Tuesday, February 28, 2006

audio Prep Pioneer Taps Tech Trend to Reach Busy Students. College- and grad school-bound students can now use their iPods for more than music and movies -- with the launch of a new podcast series from Kaplan, they will be able to get expert insight on high-stakes entrance exams, financial aid, the shifting admis [Online Learning Update] -- this could be a bellweather indicator of a shift from text back to the spoken word.  Text will not disappear but with more spoken word materials (and improved text to speech translators) there will be a bigger dent in the literacy problem because the need to read will be reduced.  This was the idea behind the simputer in India.  With localized speech production via ipod like device or by a by software like secondspeech there will be an opportunity in the aging community to comfortably shift from reading to listening.  There are serveral other movements in this direction like book on tape and screen readers but with the advent of widespread ipod use the stigma of listening is fading away.  -- BL 9:09:28 AM    comment