Posted 03/20/10
I finally got my own e-book — no longer will I steal my wife’s Kindle. And thus I entered the still-amazing-me world of electronic books.
Quickie background
Back around 1996, when I would give talks and be on technology panels, one of the discussions was on the future of books. I predicted that “one day, we’ll all own just one book.” We would then take that book to the library or the bookstore and get it loaded with whatever we wanted to read.
I talked about the then-emerging electronic ink technology, and how that would make reading on a screen actually enjoyable
Well, it took long enough, but it’s here. A bunch of companies launched e-books, notably Sony (notably because it’s one of the few brands everyone recognizes).
Then, of course, came the Kindle. The game changer.
Kindle, for starters
My wife wanted one. Dutiful husband that I am, I complied. And it’s wonderful. Buy from Amazon and it’s loaded in seconds. Hook to your computer and you can load content from your hard drive.
She bought some books, I bought some books, and we found lots of free content on Amazon. (Just browse Kindle bestsellers — many of the top 100 are free, usually because the authors have a new book out. That’s how I was introduced to Lee Child’s “Reacher” books. Anyway.)
The Kindle has its quirks, but it’s a beautiful machine. Overpriced, to be sure — Amazon makes it so easy to buy books with it that they ought to give the things away.
So I would steal the Kindle, “buy” free books from Amazon, and experiment with converting other content for it — notably PDFs, because there’s so much stuff out there in that format.
This annoyed The Wife.
My turn
Then I needed some minor surgery. I’d be laid up for a few days. I played the sympathy card and won: She got me the reader I wanted.
I wanted the Sony Reader Daily Edition. It just came out. It’s a bit larger than the Kindle (and Kindle 2), but I wanted it for some specific reasons: It supports PDF files (which Kindle doesn’t), and it supports standard e-book formats (which Kindle sort of does).
It’s also got a touch screen, which is nice — turn pages by flicking the corner like you would a real book, look up a word in the built-in dictionary by double-tapping it, etc.
It arrived the day I got home from surgery. Still groggy, I forced myself to unbox and charge it. And then it was time to see what there was to read out there.
Answer: Holy moly! Not quite what I expected!
But that’s the subject of the next piece.
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Posted 03/17/10
I’m almost tempted to buy sphincterectomy.com (yes, it’s available), simply to put up a logo.
[ducking]
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Posted 03/16/10
I read the following in a morning news brief, and I thought, “Doesn’t the writer see the glaring error in his logic?” (Edit: Original source here.)
Facebook was the most visited Web site in the U.S. during the week ending March 13, surpassing Google for an entire week for the first time, online metrics firm Hitwise said.
Facebook had previously been able to attract more visitors than Google on Christmas and New Year’s Day, as well as the weekend of March 6, said Heather Dougherty, director of research at Hitwise, in a blog post.
What’s wrong with this? Simple: It assumes that you have to go to Google to use Google. And that’s simply 
not true. All the major Web browsers — Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera — have an integrated search bar.
To use Facebook, on the other hand, you have to go to Facebook.com. So 100% of Facebook users are on its site, while significantly fewer Google users ever need to go to Google.com.
But it makes good press, doesn’t it?
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Posted 03/2/10
If you thought it was impossible to take the perfect food and make it better, you were wrong.
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Posted 01/27/10
Sitting in bed with my wife’s Kindle, I’ve often thought: “I wish this was a real Web browser with a touch screen,” and bemoaned the fact that tablet PCs were fairly bulky. Certainly they’re too big to hold on your chest while in bed.
I planned to get a Sony Daily Edition Reader — a large, touchscreen e-book that can display PDFs and just about every e-book format out there (unlike the Kindle, which really doesn’t like PDFs).
But now comes the iPad, Apple’s entry into the tablet market (only a few years behind, as usual).
Basic edition (which I’m sure runs a Web browser happily), 16GB, Wi-Fi only: $499. The Sony Reader is around $800, and it only displays books and docs. (I could pay $629 for the 16GB model that also does 3G, but I have Wi-Fi where I need it, and I don’t want to use AT&T. It’s 3G coverage is spotty at best, and I don’t need my surfing habits sent to the NSA.)
Only problem is that it’s an Apple product. So that means forthcoming battery problems, only being able to use programs approved by Apple, and generally being locked in. With a Windows-based tablet, you can download any app you want. With the iPad, you’re limited to Apple’s app store.
Oh, and it can’t multitask, which Windows tablets can. Whoa.
On the other hand, it’s thin and light because the keyboard is separate (and sold separately). Windows tablets — for the moment — have the keyboard built in.
Also, if Apple is selling this for $499, that means that PC versions will be forthcoming, less expensive, offer more features, and run an OS I’m familiar with. There are people who will “buy anything if it’s shiny and made by Apple” because they’re brand whores, but that’s not me. I know too many people who are locked into iTunes.
But if smaller, lighter, touchscreen netbooks don’t show up soon, darned straight I’ll be looking at this. Sweet.
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