Category: reading

  • Amazon-Tivo ecosystem works for me

    Stumbling around Amazon’s Unbox video store looking for a movie to rent last night, I happened across “21.” It’s the film about a group of MIT students who beat the Vegas casinos to the tune of millions of dollars by counting cards at Blackjack as a team. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan…

  • Apple will not slay Amazon’s Kindle, not even close

    The title of this post, the latest in a seemingly unending stream defending Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader from hordes of misguided critics, was almost the exact same title as my June 20 post: The Kindle is for readers, the Kindle is for readers. The subject of today’s push back is a John Conley posting that…

  • Amazon finally allowing you to ping publishers for Kindle editions

    One of the earliest requests from Kindle users has finally been granted by Amazon. Finally, every Amazon book that doesn’t have a Kindle version for sale has link to let Amazon tell the publisher that you want one. As you can see in the picture at left, the link to click is just below where…

  • Next-gen Kindle coming in time for the holidays?

    (UPDATE: Amazon chief spokesman Craig Berman told the New York Times on August 28 that there would be no new Kindles in 2008.) The gadgeteers over on Crunchgear are reporting a tip about the next generation of Amazon’s fabulous Kindle e-book reader and, if the tipster is correct, Amazon has listened to a lot of…

  • Fictionwise e-reader for iPhone equals new Kindle competitor

    Via a quick tweet from John Siracusa, I see that electronic book publisher Fictionwise has released a free e-book reader program for iPhones and iPod Touches (or should it be iPods Touch?) running Apple’s 2.0 operating system. This could be a big deal as Fictionwise is one of the more established players in the e-book…

  • The Kindle is for readers, the Kindle is for readers

    Web marketing guru Seth Godin has a Kindle and he seems to like it but he’d also like it to be more revolutionary in a very Godin-esque way. Okay. He’s also incredibly sexist. Godin claims the Kindle is “for women” because 1. it’s ugly and 2. the top 10 best sellers are not tech-heavy and…

  • Kensington’s long-named battery extender saved my flight

    Did you know that it takes a bit longer to fly back from Europe than it takes to fly there? I went to London for a couple of days, tagging along on the better half’s business trip, and my journey aboard two very fine British Airways Boeing 777’s took 6 hours and 15 minutes on…

  • Kindle or no, we still need great book stores

    (UPDATE: In October, 2008, new ownership promised to maintain the store’s essential character – phew!) Woke up and received a slight slap in the face as I read the morning paper today. Seems that Frank Kramer, owner of the very fine Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Ma., is planning to sell his establishment. Make no…

  • Ignore that cranky Mossberg and his Kindle whine

    I kept meaning to predict that Wall Street Journal gadget reviewer Walt Mossberg was going to pan the Amazon Kindle e-book reader because he’s hyper-sensitive to minor flaws. But life intervened and I didn’t get the chance. And, of course, now he has. Sometimes Mossberg is right on, but unfortunately with the Kindle, he’s far…

  • Kindle reviews by folks who actually have seen one

    Amidst all the misinformation about Amazon’s new Kindle electronic book reader, particularly coming from people who have never touched or used it, here’s a list of reviews from the fact-based segment of techdom: Gizmodo checks Kindle in the bedroom, on an airplane and atop the porcelain throne. Not quite a home run, just a triple,…