WikiReader - Offline Wikipedia "The Internet without the Internet"

Remember this? If you can't, you're not alone.
The WikiReader was launched with the noble ideal "how can knowledge equal freedom if people need a modem to get it?" but perhaps unsurprisingly it met an ignominious bargain-bin end.
WikiReaders & Updates on ebay: ebay.to/2PCFJj7
Official WikiReader website (it's still up) thewikireader.com
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[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

The only purpose I can really see for it is in a bunker for after the apocalypse so you can still keep the knowledge gained over the millenia.

[@DFX2KX]

There's also Lewis Dartnell's "The Knowledge", which is more or less exactly for that.

[@pixelum2023]

Until you run out of batteries.

[@Psychodegu]

rechargeable batteries.

[@FinalManaTrigger]

Rechargeable batteries wear out too.

[@antikommunistischaktion]

For such a low power device that would take a long time though.

[@trea552]

this would be extremely useful in a survivival situation

[@NativeVsColonial]

Yeah Beargrills desperately needs that lol

[@DenisNIKOBusarinov]

The Most Original Gamer hahaha

[@wehfgyuewaq833]

Yeah I would just type "how to survive:

[@thomas_nl_]

Wehfg Yuewaq You’d need the wikihow addon

[@ErdeAnAlle]

Nah, Wikihow would be more useful, Wikipedia doesn't tell you how to make a fire with flints or a bow.

[@Tularis]

They should have allowed you to connect it to a PC and Sync the Wiki....

[@jasoones]

i think you could, he did say you get online updates

[@kamikatze8224]

But you dont have infinite storage

[@goatskin4487]

@@kamikatze8224 nothing has infinte storage

[@kamikatze8224]

Jay Strange thank you wise man

[@adrianTNT]

@@goatskin4487 besides GoDaddy hosting :))))

[@lilycowlishaw2952]

They missed the perfect chance to call it the wikipda

[@garrysekelli6776]

pdf?

[@COMPOSITE.02]

@@garrysekelli6776 what

[@garrysekelli6776]

@@COMPOSITE.02 a pdf is a type of file. in programming like gif wad etc. never heard of a pda though but it might exist.

[@701Builder]

PDA is personal digital assistant which would have been a cool name for it WikiPDA

[@garrysekelli6776]

@@701Builder Ah now I understand.

[@petercho7615]

Finally... when someone asks me if I could take one thing back in time.. i would take a wiki reader with me.

[@ian_b]

You'd need some way of making batteries. You could look it up on wikipedia.

[@cameranmanner4701]

@@ian_b not really you can probably buy a power supply and set to 3v and run leads into it. Or buy 20 of those AAA lithium ion batteries and bring 5v usb chargers, cycle through the batters when recharging. Now if you want to go back pre-electricy civilization. Bring a solar panel.

[@dustojnikhummer]

​@@ian_bBring a few batteries and start writing knowledge onto papyrus

[@DavidDatura]

“For future generations to mock” 🤣 still a device you can slip into your pocket containing all the combined knowledge of mankind would have been pure science fiction just a generation ago!

[@fss1704]

damn that thing is perfect for an apocalypse...

[@kurtk7521]

@@fss1704 They sent a box of some sorts with all kinds of knowledge to the moon in case we fuck this world up... So this type of shit isnt science fiction anymore.

[@Y.M...]

Wikipedia doesn't teach, it confirms. It's a useful reference, but by no means is it useful to actually pass on knowledge. Maybe it can teach history and humanities, but the science needs textbooks and a different mindset. Science on Wikipedia: if you didn't already have a general idea, it will confuse more than help you.

[@minindoalt]

literally the hitchhikers guide

[@gluester55]

Odang, 666 likes

[@finn4375]

Imagine the protagonists finding these in The Walking Dead.

[@CanItAlready]

Finn If they did find one Eugene would have to destroy it. Knowing stuff is really the only reason he's still alive.

[@getgle]

@@CanItAlready Plot twist: Eugene has had a wiki reader the whole time and that's why he knows so much.

[@CanItAlready]

Getindor LOL

[@markfuston2714]

@@getgle Haha, wonder when we'll get that plot twist!

[@kubastachu9860]

@@markfuston2714 as soon as manufacturer pays for product advertisement, Eugene will reveal his secret

[@fs6020]

"I got transported into an another world with my wikireader"

[@colmm6964]

Oh my god I want this

[@kylerharris4246]

Basically doctor stone

[@nirad8026]

Imagine a watch-size, updated version of this, with a strong glass and solar charger. Perfect survival thing.

[@donerbude6380]

Identitäre Bewegung? Oh mann

[@AffeAffelinTV]

@@donerbude6380 hallo, gekommen um das zu sagen infopage: IB ist rechtsradikal und wird vom Verfassungsschutz beobachtet. gehören wie alle faschos geklatscht

[@YamamotoSixtySix]

Gewalt erzeugt nur mehr Gewalt... kleier tipp an euch linksradikalen mongos... (bin politisch mittig) linksextrem ist genauso scheisse wie rechtsextrem...

