "official", the ipaq died a long time ago.

[R3MF]

awesome idea provided i can just buy the microSD card with wikipedia pre-installed to run on my nokia n900.....................

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=33094

[R3MF]

[duplicate post]