It all probability, ignoring DRM formats and the like, if Apple made an e-book reader it would blow the socks off all the current competition and force the standards to be raised. Again and again, Apple seems to create extremely awesome interfaces for "obvious" tasks like, portable music players and portable telephones. I can just imagine how cool an Apple iBook would be :)

I looked for an e-book reader a few weeks ago. The current e-book readers that you can buy all suck for some specific reason, for me.

I'd like an e-book reader that you can plug into your USB port and simply copy files over.

It should have WiFi so you can browse the internet. Why? Sometimes I'm reading a book and I see a word I'd like to research on e.g. Wikipedia.

It should support custom dictionaries. I read Latin/Greek books so I'd like to use Lewis and Short.

Lastly, I only found 1 e-book read that supported .djvu. It's my favorite book format, so this is a non-negotiable feature.

So I've put off buying one till something comes out that can do all of that on a decent display size with decent battery life.

Your definition of "embedded" is pretty strange.

I've been doing embedded development on Z-World's Rabbit microprocessors for many years with GPS add-on modules. When I use the word "embedded" I mean an 8-bit processor running at 44mhz with 512kb flash/ram if you're really, really lucky (I consider even this to be pushing the definition of the word "embedded"). There is no OS, everything sits in a while(1) {} loop and all your functions are non-blocking.

An XML parser? What a complete waste of resources.

The world thinks Americans are a bunch of "morans." Really. We do. You deserve it.

When I was in university, I got by just fine with a PII desktop system that I had for years. Allowed me to check my e-mail and ran Office 97 fine. Now that I have a job, I have a more expensive computer that allows me to play games. Why on earth would I have needed an expensive laptop?

What does this mean?

The notebook initiative gives us an opportunity to use technology to support learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered learning environments. It is a window of opportunity for true innovation. Lenovo ThinkPad will be an excellent partner in our strategies to expand the learning environment of ISU.

What on earth is 'community-centred learning'? How does it help me write my paper on Tolstoy? Forcing students to buy laptops is so utterly arrogant; it's management droids buying into the latest hype.

You want to improve learning? How about making attendance mandatory? How about attacking plagiarism? How about reducing tuition fees? I had to work 20 hours a week to pay for my education; wouldn't those 20 hours have been better spent studying? Isn't that a bit more 'learner-centred'? Bah.