[@donerbude6380]

@@YamamotoSixtySix Denke rechtsextrem ist schlimmer als das es auch gegenwärtig (in Deutschland) mit Abstand deutlich heftigere Ausmaße annimmt. Ebenfalls ist rechte/rechtsextreme Ideologie deutlich heftiger. Und die IB, welche sich mit euphemistischen Bezeichnungen wie "Ethnopluralismus" für praktische Apartheid einsetzen, kann man wirklich nicht verteidigen :D (Keine Ahnung ob das was zur Sache tut, bin aber gesellschaftlich liberal und politisch/wirtschaftlich leicht links/links :)) )

[@nirad8026]

What the fuck is going on with these German comments?? Am I missing something?

[@shooting6lasers]

Between Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Dramatica, you truly have the sum of human knowledge in your hands, whether nuclear physics or the history of Chris Chan.

[@RealLatinGeek]

They were completely wrong in making these consumer gadgets. These would be absolutely perfect for education in developing nations or even developed nations where you don't want your students messing with their phones outside whatever apps or resources you give them. I see you got Uncyclopedia and Encyclopedia Dramatica in there, which suggests you could even load custom articles that the teacher selects and compiles for the low-res text-only screen. Full books are a tall order for reading on that, yes, but poetry, short stories, and second-language resources would be great. $100/student is SO much less than comparable devices schools provide like OLPC/Classmate PCs/Ipads/etc, and something that offers no distractions, can be carried in a pocket, and runs off AAs would be amazing.

[@fss1704]

damn yeah...

[@buddyclem7328]

Even better: *2 × AAA batteries.

[@GraveUypo]

i dunno what you guys think developing nations are. garbage for you is garbage for them too. they may be poorer, but they're also in 'current year'. unless by developing nations you mean Zimbabwe and the likes.

[@buddyclem7328]

@@GraveUypo Updates are available, but not officially, and the batteries last a long time.

[@SalahEddineH]

GraveUypo I live in Morocco, which is almost a developing nation. I mean we have the latest iPhones and Cloud Computing companies everywhere and 4G internet in all major cities. BUT my students can't afford a good enough smartphone with reliable data plan, and those who do don't bring theirs to school because it would get stolen. So a relatively cheap device like that, distributed by the government, or even bought by the students like they buy their own calculators, would've done wonders. Instead our government wastes millions of dollars buying completely useless software licences from Microsoft, while so many school don't even have a good enough computer room to run most of it. (When I came in the Junior High school I was in has computers from 2001, most of them didn't even power on any more) So I can see the use in this, if it's cheap enough, it would be amazing for my students (It would obvious need to be loaded with the French and Arabic versions of Wikipedia) Cheers!

[@isabellagokcen2633]

Offline Wikipedia was extremely useful about that time, especially for people who travel a lot. I used to have a 4gb copy of Wikipedia on my PDA back then which I used all the time and everyone was really impressed when I quickly looked something up. Don't forget that cheap internet wasn't available in every country back then, IIRC I had one of the cheaper plans and it was still ~20 cent per MB and even slower than an offline database search. Also shoutout to Openmoko

[@Aenimia]

Still is a good choice for countries like Turkey where wikipedia is blocked. Of course you can always use a VPN :)

[@Manueljlin]

@@Aenimia or use the tor mirror

[@zhiychen1626]

@@_blank-_ yeah and China also block it sometimes

[@pannenkoekspek]

I used to run the thing on my Nintendo ds

[@Galm_1]

If you could install something on them, I swear, you will be seeing videos of people playing Doom on WikiReaders.

[@_GF312_]

But can it run crysis

[@kospencer1]

It’s too slow for doom, and it’s running a very proprietary os, not even linux.

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

Yo buddy, still alive?

[@-Burb]

Spencer Ko If a Ti-84 can run doom, I bet this thing could too.

[@kospencer1]

SquiDragon It’s a totally proprietary architecture running a proprietary OS, so it will be very hard to make it run doom, Ti84 is z80 of which many people are familiar with.

[@thelegend8570]

My brain: get one Me: why My brain: the apocalypse dude

[@JuanC17Playz]

Same I would get one

[@yogert96]

Literally copped one for that reason lol I feel dumb

[@grumblekin]

This is perfect for bathroom reading: small, doesn't suck batteries, updatable, and easy on the eyes.

[@WonderfulBoness]

Drop it in the shitter then buy a new one

[@marshmallowdub]

@b king LMFAOOOOOO

[@Icalasari]

@b king Well I mean, I do. So. Yeah

[@auzzgamesoi9947]

I've never understood bathroom reading, being a reader myself, why handle things on purpose you don't need to while shitting?

[@josue0001]

Millennials found the Encyclopedia.

