Portable Wikipedia

OpenMoko (Om), a company that previously created an open source smartphone, has just launched The WikiReader, a dedicated reader device with an offline copy of the entire English Wikipedia (without images) stored on a small chip. With two AAA batteries, the WikiReader will run for several months, as it’s been optimized for low power consumption. The device has a simple LCD touchscreen and three buttons for searching, viewing random pages, and looking up previously viewed pages.

Building such a device is possible because, unlike most information on the web, Wikipedia content is freely licensed, allowing anyone to copy, modify, and re-use it for any purpose, including commercial uses. We’ve played with the device and given feedback during the development phase, but it’s not a Wikimedia Foundation product, and we make no guarantees of any kind for its operation.

The device showcases a great opportunity that free educational content creates: information from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects can be packed into self-contained devices, including purpose-built ones like the WikiReader, without requiring any kind of Internet connectivity. In other words, it is very much possible to get a copy of the most comprehensive encyclopedia in human history to every person on the planet who would benefit from it.

While this device is targeted at least initially at users in the developed world, the software running on the WikiReader is open source, so that other projects can re-use it in whole or in part. (Information about that will go up on their website soon.) We welcome it as a creative new distribution method for Wikipedia content. Congratulations to Om for launching this product; we wish them the best of luck in the marketplace.

Erik Moeller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

So, this is a portable device powered by 2 AAA batteries that last for a year, that contains an offline wikipedia without pictures. You can update the content on it by either paying for the latest memory card or for free by downloading a 4+ GB file from their website. It costs $99. The software running it will be open-sourced.

Who wants one? I sure do. It's a bit useless if you have a smartphone with Internet access, but that's expensive. Then again, it'll probably get a lot cheaper in the next several years.

It's missing something. A plastic coating with the words "Don't Panic" written on it in large friendly letters.

I'd want this even though the only use I'd have for it is reading when I'm bored.

Jailbreak and get a free offline version of Wikipedia for your iPod Touch/iPhone.

Jailbreak and get a free offline version of Wikipedia for your iPod Touch/iPhone.

Exactly what I was thinking reading this.

Hell, the online version is free, so why bother. Just get an iTouch/iPhone. Cheapest iTouch is $239 and easily does as much as a device 4x the same cost, so spending $99 for an offline "app" seems ludicrous IMO.

Exactly what I was thinking reading this.

Hell, the online version is free, so why bother. Just get an iTouch/iPhone. Cheapest iTouch is $239 and easily does as much as a device 4x the same cost, so spending $99 for an offline "app" seems ludicrous IMO.

But you have to pay for Internet access on that iTouch/iPhone, right? How much does that cost?

But you have to pay for Internet access on that iTouch/iPhone, right? How much does that cost?

[COLOR="Red"]You don't have to pay anything for internet access if you're connected to a Wi-Fi network. Using phone towers, however, costs a zillion dollars on the iPhone.

I suppose it'd be nice if you were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal. [/COLOR]

A portable wikipedia device is extremely geeky, more so than an iTouch/ iPhone is. I bet that's part the reason he wants one too.

It's pretty awesome that wikipedia can be used for something like this though. Yay for wikipedia being freely licensed. Will be interesting to see if anybody does anything else with it in the future.

But you have to pay for Internet access on that iTouch/iPhone, right? How much does that cost?

Are you talking about about offline version of Wikipedia on the iPod Touch/iPhone? You don't need the internet to use that...

If you aren't fond of jailbreaking, there's also an offline version of Wikipedia in the official app store called "Encyclopedia" for $9.