Forget Cliffs Notes; Condense Everything Into Txt
from the 2b?-Nt2b?-??? dept
There have been plenty of stories about how text messaging can be a way to boost a student's interest in reading, and lots of other stories about text messaging as a study aid for exams. It appears that one service is trying to combine the two ideas, creating greatly condensed versions of classic novels into a single SMS text message. This goes beyond Cliffs Notes. In fact, it's sort of like if you created a Cliffs Notes of a Cliffs Notes version of a story, and then reduced it to txt speak. For example, the entire Romeo & Juliet, for your mobile studying pleasure: "FeudTween 2hses- Montague&Capulet. RomeoMfalls_<3w/_JulietC@mary Secretly Bt R kils J's Coz &&is banishd. J fakes Death. As Part of Plan2b-w/R Bt_leter Bt It Nvr Reachs Him. Evry1confuzd-bothLuvrs kil Emselves." Okay, perhaps they're overstating the... um... educational value of these messages.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I'm with you guys...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: I'm with you guys...
This took 5 times as long to read as the english equivalent and they managed to save like 9 keystrokes. Bad form.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: I'm with you guys...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: We are missing the point.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: We are missing the point.
I don't understand your argument at all, Mike. Are you frustrated because you have trouble reading it? There's a reason that Shakespeare is still considered one of the top English authors in history - everything he wrote was meaningful and original.
I hope you aren't suggesting that we should be reading The Wheel of Time in schools instead of Shakespeare?
Sure, kids will definitely enjoy reading them more, and then the concept of stories having depth and meaning that aren't on the surface will die and we'll all be collectively a little stupider.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: We are missing the point.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: We are missing the point.
That is supposed to be a joke right? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me you are kidding, and that you promise not to ever say anything quite to ignorant, or stupid ever again.
Then repent for voting for W., twice – and then I will see if I can scrape together some respect for you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]