[@bortflong5734]

Post-apocalypse, this would be incredibly valuable.

[@RoobehTunes]

How else would you be able to inform your irradiated brethren to the details of the USS Altair?

[@virtuaskimmer6714]

EMT attack all circuits be fried and that honestly the most likely attack natural(sun burst cycle) or man made (high allitude nuke)

[@paulsengupta971]

Keep it in a lead box.

[@Nico42ke]

Also space hitchhiking

[@cultistofgyarloth]

There's decent offline Wikipedia readers for Android. Best bet for the apocalypse is probably to buy three dozen Chinese low-budget Android phones, three dozen solar panel micro-USB chargers, and hide them all over the planet like a squirrel. Or then, hide canned food and weapons instead :)

[@Kuraio]

It feels surreal seeing a capacitive touch panel on a low-res monochrome screen.

[@no1DdC]

When this device came out, I had a phone with resistive touch screen that was full color. It came with a stylus, of course. It really was a transitional era. Android was still relatively unknown (my phone was still Java-based), the iPhone was brand new (and without any apps or app store), tablets were very bulky and slow.

[@uriituw]

I think it’s resistive touch.

[@Kuraio]

uriituw You did not even watch halfway through the video did you?

[@jamespmailer]

Shame devices weren’t and probably won’t ever be manufactured to be more affordable like this. If this isn’t proof of late stage capitalism, not sure what is

[@AnonymousUser77254]

J. P. Mailer this device was $99... You can buy an android phone cheaper than that these days.

[@mileshanna6480]

For anyone interested, Wikitaxi is a software that runs on most PCs and allows for the viewing of offline wikipedia archives, of which are updated every month or so.

[@AdvanceAU]

Just replying so I can bookmark this comment for later. Not all heroes wear capes, you know.

[@beeninja2539]

Miles Hanna any mobile versions?

[@zucker9887]

Hi

[@TSLstudio2010]

@Y M Go to history and click: comments :P

[@PeterAbt]

@@beeninja2539 Check out "kiwix" ;)

[@thecringelord69]

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Earth Edition

[@ShakeItLittleTina]

Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Earth

[@dragonick2947]

@@ShakeItLittleTina And a little bit of space.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Mostly harmless.

[@emanatingf]

This would've been awesome to have in the mid 90's

[@markelkhatib2524]

The early 2000s too lol

[@-DeScruff]

Was about to say early 2000s as well. Basically any time period prior to I'd say... whenever smartphones and mobile internet matured enough.

[@nathanrath2844]

Imagine having this at a dinner party in the 90s. Whenever people are arguing about who's right you could pull this out and settle the argument. God power

[@mickfitz76]

Trivia night win.

[@exidy-yt]

Funny you say that: for me, the 'Killer App' that made me give up my beloved Amiga PCs in favour of DOS/Windows PC clone PCs was Encarta, the encyclopaedia on CD-ROM. It was the most mind-blowing thing imaginable to realize you held much of the sum of Mankind's knowlege, libraries upon libraries of knowledge all encoded on a little shiny disk. It was a moment of sartori for me. I want one of these things now, LOL.

[@jamespayne5068]

I actually really want one of these for some reason

[@Boemel]

Is that a WikiReader in your pocket or are you just happy to see me ?

[@sporehux8344]

i need one for my post apocalypse bug out kit.

[@redlaserfox3988]

Me too

[@Crazy_Borg]

Sorry guys, after this video prices skyrocketed, of course!

[@04dram04]

You can download the whole thing on your phone

[@russellwarren9595]

I feel it should have "Don't Panic" written on it in large friendly letters

[@selwynlee7663]

I think we’re wandering into the realms of fantasy there, Jones.

[@matebalog3924]

And it should be a great easter egg if for first search for earth it would write out mostly harmless

[@anononomous]

If I had one the first thing I'd do is print out a "don't panic" sticker and put it on the back.

[@spetsnaz1014]

Russell Warren - Is it just me that nearly panicked when I saw the name 'Pandigital' ? - think I need a drink.

[@russellwarren9595]

careful we all all know the effects of the gargleblaster, and besides being drunk is rather unpleasant - just ask a glass of water!

[@joshpayne4015]

The UK Prime Minister is... "What's-her-face" -- brilliant!

[@freepress8451]

She reminds me of Mr Bean kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYamg3SfepeBpck

[@sayresyDevino]

>>The MAYBOT 2000 disco series

[@richandiben]

No! Mr Burns ;)

[@sayresyDevino]

Trump has a massive following amongst us plebs.

[@morph-]

The rite arnswe!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MisterRorschach90]

This is basically the perfect gadget for someone in an apocalypse. Give me this up to date and as long as I can find batteries I will be able to know anything.

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

Rechargeable batteries exist

[@ShaddySoldier]

No. You'll just know the shit on wikipedia

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

@Alejandro Márquez you can recharge USB device with a Dinamo and a bike if you need to

[@saosaqii5807]

jordan secrist the SD card will eventually fail I prefer MDisc

[@LongshotRecordsTV]

a dial on the side would have been nice to use in scrolling through the articles.

