Can the Kindle Really Improve on the Book?

Thinking about buying a Kindle 2? Nicholson Baker from the New Yorker bought one, but then again, how could he not?

"Everybody was saying that the new Kindle was terribly important—that it was an alpenhorn blast of post-Gutenbergian revalorization. In the Wall Street Journal, the cultural critic Steven Johnson wrote that he’d been alone one day in a restaurant in Austin, Texas, when he was seized by the urge to read a novel. Within minutes, thanks to Kindle’s free 3G hookup with Sprint wireless — they call it Whispernet — he was well into Chapter 1 of Zadie Smith’s On Beauty ($9.99 for the e-book, $10.20 for the paperback). Writing and publishing, he believed, would never be the same."

Baker gives a thorough review (seven pages online) of his Kindle 2, elaborating on his personal experience, as well as citing celebrities and "ordinary people" alike. With convincing arguments both for and against digital media, I do wonder if the Kindle or other similar devices will ever become mainstream and functional enough to truly replace ink on paper.

[via The New Yorker]

R.I.P. VHS

The VHS tape – the format that popularized the copying, replaying, sharing and storing of media and ushered in the era of the home theatre – is no more.

According to Geoff Boucher, writing in the Los Angeles Times:

Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.

After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes.

"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."

Read VHS Era is Winding Down.

[via gizmodo.com]

Top Ten Tech Toys

What holiday gift should you buy for your favorite techie this year? For your active friends, how about a Wii Fit? It provides you with a strenuous workout and keeps track of your weight. Your college student will appreciate the Apple Macbook, with its new aluminum chassis sure to survive any student's abuse. Buy a Netflix Player for your favorite movie enthusiast and make snail mail a thing of the past.

Click here to read about 2008's top 10 tech toys, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

How Stuff Works

The holidays are coming soon and Santa may be bringing many of you the latest and greatest tech toys that are coming out now. If you're like me and want to get the story behind the gadgetry, you need to check out the website, HowStuffWorks. It's fun and informative and can answer all kinds of questions in a very clear and easy to understand manner.

Best and Worst of Tech in 2008

Here is one more list to add to the end of the year lists appearing now:

The Best and Worst of Tech in 2008, according to U.S. News and World Report.

List of Lists

For me, this is one of the best times of the year. No, it is not because of presents and holiday gatherings, although those are nice. Instead, it is because this is the time when publications release their "best of" lists. Everyone from Time, NPR, and the New York Times, have their opinions on what was the "best". Also, year end review lists make for excellent debate and watercooler conversation, and help you find interesting things you may have missed during the year.

With so many lists covering so many categories, it is easy to miss several that you are interested in. Luckily, Rex Sorgatz compiles a list of "best of" lists for everything from architecture, music, movies, food, and more. Check it out at his blog here.

Nearly Half of Teen Activities Are Driven By Technology

Interesting recent study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), about teens and consumer electronic products:

Today's teens were introduced to technology as toddlers and rely on consumer electronic products like computers, cell phones and MP3 players that make their lives easier, according to new research released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Teens say technology helps them keep in touch with friends and family, although three-quarters of teens said they do not spend less time with people because of technology.

"Teens are comfortable with technology and value the improvements technology makes in their lives," said Steve Koenig, CEA's director of industry analysis. "As this generation looks for all-in-one features and bigger and better products, they will fuel the growth of the consumer electronics industry."

CEA research shows the average teen expects to spend around $312 on consumer electronic (CE) devices in the next six months. Teens are well versed in a number of CE products and spend approximately four hours per school day devoted to technology related activities. Personal ownership of CE devices among teens is, as expected, low because they live at home where many electronics belong to parents. Exceptions include lower cost products such as headphones/earbuds, cell phones and MP3 players, of which teens claim sole ownership.

