Book reader feature set
Discussion of eBook Feature Set
This page serves as a forum for discussing the features required to make the device a useable eBook reader. Access to a diverse library of reading and reference materials will be a prime selling point of the olpc project. The devices are being cost-justified to interested nations based on the idea that money currently budgeted to purchase textbooks for students could be used to purchase a $100 laptop for each child and that the textbooks would be available in eBook format on the laptop itself.
Features
Reader
The number one required feature for an ebook reader HAS to be the clearest, most easily readable text disply possible on the hardware. Anti-aliasing or font-smoothing can be a great asset if implemented well or a horribly "smudgy" mess if implemented poorly...
Useful features might include:
- User definable "style sheets" to control font size and type face, etc.
- Disply graphics in various formats; both vector and bitmap formats
- Disply complex formulae
- Link in multimedia elements such as sound or video files
- Bookmarking, preferably sharable via network
- Annotations, preferably sharable via network
Library
Not all eBook readers do an effective job of organizing the books stored in the library. Some provide rudimentary cataloging features and some offer nothing more than a jumble of titles and authors. On a machine with only enough storage to hold a dozen or fewer titles this is not much of a problem, but if the machine can store many dozens of books, articles, stories, essays, etc. cataloging, organizing and searching will become imperative.
Useful features might include:
- A standardized schema of metadata for categorizing work
- Sorting on any of the fields in the schema, plus system generated data like last page read, etc.
- Full-text search capability across all titles - MUST be speedy so indexing will be necessary
- Network access to larger library to allow downloads of additional titles