[@tiefensucht]

A random-key but no back-button.

[@Dante-uk8pr]

It's the history button

[@ohno7454]

6:37

[@tiefensucht]

@@ohno7454 Yeah, but this is no button. I mean "press the invisible pixel in the corner go back back" - who came up with this strange idea? :D

[@Bos_Meong]

@@tiefensucht yeah just like i phone

[@prismarinestars7471]

You just hit the random key and hope it randomly takes you back to where you were before

[@kTHElidd]

What a beautifully random piece of tech

[@CalumRaasay]

Funnily enough this would be perfect for me when I'm traveling and camping without phone signal. I'm forever reading books and wanting to look up things mentioned and referenced!

[@neoasura]

Fun fact, you can download the entire Wikipedia for offline use. You can get different versions, one with text only, others with the photos. The one with everything including photos is 83gb as of 2020, which can easily fit on a micro SD card now. I recommend downloading it, you never know when something might change for the worse.

[@cageybee7221]

"how to build shelter" "how to survive nuclear fallout" yeah, this thing has a use. a great use.

[@sbrazenor2]

You can have Wikipedia on your phone offline as well. Kiwix is the name of the application and then you download the repository. It's much bigger now, especially if you want the images.

[@garywheeler7039]

How big is Wikipedia in English these days I wonder, with illustrations.

[@garywheeler7039]

K.D.P. Ross: a few minutes after I left that message, I found a video that mentions a special program Kiwix, that save it all on a 128 gig mini SD card: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5_YhZKPe6ilq7c as a way to save everything in case of emergency, disaster etc.

[@SkeletonSyskey]

Reminds me of Mobile Internet using "WAP"

[@peanutmans0]

Oh man those days were the worst

[@butre.]

most expensive masturbation habit i ever had tbh

[@21minute]

Ahh, those late night days...

[@eduardoavila646]

Oh yeah! What horrible days!

[@MarcinKralka]

Do you remember Wapedia, that was cool :D

[@HeAndHimStudios]

I wonder if someone can port Doom onto one

[@faeranne]

Sadly, the cpu is not powerful enough to push that many pixels that quickly and read the touch screen at the same time, all while running logic. There was a past attempt, but i believe they have since stopped. It did manage to render a screen, but it took several seconds, and couldn't respond to input.

[@thinkbolt]

Lo Bop, you beat me to it!

[@mechanopixel2639]

Based on the "GPIOTEST" and "SERIAL" application and the programming test pads on the circuit board it's probably possible to do that

[@sersoft_corp]

But can it run Crysis?

[@jong2359]

They ported wolfenstein 3d to Texas Instruments graphing calculators. Wolfenstein83 is the name of the project. It would run on this for sure with some porting.

[@njd834]

How to obtain all possible human knowledge: *Step 1:* Buy book "What they teach you at Harvard Business School" *Step 2:* Buy book "What they *don't* teach you at Harvard Business School" *Step 3:* You now hold the secrets of the universe

[@the-hd5cx]

dude just google it Sure, just let me take my *_WIKIPDA INTERNET WITHOUT INTERNET_*

[@kwastek]

It's a shame it didn't take off. Really a great idea and a great device.

[@pizzapartynightmarez393]

The device was far too limited, screen was too small, no games included, not enough buttons, no wifi, no backlit display. The idea was interesting but the execution was garbage.

[@drmegaman]

I like the idea of it but it strikes me as something you'd see gathering dust in the corner at Sharper Image. It's hard to sell things like that in the smartphone age. It'd be fun to keep knocking around the house when I want to randomly read something, but these days, those cheap Amazon tablets are half the price and can do so much more.

[@zedeighty]

I think it was a neat idea too. Unfortunately, I think they launched it in the wrong countries. If this thing had been released in parts of the world without the Internet or even reliable electricity, it might have been more successful. I can't see anything in the tech to justify that $99 price tag, either.

[@kaisersoymilk6912]

The problem is that we always have internet on our phones, so there's really no reason to use it (oh, and if you go to a place without internet you can always download the entire Wikipedia and put it on you phone's sdcard).

[@zak8953]

Check out Kiwix.

[@purplefuku]

Always fun to see devices like this! Maybe I’m being silly, but I think it was a noble attempt at providing Wikipedia to people offline. The timing was just bad... I could see a use case for something like this (or perhaps these days: a VERY low cost tablet with no built in Wi-Fi) with preloaded reference books/public domain books/Wikipedia/Dictionaries/Foreign Language books/etc being appealing to schools on a tight budget and/or who want devices to give students without worrying about them getting on the internet...

[@josuelservin2409]

There are applications that do exactly this, check out Kiwix, it works on pc, mac, Linux and Android!

