CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Amazon's relentless push into the education market continued on Oct. 17 with a loud announcement of its (somewhat ironically-named) Whispercast service. It's a free online tool that allows schools (and businesses) to centrally manage content distribution and web access across all Kindle devices and others (including iPads and Android tablets) with the Kindle app installed. Media outlets are going gaga, saying this is what schools needed all along. Gizmodo says "there couldn't be a more teacher-friendly checklist" and thinks this move makes the cheaper Kindle device a legitimate challenger to the iPad's throne in schools. We'll reserve judgment for now. Content is king, they say, and it remains to be seen whether the Amazon marketplace can challenge Apple's app store in diversity and quality of apps (besides textbooks).
