I wrote about Amazon Kindle last week and thought that it sounded like a neat tool. Since then I’ve read many reviews from colleagues and experts and I’m still not sure where I stand. I do have to say that Mary’s post has pushed me more toward the pro side than any other.
I’m trying out an AMAZON KINDLE. Love it.
It’s clearly designed by people who READ. Delightful to read the newspaper, magazines, books, your own documents. You can read for hours comfortably. In fact, I believe that in many scenarios, I’d PREFER this, yes you read that right, I’d prefer the KINDLE to a real book or magazine. That surprises me, even though I was looking for the convenience of an ebook reader (dozens or hundreds of titles), I always expected to say, “of course the paper book is a better reading experience.” That may be changing. This not only rivals the paper experience, it surpasses it in many ways. It’s EASIER to hold than a hardback, easier to turn pages with one hand than a paperback or newspaper, and that’s all before the extra features.
…
Yes, I know about the DRM and privacy complaints, and I hear you. But you don’t have to use Amazon as your source of content. I’ve emailed myself open documents that I want to read (10 cents a document). I’ve also gone to manybooks.net to get a bunch of mobipocket (or .txt) titles for free and transferred by cable - free. No tracking of my reading there.
Sounds like a pretty darn cool toy - my only problem is the price - I’m not sure I want to pay $400 for a tool to allow me to read books and then buy the book as well - when I could just buy the book for $15 … in short, this is a technology I’m going to keep my eyes on and will probably give in to once its price lowers just a bit
Now, I’m all for campus safety and for colleges using the technology that our students are using - but this is a bit much!
Students at Montclair State University in Dirty Jersey now must purchase, out of their own pocket, a Sprint cellphone, dubbed the "School Phone" by students. Ostensibly, the plan is designed to ensure student's safety. The least expensive plan, which includes a paltry 50 peak voice minutes (but unlimited text messages and on-campus data transfer), costs $420 per year.
Students should be able to pick their own phone and plan - some are just better/cheaper than others - and the campus should learn to work with all cell phones. And if a student can’t afford a cell phone then the school should come up with some compensation - a scholarship fund of sorts.
Do you think that this name has some hidden meaning? Turning your paperbooks into kindling? Anyway, Amazon’s Kindle looks awesome!! My only problem is that it doesn’t read PDF. Now, while I’m not a student anymore, I always wanted an e-book reader so I could read my lecture notes which were in PDF format on a nice book-sized screen. I just read an amazing paragraph in Everything is Miscellaneous regarding the future of ebook readers. Weinberger talks about the power of having our ebook readers hooked to a wireless network keeping track of data about our reading habits and note-taking - it’s awesome and I’ll share more later (only 5 pages to go) - but Kindle sounds like a step in the right direction:
Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle"”whether you're in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes"”all auto-delivered wirelessly.
Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times.
More than 250 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN’s Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post.
Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces.
Holds over 200 titles.
Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones"”so you never have to locate a hotspot.
No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments"”we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia"”Wikipedia.org.
Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
Want one? Well - it’s sold out already:
Due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is temporarily sold out. Because we ship Kindles on a first-come, first-served basis, please ORDER NOW to reserve your place in line. See availability messaging above for estimated in-stock date.
[update] From the user reviews on the Kindle page: “The most common complaint seems to be lack of PDF support. Yeah, pretty dumb. But easily handled. The Kindle supports MOBI files. It took me five minutes on Google to find the Mobi site, download their desktop software, and convert a PDF file to Mobi. Problem solved. ” - sounds promising! [/update]
RitzCamera has a one day deal where you can get 3 1GB Flash Drives for $29.99 (plus $6.95 s/h). Sounds like a neat stocking stuff idea for those geeks in your family … or maybe just for anyone in your family!
Lost drivers soon will be able to Google for help at the pump. As part of a partnership to be announced Wednesday, the online search leader will dispense driving directions at thousands of gasoline pumps across the United States beginning early next month.
Instead of fighting with your significant other about who has to go in and ask for directions from the dubious looking gas attendant, you can now access Google Maps right from the pump - well not now but eventually!
According to Gordon Meyer over at 43 Folders, the Sony PRS-505 eBook reader is pretty close to perfect until you try to drop a few PDF files onto it. “None of my PDF files were remotely close to readable on this thing,” he says. He then details several different cumbersome options for converting PDFs to more legible formats but ultimately ended up returning the device. This is disappointing for something that claims it's compatible with one of the most ubiquitous text formats around and the thought of spending $300 and then having to reformat and/or convert many of the files you want to read is silly. Does anyone have one of these that can speak to the PDF issues?
Today I was in Borders on my way out the door with my Chai Latte (my favorite winter drink) when a techie toy caught my eye. It was the Sony Ebook Reader (PRS505/SC). I had read about these bad boys - but never seen one. As a librarian and a reader, I have dismissed ebook readers as no possible replacement for the real thing … but this toy is pretty darn nifty! The screen is such that there is no glare like off a regular computer monitor. The font can be adjusted so that anyone can read the page without struggling and the menu provides a way to bookmark pages. I also liked that it came in a case that make it so that you could hold the reader just like a regular book (only thinner).
I played with the page turning and the menu options and thought it could be a bit more responsive, but overall thought it was well worth looking into if more of my favorite authors become available on ebook … no let me rephrase that … I think I’d still buy my favorites in print just to complete the collection on my bookshelf - I’d probably use this for those impulse buys that I almost always give into … you know the ones - where the paperbacks are 3 for the price of 2? That’s always how I find new authors that might interest me.
