Dec. 5, 2007
Was there life before cell phones?
ZD Net
Look how far the cell phone has come, notes Christopher Dawson, who says AP has covered a story about an online university in Japan now offering the delivery of classes through the use of mobile devices.
“I don’t know if delivering courses via your iPhone is the way to go, but I do know that too many of my students spend more time texting from their phones than they do studying.”
Could the Kindle spark book piracy?
Globe and Mail
Mathew Ingram writes that Michael Arrington, editor of TechCrunch, predicts that Amazon’s recently released Kindle and its ability to download books may eventually lead to book piracy.
“[Michael Arrington] speculated that the Kindle could become the vehicle of choice for reading “pirated” e-books downloaded via BitTorrent, a popular peer-to-peer service.”
Getting a Grip: Building the ultimate robotic hand
Wired
Gregory Mone says there’s a lot to look forward to if robot assistants are to soon become available.
“To do real work in our offices and homes, to fetch our staplers or clean up our rooms, robots are going to have to master their hands. They’ll need the kind of “hand-eye” coordination that enables them to identify targets, guide their mechanical mitts toward them, and then manipulate the objects deftly.”