E-book readers–this year?
I have a bunch of technical reading on PDF. I enjoy reading tech manuals and such on open source Apps, and their are a number of great sourcesgreat sources for free ebooks. So, over the years I have ran them off on a laser-printer and either carried them around in binders or stacks. Its a waste of paper and I would love to be able to just keep them on a computer or e-book reader.
Now I am a confessed geek and I have tried since, oh I don’t know the days of the sharp wizard to read e-books on a device, but none have been satisfying. Let’s peek back.
My first device for reading e-books was probably a handspring visor. It was gray and black and terribly unsatisfying to read with. It kept my schedule kind of, but there was not graphics in the e-books and the reading experience was horrible.
Next, I switched to the dell Axim. I had a X5…which was nicer to read on, but the screen was still small and the graphics didn’t come with the PDF. It became something I carried around less and less after I got a laptop.
The laptop was a good idea too, but its hard to read on and its big, heavy and impractical. It takes forever to boot as well.
Finally, I flirted with using my ipod. Nothing more need be said here. It’s a great media player, but text is ugly.
So, I have been following the Kindle and the Sony Reader. The Kindle has advantages, especially the built in high-speed connection. The Reader seems more elegant, but its a Sony product. Still, I would love to get my hands on one.
What would be great would be the Astak e-book reader that has been umored to be coming out real soon now. If it is uner 200 dollars and 6 inchesit might be worth jumping on. We all agree that the perfect reader would be:
- small (6 inches or 9 inches at the most)
- portable
- easy to read(e-ink seems like this fits the bill).
- open to multiple formats(unfortunately none of the readers on the net cover all formats without conversion).
- a good refresh rate, boot speed, etc. There is some talk about lag with both the Sony and the Kindle.
- a good battery life.
If someone were to build a reader that does all of this for under 200 this would be the year of the e-book reader.
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A piece on Crooks and Liars made me very sad. This makes me sad. In fact, being a Minnesotan, having met Al Franken, listened to his show and enjoyed SNL, I am still quite sad. The race for a Senatorial seat should be about the issues. Unfortunately, this election will not be.
Franken will be spending the next 6 months explaining what satire is to Minnesotans who aren’t known for their deep sense of ironic wit, but do vote. On the other hand, their is a commercial running now showing Norm Coleman taking out the trash at his house, which is ironic in its own ways–not the least of which has to do with the nature of his relationship with his wife, but satire is what we are going to talk about.
Franken is a good campaigner. He gives a great speech. He is eloquent and has his head on straight(on most issues). He does have personal issues, however. Someone should have taken him aside and talked to him. The Minnesota Republican Party has read Live from New York. They aren’t stupid and looked through his books, and perhaps are now compiling a list of offensive things he said on his radio show. Its a fairly obvious target.
So, in Minnesota we get to talk about satire. We get to hear it defined and argued. We get to hear about family values from *cough* Norm Coleman(roady throughout the early 70s for Heavy metal bands). But we won’t hear about the issues. That makes for a sad, unfortunate campaign.
Ultimately, the truth is, this stuff does have power. Its possible that Norm (”I’m 99% better than Wellstone”)Coleman will get to keep the seat in the Senate that went to my political hero because of Al’s ego. Sad.
What makes me the most sad is that the Wellstone legacy becomes a more and more distant memory. My son says that he was “going to be the Governor…” A distant memory.