Lots of digital savvy grands like their smart phones, but some baby boomers have pared down t he amount of connectivity they have. For those who like the information superhighway but want to keep it under control, there’s a new gadget called WikiReader. The tiny, capable, fascinating digital reader, the WikiReader, might be worth a look.
I had the chance to try one out.
WikiReader’s Good Points
- The unit is quite small, like the size of a deck of cards, maybe, but square with rounded corners. Comfortable to use.
- It has a pretty good display, with fair resolution, that can be seen indoors and outdoors.
- Comes loaded with content – and the content can be free or upgraded to a pay subscription. The free is more than adequate, the pay version is fun, adding languages, dictionaries and other perks.
- There are parental, or grandparental, controls.
- Very simple. You select, read, review your history, or get random pages with one touch selection. I like the random stuff. Being a pretty random person, it suited me. I’m a Stumbleupon addict, so this felt good. Click and it brought me something to read I had never seen before.
- Price point is as low as under $100.
WikiReader Weaknesses
- It’s a one-trick pony. Good for bringing your current events and encyclopedia type info.
- Not rechargeable. It runs, the maker says, for up to one year on two included triple A batteries, but nonetheless, it needs disposable or rechargeable batteries. Not very green, right?
- Fatiguing for long reading sessions. If the big-guy electronic readers are suffering a lag in popularity, this gadget may never get off the ground.
WikiReader Bottom Line
WikiReader is not exactly new. It’s been around a year or two, but has not taken off the way it’s backers would have liked. The team is now marketing heavily to us, the baby boomers who embrace tech and gadgets. Not a bad move since we tend to be pretty mobile and travel a lot. This gadget can slip into purse, pocket, briefcase, or suitcase and give you an edge in pulling info when you travel.
It’s a fun toy and a novelty that will set you in the early adapter echelon. For a few bucks, it’s probably worth the buy if you really like to keep up.
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