
The iPhone Could Be The Ultimate Study Machine - pclark
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/17/the-iphone-could-be-the-ultimate-study-machine/
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diN0bot
>"Many of these [education] apps [from smaller publishers] seem to work well,
but they may be overtaken once the aforementioned “trusted names” start
establishing a larger presence."

really? i bet if the non-brand name apps are done well and stick through the
effort of making a name for themselves they could still compete.

what do ya'll think?

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callmeed
Big textbook publishers have a lot of pull in the education industry. They can
spread the adoption of resources (including iPhone apps I'm sure) much faster
than small, indie players who don't have the connections.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's an uphill battle in some cases.

~~~
patio11
_They can spread the adoption of resources (including iPhone apps I'm sure)
much faster than small, indie players who don't have the connections._

Luckily, they're not that clueful about the Internet, primarily because it
does not fit into their business models.

Houghton Mifflin and Scholastic both sell significant amounts of bingo cards,
on dead tree, through retail stores and catalog sales. (Or they did last time
I checked.) These two companies have 8 digit marketing budgets, massive
connections, and industry clout.

Now I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but if you were to, say, Google
"[pick a subject] bingo cards" right now, you probably would not see
Scholastic on the first page. Nobody at Scholastic just slapped themselves on
the head this morning and said "Oh, effity, we didn't have a Martin Luther
King Day bingo activity today. That was a missed opportunity!"... but I just
did!

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jraines
A nation of ophthalmologists tents its fingers.

~~~
baddox
It's entirely unproven that reading small text or reading in a dimly lit room
hurts your eyesight.

~~~
echair
[http://books.google.com/books?id=7qPIva6qrVgC&pg=PA562&#...</a>

~~~
baddox
<http://jeromekahn123.tripod.com/kooks/id5.html>
<http://www.grandtimes.com/eyes.html> <http://my-
healths.blogspot.com/2008/10/five-eye-myths.html>
[http://www.everydayhealth.com/vision-center/the-healthy-
eye/...](http://www.everydayhealth.com/vision-center/the-healthy-
eye/tips/common-eye-myths-dispelled.aspx)

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patio11
I don't know about it being ultimate study machine, but I predict the buddy of
mine who just repackaged his language learning software for the iPhone is
going to make a mint:

<http://www.declan-software.com/blog/>

Serious study of foreign languages skews towards college students and young
professionals in the US, and the overlap between them and iPhone users is
probably pretty substantial. Plus I think given the socio-political
aspirational goals of many Mac users, I think it could be a good fit.

To phrase this a little more politely than Stuff White People Like did, there
are a lot of people who think it is important that they are educated and
cosmopolitan enough to learn a foreign language. They also tend to overlap
quite a bit with Mac users.

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niels_olson
My 7yo daughter is totally hooked on Mighty Math. Standing in line (zoo,
store, whatever), other kids are almost cartoonishly leaning over her shoulder
to play along.

It may be evil, but the realy game changer was when I started experimenting
with paying her for right answers: $1.00 for ten out of ten right the first
time, $.25 for 7 out of ten right the first time, or $.01 for each one right
less than 7.

Am I destroying my child's humanity through pay-for-performance? If so, how?

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weavejester
I always figured that the main demographic of iPhone users would be those with
a tidy amount of spare cash, which students aren't exactly famous for having.

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elai
Students are a main demographic of video games. Just b/c your customer base
doesn't have tons of cash doesn't mean you cannot make tons of money off of
them.

Plus the most people I see w/ iPhones are college students and 20 somethings.

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shimi
Why only the iPhone is mentioned? What about Rim, Android and even MS? Nokia
actually added a category in their latest challenge for e-learning system they
should be included too...

I was involved in such an attempt to break that market and it wasn't easy. Its
like the social mobile applications. everyone are saying that its a billion
dollar market but no one got a clue how to generate good cash out of it.