[@purplefuku]

Jasper Janssen: Great points! I agree that it’s probably impractical in this day & age, given mass production being able to get the costs down low enough to be affordable, but the thought behind no Wi-Fi hardware was for the piece of mind for teachers / being able to convince a school board/parents/etc that there’s “absolutely” no way to access the internet on such a hypothetical device. The problem still lies that, as much as you can lock down things with software, kids are smart and will always find a way! 😄

[@TheProfessor529]

So a specialized Kindle, then.

[@DJBillyQ]

I actually made a project like this! Check out (no spaces): signal bundle . com

[@jamescorrall6535]

I had one of these when I was at university, basically bought it as a curiosity. My understanding is that one of the intended uses was for school children in developing nations where regular internet access may be difficult to find. Last I heard (prior to bankruptcy etc) they were being issued by the government of one of the Indian provinces.

[@javagirlma]

You sure are the master of finding obscure technologies for your program. I don't think the world will ever run out of obscure things for you to highlight.

[@user-oz4mo9wn7u]

i actually kind of like the idea they had with this, sad how it wasn't executed very well, they could've probably done a lot more with it

[@JamesWilliamStevenParker]

Curiously, what did they do (or not do) that caused it not to succeed do you reckon? :) I've got this device, and I bought it for a reason. It was (and still is) an amazing piece of kit.

[@nabukuma]

Ideal for time travellers into the past, or post apocalyptic futures :D

[@JulianusMaximianus]

You need to tell Apex TV about this. They have several time travellers featured on their channel. I'm sure they'd love something like this to ruin there delusion.

[@Sandium]

Julianus Maximianus I know I’ll seem like a dick but, their*

[@SurvivalMistakes]

Absolutely

[@Vysair]

Too bad these thing suck and im sure a phone with *that* solar panel case did a much better job

[@jmalmsten]

If I remember correctly, the Hitchhikers Guide recieved wireless updates via the sub-etha waveband ... So it's not entirely offline. More like a smart phone without freemium games...

[@TheProfessor529]

If HGG had been written today, the Guide would be an Android app and Ford would have tinkered with Arthur's phone to give it inter-stellar coverage like Doctor Who.

[@TheProfessor529]

If they do another film or TV adaptation, they should totally do that. You could have 'Don't Panic' be the app's boot screen.

[@anononomous]

It required a (sub-etha) connection to update the database was otherwise fully functional without a connection. There were notable incidences of a lack of updates and out of date/inaccurate information being problematic. ...So it is very similar to this.

[@eliaschnl]

I remember when i didn't have internet on my phone i would save wikipedia articles for offline reading on the android app.

[@eliaschnl]

@Marc Carran Yes, you are right but that was a wifi network at school. I didn't have 3g on my phone or internet at home.

[@spkoftdvl]

Dude, is not too hard to understand... Yeas, you can have the internet in the first play, but when you get to your home dont. I used to do the same with my java cellphon back in 2003/4. Enter internet use a lot of my data credit, I have to save the page o the browser to read later in the bus or my house.. Right @SuperDoomz ?

[@NonsensicalSpudz]

maybe saying you didn't have internet. and then going on to say you downloaded them using the internet...on your phone...

[@yasirsaheed]

NonsensicalVids He probably used his android phone without a SIM card, or maybe he couldn't afford a data package or the mobile data charges.

[@eliaschnl]

Ok, so to clear up when i was younger i didn't have internet on my phone, only calls and texts. I didn't have any other internet connections at home either. So the only internet access i could use was either school wifi or library wifi. I would use that wifi to save the articles for offline reading. So when i don't have access to those wifi networks i can read the articles without a 3g or any other internet.

[@JasonB808]

“The UK prime minister is what’s her face”😂

[@andrewvernon4664]

If I had known of this product's existence I definitely would have bought one. It's a shame how so many interesting products have been overlooked simply because people haven't heard of it. It makes me wonder what technology exists right now that I am currently unaware of that will become featured in one of these videos 10 years from now.

[@12gauge_shawtyy]

It must be so surreal seeing a Wikipedia article about yourself

[@anononomous]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZbin#User_comments

[@Connie_TinuityError]

+anononomous That also includes you

[@ekoms108]

Its not

[@axelvetter]

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techmoan on German Wikipedia

[@XaneMyers]

If only there was a Xane Myers page about myself, but I'll have to become popular before that'll ever happen. I think I read rules preventing the person from writing a Wikipedia page about themselves, so this may never happen with my channel's current low view counts.

[@JieRai]

Honestly I'd buy that off you if you don't want it :) It's honestly a neat piece of history that would be awesome to own and use

[@NOWUNITEDUPDATES]

SIDA smh

[@CynicalDuty]

@@9965paul ur parents ever teach u to stfu?

[@Detlevboi]

@@CynicalDuty are you seriously whiteknighting a dude in the youtube comments?

