Openmoko / Medion Wikireader?

[Sean Moss-Pultz]

Hi Patrick

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 2:10 AM, Patrick Beck <pbeck at yourse.de> wrote:
> Am Samstag, den 19.03.2011, 20:40 +0800 schrieb Sean Moss-Pultz:
> > Hi Patrick
> >
> > What would you like to hear in an official statement?
> >
> > We are very focused on making WikiReader a retail success. We sent a
> > newsletter out in January talking about our progress:
> >
> >http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b982f5bdf55759b5b47661379&id=17f3fdc0f8
> >
> > 3 times a year (quarterly) we update WikiReader's content. Usually
> > with new languages and added Wikis (beyond just Wikipedia).
>
> i have not seen such a newsletter so it was a mistake by me. But i have
> not found it on http://thewikireader.com/a/blog/

We also announce this type of stuff on twitter (@wikireader) if you
don't want to subscribe to the newsletter.

> > Believe it or not, WikiReader is expensive to build. The quality is
> > extremely high quality. We specifically designed it to last for a long
> > time on very simple AAA batteries. This required special components
> > that aren't commonly used in electronics these days.
>
> I know its not so easy and cheap, but you have hard competitors on the
> smartphone market. I own a Wikireader so i like the idea :) My father is
> very happy about it. His only problem is the display, because it has no
> background light (i know the battery).

We hope to improve the screen one day. I feel your father's pain.

> I don't know if the problems are solved in a new version (i have to look
> for a update). My last problems was.
>
> - Table of contents would be very nice
> - the overview block from the wikipedia (where population, president,
> etc. are listed. For example in a article about a country)
> - kinetic scrolling is a bit messy to see where you are on a black/white
> display ;)

We tried to simplify the layouts of Wikipedia a bit for device since
many of the overviews are 3-4 pages of scrolling on our little screen.

I don't think we'll get to those features soon. Although they are on
our list. Are you programmer yourself? Our code on
http://github.com/wikireader.

> So last but not least. My question about a official statement. How looks
> the future? I hope i can buy the third Openmoko device after Freerunner
> and Wikireader :)

Thanks for your kind words. We'd love to make a lot more devices for
you all. But our resources are tight these days. We are working on a
third device. But it's only in the early prototype stages. WikiReader
is going to occupy the majority of our time for a while. We really
want to make it a retail success.

Take care.

Sean