They have a 150 inch plasma. There's a "life wall" that lets you interact with a wall. GPS devices in everything. And lamborghinis pimped until they scream (a little louder). Ambilight has gone bigger and Microsoft's surface is here. Seriously, CES is a ton of fun and something that anyone who digs gadgets MUST do before they die.
Look for a lot more from me in a few days. I promise.
So when the Amazon
Kindle was first announced I was immediately intrigued. eBook readers have been something that seemed
like a great idea from the beginning – at least to me. I had some problems with the earlier models –
price, availability of content, and my #1 issue: The fact that electronic books weren’t
cheaper than their paper counterparts. Truth is that a book doesn’t cost THAT much to manufacture but the
related distribution costs, retail overhead, etc, adds up to a premium that
downloads just didn’t have to deal with. I wanted the eBooks to be cheaper than the paper books and Sony’s store
(and others previous like Audible) didn’t
agree. Amazon did.
The Kindle has been panned for its industrial design. It has been criticized for its price point. I am not an overwhelming fan of the photography of it so far but honestly everyone that sees it says “oh, it isn’t that bad.” Functionality wise the side buttons allowing for previous and next page movement are quite convenient. The keyboard is a bit awkward but you only use it for very specific tasks, which I’ll get to later. In general it is light and easy to hold. I think the design is a personal preference thing and less of a serious hindrance to actually using it. (Note: I’ve read recent articles talking about how Amazon should license the Kindle store out to other manufacturers of hardware so they can stick to what works for them. This is genius and I agree whole heartedly… because…)
The integration with the Amazon store is amazing. Take first just the integration of it online, via the web, where you can easily search for and find, then buy, any book that has a Kindle edition. Most of the best sellers (91 out of 100 or so) have Kindle editions (a modified Mobicreator format) and are easily purchased. Amazon does one thing right – that’s work pricing and convenience down to a science. They’ve got it right here once again. THEN consider the integration at the device level. There’s nothing extra to do to get the content to your Kindle other than turn it on and let it wirelessly download via the Amazon Whispernet (EVDO) access. A truly genius move was to make that wireless access free. You’re paying for it as part of each download but you don’t notice, hence you don’t care. Smart. The emotional ease of buying more content will lead to higher sales in the long run guaranteed.
So what is it like to read on it? Personally I feel that it is better than reading on paper because of the variety of content piped into one small device, the ability to search interactively, and the resizing of text. The contrast of the screen is more than adequate and will only get better over time. I think the placement of the buttons is fine and useful, haven’t had an issue with them yet. I’ve found myself reading MORE because of the kindle, and that’s great. Given I’m reading more of my always loved sci-fi and futurist novels, but reading anything is good ;)
So what’s the keyboard for? You can search the Amazon store right from the device, complete with rankings by bestsellers, price, and even reviews which strike a rather personal chord with me. You can search through the texts of what you’ve got on the device. You can browse the web even – albeit not flawlessly – and hit sites like Wikipedia and news organizations. It is useful in a pinch but by no means a replacement for a laptop, iPhone, iPod Touch, Nokia tablet, or any other wifi enabled real browser.
And what about the storage? First off it has 250mb or so of internal storage that seems to work just fine for me. I’ve got a dozen books, a few magazines, lots of newspapers (various days of the WSJ or Investors Business Daily) and have no problems so far. Also you can add SD cards to increase the storage at will. Even more slick is the Amazon store holds references to your purchases and can retransfer them to the Kindle at any time. Take note iTunes – this is something that annoys the hell out of me when I buy a song and then have to worry about losing it.
My opinion is positive on the Kindle. I like it, I’m using it almost daily, and I am reading a lot more for it. I want to see more titles available on the Kindle store and improvements in the future to the eInk technology. Supposedly there’s some new stuff at CES ;)
I’m heading home to visit my family for the Christmas
holiday and I’m traveling with technology. Not just the usual cell phone or digital camera, but an entire list of
devices. Here’s what an early adopter
type rolls with:
1. Blackberry 8800. The absolute necessity. I’ll wear the same clothes 3 days in a row but I won’t MOVE without my blackberry. I’ve got 4 email accounts routed to it, text message threads with friends, and GPS navigation when I get lost. While I really did love the iPhone, it didn’t replace my blackberry for work and personal messaging combined.
2. Bluetooth Headset for the Blackberry (Motorola HS850). A must have. How else can you look so sweet in public places? I especially love the people that wear the headsets even while they’re having lunch with someone. As if they’re going to need to take that emergency call 1.2 seconds faster than without it already on. Ridiculous.