[@tinyspeaker]

@@9965paul underrated comment

[@CynicalDuty]

@@Detlevboi aren't you whiteknighting yourself? lmfaoo

[@js5183]

After the apocalypse they will come from miles around to ask questions of my pocket Wikipedia!

[@JohnGotts]

And you would find fresh batteries where?

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

@@JohnGotts You probably could power this device from a fruit battery or a small photoelectric cell that can supply 3V - I can't imagine it draws much current.

[@MrMega200]

Exactly, two AAs are only 3 volts.

[@MarkTheMorose]

The number one question they'll ask is 'Can it run Crysis?'

[@steveofx23]

"Tell me about a time before The Google took over our world..."

[@MrGeforcerFX]

I couldn't have internet in my room when I was a kid so I had the cd based encyclopedias, I remember going from 1995 to 2002 and getting high res pictures and video clips of events happening, changed my world. Now I spend thousands of hours a year on wikipedia, your description of it is spot on, it teaches you the basics of something and is a jumping off point for further research.

[@GoldFish621]

This has been in my recommended for about 3 years

[@ivantheturtle3701]

Congrats

[@Nightcaat]

That’s strange, because it came out 17 months ago.

[@fiatlux8828]

I remember reading an article a while back about the South Korean military and some activist groups sending balloons into North Korea that had devices like these attached to them. They'd have offline wikipedia, an archive of South Korean newspapers, books, and music. The books part apparently had stuff like Korean and world history, fiction novels, poetry, etc. But the big thing was that they included a digital copy of the bible on it, since the Christian community in North Korea seems to be the one of the bigger civilian resistance movements there and were more likely to keep the device instead of turning it over to the authorities.

[@mwbgaming28]

i support everything but including religious drivel in the devices nothing good comes from religion (look at islam as a prime example)

[@georgewilson7432]

You had to ruin it, hadn't you? You couldn't resist.

[@disconnectedcable9084]

Oh come on, we get it. You despise Islam and religion but please state that fact on an argument where it calls for 'eh? We don't need to open this up when talking about North Korea and how devices such as these help people when they live in a forced dictatorship.

[@mwbgaming28]

but they made the mistage of including religious garbage on it religion is banned in north korea for a reason and the ban is one of the few north korean laws i actually agree with they should have just shipped the device without any religious bullshit

[@SalahEddineH]

MWB Gaming, I understand why you feel that way (As an ex-muslim who's been blinded by religious dogma for almost 25 years, because I simply believed what my parents told me). But banning religion is often just as bad as forcing it on people. Banning religion makes people cling to it even more and feel like you're trying to take the truth from them, rather than educate them about what the truth actually is. Putting the bible in the packs, to dissuade some groups of people from destroying it or turning it over to the authorities does serve a purpose, as ultimately it leads to people being more educated about what's out there. Just like so many governmental documents and decrees here in Morocco start with religious language and Quraan verses, so that Muslims (nearly everyone here) can't wipe their ass with them or throw them away. They do that to exploit people's beliefs in order to give their message more value. You might feel that it does more harm than good, to include the bible there, and you may be right, I don't know, but education and knowledge is the doom of religion. So using religion as a pretext to educate people will, in my opinion, lead away from the religious premise used in the first place, and we end up with enlightened and informed people. Or at least that was the intended purpose. Cheers!

[@laptop006]

If you'd looked up the Australian prime minister it would have narrowed it down since ours last even less time.

[@JonnyRobbie]

or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today

[@steviebboy69]

They chop and change and fight among each other. They are all the same anyway.

[@SianaGearz]

Is it the famed wild life, do you expose them to spiders, crocodiles, and all manner of deadly beast as a matter of prime ministerial duty?

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

That's probably why they went bust; it was impossible to keep up!

[@eggaweb]

Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Abbot, Turnbull and now Morrison. Did I miss any?

[@codapepper7764]

This would actually be really useful for limited preparation events in speech and debate. Normally competitors will have a prep time ranging from 5 to 30 minutes and can only use offline resources. One way my team goes about this is to download Wikipedia onto laptops and then use them offline in prep but one of these could be legitimately very useful.

[@AndreaFrancoise]

And 1 year down the road.... rip, no more services relating to WikiReader can be found on eBay

[@bcostin]

I bought one of these (deeply discounted) for an older relative who didn't have easy access to any sort of an Internet connection. He enjoyed it quite a bit. It's simple to use, easy enough to read in good light, and lasted forever on batteries. It gave him a quick way to refresh his memory on various topics, which is all he really wanted. Unfortunately it died a year or two later.

[@ProtoPropski]

If the world comes to an abrupt end at least I have a detailed offline encyclopedia of my favorite vocational hotspots, ski resorts, and spooky happenings.

[@ChrisTheGregory]

Fun fact: The FORTH language was also used for the Philae lander, as well as the 1986 game Starflight.

