November 11th, 2008 by Robin Green

Say you come across an unfamiliar word in your online courseware, or a newspaper article, or a novel you’re reading. With online courseware, of course, you have the internet at your fingertips as a vocabulary resource. But maybe you’re commuting to work and passing your time on the train with a good book. Have you brought a pocket dictionary and/or thesaurus along for the ride? Probably not.

A convenient eBook reader capability that will, as Purdy suggests, make the readers “better” than a regular book is easy access to the dictionary and thesaurus. All you’ll have to do is highlight a word and the definition will pop up. 

Another feature that eBook readers should possess is functionality on all networks, unlike cell phones, for example. Subscribers should be able to go to any book or online courseware material distributor and get the book they want.