On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 2:43 AM, Jimmy Wales <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I'm particularly interested in availability of Wikipedia on memory cards > and the like. This is for a relatively small language, so extremely large > size isn't the issue. > > I'm wanting to know if there is a way to distribute Wikipedia in a small > language on memory cards for android phones. This is for people for whom > data service is not available or cost prohibitive, and who may not have > access to a computer for transfer. Physical distribution of cards is > something that could be done. Hi There's a bunch of issues here, that I believe get glossed over with offline versions. I am going to ramble a bit about them, if that's alright- 1. Why small languages? - Small language versions of Wikipedia, and sister projects usually don't get the focus in new development. There is also the point, that several small language versions, are in fact, too small to be helpful. The difference between the English and the second closest version is rather prominent, the really small versions might too small and incomplete, to be a valuable resource. 2. There is the rather large issue of supporting non-Latin scripts for mobile, that would make offline version usable and accessible. 3. Market trends- Majority of the developing world isn't on Android and unlikely to be in the next couple of years. Symbian is the dominant player; albeit an abandoned OS, it is only the transitory one till Nokia shifts operations completely. With its limited memory, lack of expansion and a very basic OS, offline apps are a problem to get and support on it. 4. Smart phones- It is generally not ideal to develop offline readers for android phone. Smart phone by definition have internet access; if someone can download a copy on their computer, they should be able to access the online version on their phone using the same internet access. Bandwidth costs can't be prohibitive for WiFi, if they can download the entire offline version. While there might be short term issues with connectivity and data charges, they are relatively temporary infrastructure-related issues. By the time, the investment starts paying of on apps and development, the infrastructure issues might have been resolved. 5. The cards and their support isn't universal. Not all android devices have the same expansion slots, Symbian based devices that dominate the developing world mostly have next to no expansion slots. Rambling a bit further, there are offline devices like the Wikireader, and OLPC. I recall annoying certain staff members 2-3 years ago to also look into pre-loaded version for Kindle and Ebook devices, even tablets. At this stage, in terms of usability and price, Kindle and Epaper based devices, are miles ahead of other Wiki-only dedicated readers. There isn't one currently but there should be an open-source ePaper device cheaper than the kindle around the corner. Regards Theo
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