[@LeonMatthews]

I actually bought a bunch of these one Christmas. Seems silly now perhaps, but being able to get all of Wikipedia in a portable format ten years ago - plus dictionaries and thesaurii and a fair few other references was pretty cool in the pre-smartphone age...

[@rochester212]

Also, outdated encyclopedias are very much still useful for those people(me) who study culture and history. Views on specific historic events change over time, the internet doesn`t really keep old info, everything changes. This is why prints and offline access is paramount.

[@TruFalco]

My grandmother would LOVE this. She has no internet but loves reading stuff and sometimes asks me something.

[@jennysbloke]

05:58. "Whatserface" 😄 Epic. You never fail to entertain and inform, Matt. Thanks always.

[@DrekiTech]

Would be useful in an apocalypse where there's no longer internet access. Should put it in your survival bag! :)

[@dr.dylansgame5583]

true if you get hurt bad and don't know medical procedure this could actually have some life saving value or how to make clean water and use food better

[@GrzesiekJedenastka]

I ACTUALLY wanted tu buy this right now, but I can't find any...

[@Thedamped]

Not sure where you're located but there's some listed on ebay.

[@nickg1307]

@@kyledavidson4604 you would still need internet access?

[@draco5991rep]

@@kyledavidson4604 but can it browse the Wikipedia offline?

[@MrUtuber29]

@@nickg1307 you can download entire Wikipedia on your preferred device, though.

[@davei2938]

Amazon 129

[@Jaymo89]

Skyrim has been released on the device.

[@CaptainUsopp118]

but can it run Crysis ?

[@memesfromdeepspace1075]

No ITS not

[@idunno402]

shut the fuck up Todd

[@memesfromdeepspace1075]

@The Almighty Thanos immortal now you fall on my trap

[@stinkymetalhead200]

@The Almighty Thanos r/itswooooshwith4os

[@thequietkid6454]

"It's just a calculator" "Why are you taking this to History?"

[@tomrade344]

The Techmoan Effect is gonna be ridiculous for this one.

[@killerpoopguy]

Yeah, i'm glad I got one a few years ago, cause they've been going up in price the past year or two.

[@fordtechchris]

Just checked.... 2 available 49 and 75. I could buy both and double my money in a week, lol

[@mac2309zzz]

'We;ve documented it here for future generations to mock'! Brilliant!

[@IngeldGaming]

This video just gave that chap on eBay that offers database updates a few hundred or perhaps even a few thousand more customers.

[@TheProfessor529]

I give it a couple of days before 'As Seen on Techmoan' is added to the pages descrption.

[@billylardner]

“Clearly this didn’t PAN out for them” Made my day

[@vresnuil]

Now with offline LLMs that can answer questions in natural language, even with your voice, this has been blown out of the water.

[@ichbinein123]

1:24 I love that sketch. The Innernette, from Cinco technology!

[@Fuzimi]

I'm wondering what's on the microSD card (what file system it uses etc.)

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, and along with, how easy it would be to convert wiki databases for yourself. I could actually see that having a lot of appeal to backpackers, world travelers (hitchhikers ;->), anyone would who potentially find themselves in a situation where they were out of cell contact. Not to mention preppers and the like. Tiny, lightweight, running for ages on a single set of batteries... That's the sort of thing someone could throw in their backpack and it'll always be there when they really need it.

[@zhongfu]

fat32. you can run programs written in Forth on it too. fwiw they also have tools to convert current Wikipedia dumps to their format, but it's a pain to get working now that it's been 6 years since it was last updated (?)

[@TheProfessor529]

So a specialized Kindle, then.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Plus you could probably load up any DRM-free ebooks if you went to the trouble of converting, say, chapters to wiki articles or whatnot. I've got to imagine that person on eBay is charging a decent markup considering the niche appeal, but many people who already mess around with stuff like installing Linux onto "handheld messengers" could probably do it for free....

[@GLITCH_-.-]

Zhongfu Li: " you can run programs written in Forth on it too." Oh, can you? I didn't know. *Really? That's new to me! I WONDER WHY TECHMOAN DIDN'T TELL US!! OH WHAT A SHAME!!!* :)

[@lollo_0224]

Teachers and boomers: *intense frustration noise*

[@stormbird451]

I bought two of these! One was for my father (who still doesn't have a smart phone) and he loved it. He used it for several years. For the time, it wasn't a bad device.

[@qwws3379]

I’m so glad he included Tim and Erick in this

Where was the guy that just said "lets just make an offline Wikipedia app"? Instead they R&D some kind of XL tamagotchi. Mental!

[@TheProfessor529]

This WAS made only a year after the iPhone came out. It was a crazy time.

[@donwald3436]

The UK prime minister isn’t wosserface any more, it’s wossitshair.

[@camazotzz]

Boris Yeltsin

[@EmeraldLavigne]

Regarding What's-Her-Face: "Don't you think she looks tired?"

