Category: Gear

  • With growing Apple tablet excitement, misguided Kindle whining returns

    We’re coming up fast on the 2nd anniversary of the introduction of  Amazon’s Kindle e-reader. Yet despite the many improvements and price cuts in KindleWorld, we’re still subject to the same weird, off-base complaints we first heard back before anyone even had even gotten their hands on one. Recently, my favorite Mac guru, John Gruber,…

  • Changing guard at Buckingham Palace: New laptop

    New job? New laptop! It’s my number one workplace tool, so it’s also fitting to fit my laptop requirements to a change in employment. As I’ll be doing a lot more daily commuting and possibly more business travel, I decided to downsize from my Macbook Pro with a 15″ screen (the Mid 2007 model) to…

  • Another reason to love Mifi? No driver software

    I’ve been using my Verizon Mifi 2200, the portable broadband modem and wifi hot spot, all over the place for the past four months and it’s been doing just what it’s supposed to do. It connects quickly and gets my laptop, iPod Touch or any other kind of net surfing device online. I already raved…

  • Apple still isn’t going to kill Amazon’s Kindle, or any other ereader

    Steve Jobs’ latest mouthing off about the market for electronic books and dedicated ereader devices like the Amazon Kindle has sparked the usual conflagration of comments, interpretations and predictions. Some are way off-base, others quite savvy. But after seeing a bit on Techcrunch claiming that everyone was misinterpreting Jobs, it seems like some further clarity…

  • Kindle DX: Even better electronic book reader

    No secret that I’m a huge fan of Amazon’s Kindle electronic book reader. I’ve had one since Day 1 and read dozens of books and hundreds of shorter articles on it. Its crystal clear e-ink screen works even in bright sunlight. The battery life is phenomenal. And the free wireless connection makes it a breeze…

  • Sony Reader adds some brilliant features, 3 years late

    Almost three years ago, Sony unveiled the first version of its electronic book reader, dubbed, excitingly enough, the Reader. As I predicted at the time (Short-tailed Sony reader needs a much longer one), the device bombed because it was a product in search of a need. The Reader didn’t offer enough (if any) advantages over…

  • History and Uses of Amazon Kindle for People Living in Caves

    I used to kind of like author Nicholson Baker. I think the first time I encountered his writing was a long essay in The Atlantic (going on memory here) about his quest to preserve huge collections of old newspapers that libraries were rapidly tossing out. As a guy who used to spend hours in the…

  • Yes, Virginia, the Barnes & Noble ebookstore is a Good Thing

    Yesterday, I took a whack at explaining why Barnes & Nobles new online ebook store would turn up the competitive pressure on Amazon’s Kindle world and, more than likely, benefit consumers. But now at least two prominent ebook bloggers are disputing the notion that the new Barnes & Noble ebook store provides important competition for…

  • Barnes & Noble eBook Store Great News For Consumers

    Book retailing titan Barnes & Noble has been building its electronic book sales effort this year with some haste, likely hoping to slow the growing momentum of Amazon’s Kindle before it becomes unstoppable. In March, Barnes & Noble bought Fictionwise, maker of a popular ebook reader app for the iPhone and proprietor of several popular…

  • Amazon really blowing it with Kindle DRM

    The other day, I posted about some of the idiotic and inadequately disclosed limitations built into almost every electronic book sold by Amazon in their Kindle store. These limits, enforced by so-called Digital Rights Management, or DRM, software, can dramatically effect the way consumers view Kindle ebooks. And they make complete hash of the argument…