When asked how they spend their day, nearly half of teen's activities were driven by technology. Four of their five top activities were technology driven, with listening to music as the most popular activity among teens. Purchasing (58 percent), borrowing (56 percent) or receiving a CD (52 percent) as a gift are still the primary sources teens get music, with online stores (51 percent) being a secondary source. Purchasing music through online stores has increase 10 percent since 2006 and teens are accessing music through online sources like YouTube (47 percent). As teens increase their online time, there is expected growth in online consumption of music.

A quarter of teens expect to purchase a new cell phone within the next six months, making it teens' most popular consumer electronic product. When asked to choose only one technology to use for an entire day, teens chose cell phones most often. Not just used for talking, seventy percent of teens use their cell phones for texting. Teens also use their phones to access mobile entertainment, shoot videos, listen to music and watch videos. Over one-third of a teens' cell phone activities are spent accessing and creating content. Based on teen's current cell phone usage and interest in more advanced features, growth can be expected in teen ownership of smartphones.

Looking specifically at what CE products teens want, an upgraded cell phone (a smartphone) and an MP3 player were at the top on their list. Additionally, higher ticket consumer electronic products like computers/laptops, video gaming systems and digital cameras would make popular gifts for the holiday season.

Nearly 50% of Us Need Help with New Technology Devices

Are you frustrated when your new laptop, cell phone, or personal audio player doesn’t work like you thought it would? Do you have to ask for help from your family, friends, or professionals?

If so, you are not alone, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project:

Although information technology is well integrated into the lives of many Americans, gadgets and communication services require, for some, a call for help. Some 48% of technology users usually need help from others to set up new devices or to show them how they function. Many tech users encounter problems with their cell phones, Internet connections, and other gadgets. This, in turn, often leads to impatience and frustration as they try to get them fixed.

New research from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that:
• 44% of those with home Internet access say their connection failed to work properly at some time in the previous 12 months.
• 39% of those with desktop or laptop computers have had their machines not work properly at some time in the previous 12 months.
• 29% of cell phone users say their device failed to work properly at some time in the previous year.

“Struggles with modern gadgetry mean less engagement with the services they enable,” said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the report. “Time spent dealing with set-up or outages means less time using modern communication services to connect with friends or find information that might help people be more productive.”

Although tech users can usually fix the problems by themselves, with the help of friends, or by calling upon user support, some say they cannot fix tech problems at all. Here are some of the ways device owners fixed their broken technology:
• 38% of users with failed technology contacted user support for help.
• 28% of technology users fixed the problem themselves.
• 15% fixed the problem with help from friends or family.
• 15% of tech users were unable to fix their devices.
• 2% found help online.

“In an age in which new technologies are introduced almost daily, a new gadget or service can become popular well before the technology itself is understood by the average user,” said Sydney Jones, Research Assistant at the Pew Internet & American Life Project and co-author of the report. “Naturally, some users catch on to new technology more quickly than others, and those who have more trouble grasping the technology are left confused, discouraged, and reliant on help from others when their technology fails.”

Not only did users find different solutions to their device failures, they reported varying attitudes during the course of trying to solve the problem. Overall:
• 72% felt confident that they were on the right track to solving the problem.
• 59% felt impatient to solve the problem because they had important uses for the broken technology.
• 48% felt discouraged with the amount of effort needed to fix the problem.
• 40% felt confused by the information that they were getting.

Adults who are most likely to be impatient to fix their devices are those who had the most devices fail, those who use their devices most, and those who rely more heavily on their devices for work or information.

Tech Gadgets for the Holiday Season

Here's an interesting event from our friends at the Novi (MI) Public Library:

Rick Broida, regular contributor to CNET, Popular Science, and Wired, and author of How to Do Everything with Your Zune, will be at the Novi Public Library, on November 3, from 7-8 pm, offering advice on digital cameras, camcorders, phones, MP3 players, GPS systems and, of course, PCs and notebooks. He will also field questions, provide tips and tricks and raffle a few goodies. For more information phone 248.349.0720 or visit http://novi.lib.mi.us/ The Library is located at 45245 W. 10 Mile Road in Novi.