[@Abigart69]

Navneeth Lal lmao

[@RK-ep8qy]

Yes we know who you are

[@JamesWilliamStevenParker]

As a survivalist tool for preserving an offline backup of all human knowledge in the event of a war (for example [I live in Europe, but not thankfully near Ukraine]), this device is priceless. No internet, no need for electricity (it uses 2x AA batteries), and having GOT this device... it's a powerful fallback instrument.

[@folksurvival]

OK but Wikipedia doesn't contain all human knowledge so what are the other tools you are/would use?

[@Lewis.Alcindor]

The default text, pixel size, and response time is reminiscent of my old Franklin electronic dictionary.

[@Toleich]

Great to market to Preppers. So they can Wiki in their bunkers when the world ends.

[@namebrandmason]

Think they could manage to load conservapedia on one?

[@satibel]

make the case cammo and add a "just add water" battery pack, and I could totally see it.

[@cypheir]

@@namebrandmason Yeah, because Phyllis Schlafly's son has a truly unbiased opinion on history. It's like the Fox News version of history and reality.

[@alexkuhn5078]

"The USS Altair? That's pretty random..." lol

[@dariaxx2355]

I always was so fascinated by this and wanted one of them, though it was just the coolest thing!

[@Ninja-Alinja]

I had a Wikipedia database on my IPAQ PDA (that was like a smartphone without the phone and camera part, but everything else, GPS, games, calendar, email, WiFi...) in around 2004-2008, right up to the iPhone. That was free, fast, easy to use and could be downloaded on a 1GB SD card. It contained pretty much all the Wikipedia articles at the time, but without the media to same memory.

[@coffeeinthenebula]

I was always so fascinated by this device. I remember seeing it all over for a while back in the day. Makes me wish I bought one then, it's rather little thing

[@andysim232]

They need one of these but shielded against Apocalyptic conditions including EM damage. Containing all the info you need to rebuild the human race including how to build a stable genetic base without interbreading.

[@bloodyfx1065]

There is one actually, the thing is that nasa throw it to the space.

[@mwbgaming28]

just lock all the religious entries behind a password that is never written down

[@bear8ful]

MWB Gaming oo

[@satibel]

@@mwbgaming28 the password for each religion is the name of their prophet, everything went right until someone typed cthulu.

[@piperbarlow1672]

Yes, interbreading, wouldnt want your rye with your whole grain would you

[@Macintosh007]

Use this as a time capsule or give it to the aliens as a gift if they ever come.

[@Popk1ller]

re-introduce that device with offline youtube :D

[@ThatEsepe]

You deserve more likes.

[@NativeVsColonial]

With 999999999999999999999999999PB stored data offline :D Just cost of a entire Google data center :)

[@blackboxbs8642]

its possible in future

[@trent1776]

@@blackboxbs8642 are you a time traveler

[@blackboxbs8642]

skidmefella how did you know?

[@ImXyper]

friend : hey what does this word mean? me : *pulls out counterfeit phone*

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

I don't think people realize just how useful this could be in a situation where you will be without internet for a length of time.

[@KittyKatKya]

Oh god, that ghosting.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Kitty KatKya Look up E-ink on your device for a possible technical explanation.

[@no1DdC]

This does not use e-ink. Instead, it just has a simple reflective monochrome dot-matrix LCD screen.

[@Nathan-lw8oq]

Man, game boy had a better screen than this.

[@buddyclem7328]

It's enough to bring back feelings of nostalgia.

[@SOCXOXO]

It's at least bearable

[@JD3Gamer]

"It isnt anymore its whats her face". lol

[@polymerizedrecords]

With an e-ink display, would be amazing.

[@erdyjoshuadayrit7156]

Why does this not gained impact in our generation today? Despite teens without phones and people on places without cellular signals.

[@FredGandt]

Cute; thanks for the show-and-tell :) In case you or other viewers were not aware: Wikipedia is available as a free database download, and there are many purpose designed tools to read the DB. Not entirely "offline" since one needs to download it to start off and DL updates, but convenient for remote/offline access (e.g. camping holiday) after the initial setup. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

[@Anonarchist]

Encyclopaedia Dramatica was worth the 30 bucks.

[@fartcat8569]

A globe in my High School still had the USSR in 2007

[@xj-vn4eo]

It useless if you have easily accessible and affordable internet, which is something many people I assume take for granted given the comments in this video. For a person who struggles with internet access from time to time, I really appreciate the idea behind it. I occasionally print out articles on Wikipedia just so that I can read it on paper, independent on device battery or internet access.

[@optillian4182]

It's like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the real world, but without the sense of humor and less mentions of towels.

[@psydemekum]

*aww I have downloaded Wikipedia on my old Nokia Communicator. Back in time it was very nice have all de Knowledge without the expensive and slow 2g mobile internet connection. Very sad there is no longer such a design with slide out keyboard : (

[@TenshiCat]

Look up the BlackBerry Priv! It's a fairly recent Android smartphone with a slide-out keyboard!