Re: The right device at last?

On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 10:31 PM, Mary E Tyler <[email protected]> wrote:
>> This, of course, is not easy. A single format that works
>> effectively in both a bare bones $30 reader and a $3000 desktop -
>> a 100 to 1 cost ratio! - is not an easy thing to achieve.
>
> Backwards compatibility. A PS2 will play PS1 games and DVD's.
>

As long as the base format doesn't change, this is perfectly true.
IOW, as long as the base unit isn't reading A and the advanced reading
B, which aren't compatible. Now, the MORE likely scenario, based on
electronics I've bought recently, is that the base unit will read A
and the advanced unit will read A, B, D, F, L...

And, I'd add to what Mary said that there's no reason that the same
format won't work on both. As long as the software to read the format
isn't outrageously expensive, why would that be a problem? I've always
tempered the "format everything can read" with "OR machines that can
read every format." We may see the latter before we see the former.

To John D... I disagree about the text book producers, and this is
why... No stock to be warehoused, shipped, etc. If errors are found in
the text, correcting and sending out a corrected file is relatively
painless (a simple database and e-mailing program), which could
eliminate or lower penalties on errors in textbooks, which can cost a
company millions. To boot, they can use a different model for selling
the books, which would be "license per student per year" at a MUCH
lower cost over a 5-year model than the paper books sell for. That
allows schools to update textbooks more often and publishers to be
more proactive and still make money at it.

Brenna
-- 
http://www.brennalyons.com http://www.myspace.com/brennalyons
Fairy Dreams is the best bar none fantasy romance that I have ever
read! The action is non-stop; the deep abiding love so well portrayed
that you feel as though you are experiencing it yourself. Regina for
Coffee Time Romance

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