Anyway, if you’re looking for an ebook reader, this is certainly a tool to take a look at.
I hate standing behind the podium when I present - mostly becuase I’m so short I look like a floating head - or a kid playing dress up. Anyway, I use this nifty tool for my presentations - and now it’s on sale if you want one.
The Portege R500 is Toshiba's newest addition to the mobile front. Surprisingly this two pound notebook comes with an optical drive which is touted as the worlds thinnest at an impressive 7mm.
The R500 packs some cool features and options such as the available 64GB of SSD storage, which -when combined with the absence of an optical drive- drops weight of the notebook to an incredible 1.72 pounds.
Though designers say the product is unisex, as a fashion accessory it may carry particular appeal to women, a group Intel has long wanted to win over. “Increasingly, women are often the decision makers, particularly with high-end purchases,” says Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC. “More and more companies are starting to pay more attention to the female market segment.”
You may have noticed my del.icio.us bookmark to Kimbooktu - but I have to tell you how cool this site is. Kimbooktu lists gadgets, books, tools, and goodies for book lovers - it’s so much fun to read and maybe one day I’ll be able to buy some of these nifty gadgets.
Michael points us to the iPod Death Clock which told me that my new iPod was manufactured in November 06 and will live for another 700 days 20 hours 11 minutes 12 seconds. I think I’ll probably have upgraded before I hit D-Day.
Yep - you read that right. My mother-in-law gave us each a candy pooing bear for a stocking stuffer this year. You have to see it in action - it’s very disturbing:
The box says: “The Sub-Zero Poopin’ Hero!” — this is just too much!!
All of the cool kids have iPods - and now so do I My husband bought me a nano for Christmas and some nice little skins so I can pretend that I have a pretty colored iPod.
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you’re all having a great day.
Today my husband and I threw a holiday party for our families. Everyone came here and we cooked a feast. My mother and husband gave me a new digital camera. I got the FujiFilm E900 - and I must say it’s much better than my old Fuji. I took a bunch of pictures with no flash in my dark house and they all turned out pretty darn good. I also have a new 1GB memory card - so I can take pictures to my heart’s content.
This is something every student should have. I read my textbooks while commuting to and from work - this means the highlighter is held between my teeth while I carefully hold my book so as not to invade on other’s personal space. The booksling is the answer to this awkward situation.
I said before (earlier today) that I didn’t think the Flickr Camera Finder was useful, but I’ve played with it more and have changed my mind.
I did a little browsing to find pictures taken by a particular camera. I can use this to figure out which cameras take the best pictures (for me). I have added the FujiFilm E900 to my wishlist per a recommendation from a friend (and an amazing price). I did a little looking at pictures taken with this camera and it’s a huge improvement over my current camera.
Flickr now has a Camera Finder that shows you which cameras are the most popular on Flickr. It doesn’t actually show which cameras are good - just which ones the most members on Flickr use. Not terribly useful - but still interesting.
I want a new digital camera. As you can see by my pics from the 2 conferences my camera’s not so good with the dark places. I see some great pictures take in the same rooms I was in - and I just want to know what cameras you’re all using and happy with. I should note that my camera (I have a FujiFilm A340) is 2+ years old - so it’s ancient in digital time - it might just be an age issue.
I didn’t get to attend this session, but I can keep up because Aaron Schmidt has put the presentation online.
The most confusing (and kind of useful) item - the USB heated gloves (on page 17) - at first I couldn’t figure out why I would have my laptop with me while out in the snow. But Aaron’s description cleared it up for me - I can use these in my icebox of an office at work!!
I bought a new toy on ebay over the weekend. I am not the excited (cause it’s a new toy) owner of an HP Ipaq 4355. What’s so neat about this gadget? Well it’s a Pocket PC with WiFi - something I haven’t had on a Pocket PC before. It also has a handy little keyboard. It also allows me to read my lectures & handouts while on the train on the way to work without having to print them all out!
I have only one problem - and it’s not the fault of the toy - it’s the fault of me for not reading the description carefully. I have an a/g router at home and apparently my new Pocket PC needs a b router!! Guess it’s time to go out shopping for more goodies
Now - these aren’t for me - I like reading my feeds in an aggregator - but you might be interested. Original Signal offers two pages one for Transmitting Web 2.0 and one for Transmitting Gadgets. They’re each a page full of feeds from popular Web 2.0 and Gadget blogs - pretty handy if you want to read them all in one place.
That’s right - skip 2.0 through 4.0 - I just watched this video about a hydrogen powered car by GM. This has absolutely nothing to do with what I usually write about, but I just had to share. Watch this video about the GM Highwire a car that requires no oil or gasoline, a car without an engine in front - a car without pedals!! It’s super scary to me, but it’s real.
Today I attended a session at the PA Bar Institute that was supposed to share 60 tips in 60 minutes. We didn’t quite get to hear all 60, but there were some fun things I wanted to share with you all (and some productive things I’m going to test before I share).
The USB Turntable - rip your old records to MP3s so you can listen to them on your MP3 Player.
The CellStik - backup your cell phone and/or easily transfer data from your old phone to your new one.
How neat are those? While I was searching for these URLs I saw that engadget & Gizmodo had already posted about them - but those are 2 blogs I didn’t subscribe to - until today!
Oh, and the presentation was by Ross Kodner from MicroLaw - a great speaker if you’re looking for some continuing legal education!
Web 2.0 and programming tips from a library technology enthusiast, What I Learned Today… covers blogs, rss, wikis and more as they relate to libraries.
