Navy using PSPs to study at sea

By Robert Purchese Published 30 November, 2009

Books are seen as "dull and boring".

Britain's Royal Navy has begun issuing sailors with bright blue PSPs to stimulate learning at sea.

Pink was offered as an alternative but rejected, reported The Times Online.

The idea - dreamt up by the maritime warfare school at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire - is that sea-soldiers, whether in a submarine or wave-battered battleship, can romp through 10-minute, instructor-prepared study slides in confined areas.

The school bought 230 PSPs and will limit them to Navy engineers at first, widening distribution if the programme goes well. The UMD drive was originally to be disabled, but the decision was reversed as command believed sailors would better keep their PSPs if they could use them to play games.

"They are also engineering technicians and would probably be able to fix it themselves," said Lieutenant-Commander Mark "Beasty" Williams.

Apparently training costs have been cut to £200 by the move and the Navy expects pass-rates to improve.

"We are working on the premise that looking at a book is now seen as dull and boring. When I was at school you sat at your desk and you did your work and that was it," added Navy Command's Trevor Price who probably got a satsuma and hoop for Christmas.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • el_pollo_diablo #1 2 years ago

    I quite literally have no opinion about this whatsoever.

  • Olemak #2 2 years ago

    "[...] Navy Command's Trevor Price who probably got a satsuma and hoop for Christmas."

    Is this a joke? I guess it is, but I don't get it. Are you referring to the battleship Satsuma?

  • kangarootoo #3 2 years ago

    "We are working on the premise that looking at a book is now seen as dull and boring"

    I thought that was something that drop-out kids said. Its not something I would want to hear coming from the mouths of people in charge of guns.

  • Darren #4 2 years ago

    I'm sure those sailors are loving the idea of having their own free handheld for games but, nevertheless, it's depressing to hear a high-ranking Navy officer speaking against the benefits of books. At least you can still use those if your PSP battery runs out... ;)

  • monkeylite #5 2 years ago

    I understand his point of view. Living quarters in ships are cramped and a electronic device does take up much less space and weight than books. A notebook would have been better, but imagine the fallout if they started issuing £2000 Toughbooks to Navy students. A PSP is cheaper, and it has the benefit of being a music, video, Skype, interweb and games machine. On a nuclear powered sub, you won't have to worry about plugging it into the wall socket all the time.

    Personally I would have gotten them those Sony Reader instead. Tough and the battery last several thousand pages.

  • sneetch #6 2 years ago

    Hey, I may ain't got no fancy PSP-learning but I knows how to shoot me a nucular missile.

  • tachometer #7 2 years ago

    Is this a new method in tackling piracy?

  • insincere_dave #8 2 years ago

    "The school bought 230 PSPs"

    That explains that 1000% sales spike recently with the PSP.

  • the_mtfr #9 2 years ago

    "looking at a book is now seen as dull and boring"

    It's been boring since forever, and also since forever is this: because books are meant to be read, not stared at. For fuck's sake, mister Navy guy.

  • jefranklin18 #10 2 years ago

    I remember seeing an article similar to this ages ago, although if I recall correctly they were thinking of using Pocket PCs at the time rather than PSPs. The benefits that the PSP or handheld PC would have over a book is that the schematics can be animated to make it easier to interpret what is going on. The same would also apply to ebook readers, as they are also not really suitable for animatations.

    Having used PocketPC OS device in one shape or another for 7 years, I can understand why they didn't pursue it as a long-term option. The OS slows down over time, the touchscreen is easily damaged but can be overly sensitive. Can't comment on the PSP as I don't have one yet.

  • Bigglesworth #11 2 years ago

    @Olemak
    The 'joke' is that the quote implies that the speaker may be of advancing age, and had his youth back in the days when such simple gifts provided ample entertainment.

  • Bigglesworth #12 2 years ago

    Cue media reports of the loss of PSPs and Memory Sticks containing classified Navy training and operations manuals.

  • oldschoolsoviet #13 2 years ago

    And the port of PS2 cult classic Naval Ops:Warship Gunner was just released on PSP in Japan.....

    .....coincidence ?

  • StooMonster #14 2 years ago

    Surely Navy Command's Trevor Price probably got a satsuma in a sock and BATTLESHIIPS for Christmas.

  • Bluetooth #15 2 years ago

    I find books boring, I find TV and computer games boring, that's why I take speed.

  • AphoticCosmos #16 2 years ago

    Well, the Type 45s all have iPod docks in them . . .

    It's a geek's navy now, son!

  • Chazmeister #17 2 years ago

    @ Quickstick4

    Read it again, he didn't call it the British Royal Navy. He started the sentence saying "Britain's Royal Navy". You know, as in the Royal Navy belonging to Britain. Perhaps you could cadge one of those PSP's and get a bit of reading practice in.

  • YourMessageHere #18 2 years ago

    Absolutely pathetic. I thought there was supposed to be some sort of command structure in the military or something. So that, for example, if an undereducated weapon technician were to complain about books being dull and boring, his instructor would tell him to shut the hell up and read his book, and he would have to do it. This is supposed to be the military - an organisation designed to make people tough and adaptable enough to overcome whatever obstacles stand in their way. In terms of lifethreatening situations, listen to the troops, yes, by all means get them what they need. But when they start making a fuss when presented with a textbook, that's when you start ordering them to scrub the loos with their toothbrushes. If you join the navy and you want a technical role, you have to learn, and moreover you need to learn how to learn - using books, like everyone else. Aren't militaries supposed to cultivate transferable skills too? What next, the marching band getting Rock Band drum kits on little trollies and fluffy slippers because the drum is ever so loud and their feet hurt a bit?
    Edited by 1 at 01/12/09 @ 00:03