In between evangelising the use of handheld computers for students especially those in schools and college I'm constantly confronted with a shrug and the question that the dissenter invariably considers profound of "who is going to buy these computers?"
Then I read stories like this latest one where Sony released the PSP (PlayStation Portable) in North America 2 days ago and has already sold 500,000 units. Add to that of course Nintendo's 6 million DS units. Someone is clearly finding the money to buy these.
from cnet.com
Sony released the first North American sales numbers for the PlayStation Portable on Thursday, saying 500,000 units of the handheld game player were snapped up in its first two days on the market.
While short of the immediate sellout many had expected--the most enthusiastic consumers waited in line for hours before the PSP went on sale March 24--the numbers were still encouraging for Sony.
Sony Computer Entertainment America said in the statement that PSP products generated more than $150 million in revenue for the company during the handheld's first week on sale, surpassing any previous game system launch.
"The launch of PSP was everything we hoped for," Kaz Hirai, president of SCEA, said in the statement. "In only two weeks, PSP is having an immediate impact across the entire industry as consumers are clearly voting it the product of the year in 2005."
Yes, games machines indeed and most of these "Kids" also have mobile phones - so why not a handheld portable learning platform, why is that so difficult to believe?
Answers on a postcard below please!
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