3. iPod Touch. I sold my iPhone because the crackberry won out, so I had to replace it with a dvice that’s the exact same just without the GPRS/EDGE radio. Love the iPod touch for all music and video watching needs.
4. Amazon Kindle. Wha what? I got one the day they were announced. Honestly I LOVE the thing, but my office has notable dissenters. I’ve already read the last three days worth of Wall Street Journals and one day’s worth of Investor’s Business Daily. Out of everything I’m carrying for “entertainment” this one will likely get the most usage. I’ll be writing a full review over the holiday so look forward to that.
5. Canon Powershot SD850IS. I’m not a fan of crappy phone pictures (nor does my 8800 offer that feature) so I carry a great camera in a super small form factor. I rather enjoy capturing photos along each step of a trip (particularly one for pleasure) so I’m glad I’ve got this trusty sidekick with me.
6. Nintendo DS Lite. That’s right, I have a DS Lite. So what. I enjoy the mental distraction of video games and honestly some of them are rather educational. Brain Age is a great example of something that’s Sudoku-like (does anyone even do Sudoku anymore?) and fun.
7. Low Tech stuff. Magazines, a pen and small moleskine notebook, and my boarding pass. Why magazines when I have the Kindle? Many of the ones I love aren’t yet available on Kindle (Wired Magazine isn’t for one) and some magazines are about the photography or imagery (gaming magazines in particular). This guarantees the continuance of paper for a bit longer. Wait until eInk technology goes color commercially (already has in limited beta testing) and the quality rivals CMYK printing. Not far off.
EDITED 12/23/07: I forgot my Dell Latitude D820 on that list ;) I was using it to WRITE the review so you wonder how I even could forget it. Either way - it's a beast of a machine but with 1920x1200 resolution and 2.5 hour battery life (or more if I optimize it a bit) I can't beat it. I love my Macbook at home but rarely travel with it because of the work+life combo this affords me. And yes I'm running Vista.
What do you carry when you travel for fun? Write a comment and tell me.
It has already been one amazing season for new technology. From the early kickoff of the iPhone (and numerous copies) to the recent releases of Rock Band, Amazon's Kindle, a TON of games for PS3, XBOX360, and the Wii, and more than a few releases in the GPS world (even ones for mountain bikes) - there's no shortage of stuff to drool over and eventually buy.
I haven't written in quite a while and plan on writing a few posts soon about the Kindle, Rock Band, and a few other things I've managed to pick up or play with. If you're reading this and have an idea or question, post it as a comment. I'm interested to know what you're buying. Or intentionally not ;)
And no, that gadget pile isn't stuff I own. Well at least not all of it. I probably did at one point though.
I got one. I stood in a line for about two hours and still got one. I enjoyed the conversations and the fact that Apple came out and said "we have enough for everyone." I was shocked - someone finally figured out how to launch a huge new product.
I immediately ran home and activated it. I had to deal with adding a new line and changing my phone plan a bit, being a customer of AT&T and a blackberry user that didn't want to simply swap out phones, but there were really no problems getting things turned on. Then I fell in love with it.
The iPhone is exactly what we've been reading about for months. EXACTLY. It looks and feels solid, it acts just as the commercials show, and it does everything Apple has been telling us it will. Is that not amazing? I'm blown away by the fact that expectations were SO huge and the potential for disappointment SO great but they actually nailed it. Well done Apple.
On to some specifics. What I really love about the iPhone:
What could be improved:
I'm not going to use it for email yet. Well, at least not corporate email. I have a blackberry 8800 and that's going to be the workhorse for a while. Forwarding calls to the iPhone works fine and means I can break away from the tether a bit and not check email every thirty seconds. Truth is I think I'll be paying more attention to the iPhone anyway, it is just too cool.
I'm going to write a bit more later about the purchasing expereince, the activation, and the general hype of the iPhone, but for now I wanted to post something fast about the first impressions after owning one for about twelve hours...
I'll write the full story later. For now I'm happy.
Today in the Dallas airport I did something that isn't new, isn't revolutionary, but was freakin' cool. I bought a $1.75 Diet Mountain Dew with a credit card. Debit card actually. It reminded me of something I wished for a few years back - cash to DIE.
I hate paper money. I hate that you can lose it. I hate that it has no tracking capabilities, no data, no reporting. I hate that ATMs charge me amazing fees to get at my own cash. Cash needs to go.
I'm glad that every machine in the world is moving towards accepting credit cards. I'm glad that I can get a Diet Mountain Dew or an iPod all from a vending machine. The Japanese know what's up.
