E-Readers or Swiss Army Knives?

Quick follow-up to our E-Reader Cheat Sheet: One of the most interesting questions about e-readers isn’t “Which one is best?” but “Is the whole category toast?” And one of the things that makes the question interesting is that there are savvy folks who think that e-readers will give way to general-purpose devices, and savvy folks who think we’ll continue to need book-centric gadgets.

Derek Thompson at the Atlantic:

Returning to today’s news: B&N and Amazon’s offer to access e-books on computers, iPhones, BlackBerry’s and future hybrid devices, means that anything with an internet connection is functionally an e-reader. We don’t need an e-reader to “e-read.” I think that means Amazon and Barnes & Noble are inherently handicapped in the e-reader arms race. They’re building e-readers that can go online. That’s nice, but the upcoming Apple Tablet is so much more: a ultra-portable netbook/entertainment center that can also read books. The Tablet isn’t merely designed for today’s e-reader technology. It’s designed with the expectation that consumers want their personal technologies integrated. It’s not just another awesome corkscrew. It’s a Swiss Army Knife.

James Fallows, also at the Atlantic, politely disagreeing:

I’m skeptical because of the dozen previous times through the computer era in which that prediction has not panned out. “Real” cameras are still much better than in-phone cameras; the right device to carry in your pocket, as a phone or PDA, will always be worse to read on than a device with a bigger screen, which in turn is too big to fit in your pocket; keyboards are simply better than little thumbpads for entering more than a few words, and any device with a real keyboard has to be a certain size. So, sure, some things will be combined, but the all in one era is not at hand, and won’t be.

John Gruber at Daring Fireball, linking to our Cheat Sheet:

So many options, but I just can’t see how this product category has long-term legs.

Jim Fallows is one of the smartest people ever to write about technology, but in this instance, I’m guessing the dedicated device will be subsumed by a general purpose one, and maybe sooner than most people would guess. True, there are lots of examples of devices that are just too different from each other to be effectively Swiss Army Knifed–for instance, smartphones won’t replace point-and-shoot cameras until some genius figures out a way to eliminate the need for zoom lenses and decent flashes. (Yes, I know that there are phones with zooms and flashes, but they remain odd, bulky exceptions.)

But Swiss Army Knifing a technology works quite well when the technologies and form factors in question are essentially similar. That’s why standalone PDAs have essentially been replaced by smartphones, for instance. The one thing standing in the way of tablets replacing e-book readers is the face that an e-ink screen can run for weeks on a battery charge, and the color LCD you’d want for a general-purpose device will peter out after a few hours. But that problem will get solved eventually–and I suspect that even today, more people would give up long battery life for beautiful color than most e-reader manufacturers suspect.

Your take?

AT&T’s Wireless Data Issues May Be No Fault of iPhone

AT&T’s favorite scapegoat when talking about data issues is the ever increasing number of iPhone users on its network. While no doubt these folks can be bandwidth hogs, there may be another reason why there are issues: network configuration.

Brough Turner, a 25-year plus veteran of the telecommunications industry, took to his blog on Sunday to discuss AT&T’s data network problems. In his estimation based on his own research and that of others, it appears as if the carrier may not have its configuration settings correct.

(Reader beware: the above link has quite a bit of technical jargon. It may be a bit difficult to understand for most.)

AT&T’s ping times can vary widely, from a fairly normal 200 milliseconds to an absolutely horrendous 8 seconds or more. This is likely caused by an issue with the buffers in place to normalize Internet traffic.

For the less technical among us, Internet buffers help to smooth out traffic and prevent bottlenecking when the amount of traffic exceeds the bandwidth. Thus to prevent long wait times, sometimes packets are dropped.

But here’s the problem. Turner hypothesizes that AT&T has its network set to have no packet loss at all. This is practically unheard of in wireless data, and is causing slower loading times for users.

If he’s right, this is very embarrassing for the carrier. Did they really screw up in configuring their network? Hopefully Turner’s research compels AT&T to take a second look just to be sure.

Facebook for the Departed

Over at Facebook’s official blog, Max Kelly has written about what happens to a Facebook profile when its owner passes on. Facebook offers a service called memorializing which leaves the account in place but mostly freezes it in time:

When an account is memorialized, we also set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We try to protect the deceased’s privacy by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account also prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance.

Sounds like a good idea to me–I like the idea that when someone passes on, he or she won’t disappear altogether from the online world. (Actually–this may sound creepy, but I don’t think of it that way–I’ve been known to leave departed acquaintances in my address book as little reminders of our friendship.)

As far as I can remember, my only deceased Facebook friend  is sci-fi legend Forrest J. Ackerman, but he doesn’t really count–I was a fan of his, not a friend. His account’s still very active, but as far as I know it was maintained by friends of his even when he was still with us…

Curtain Call for GeoCities

Sometime today, the servers for what once was one of the most popular sites on the web will be shut off. As earlier announced, Yahoo will be shutting down the once very popular GeoCities web hosting service for good. The company says it will not be archiving the content, so if you have an old webpage there you better act quickly to do it yourself.

The company did say the Internet Archive was archiving content from the GeoCities servers, however there’s no guarantee it would have every page.

Yahoo announced its plans to do away with the service back in April of this year. The company said at the time that “we have decided to focus on helping our customers explore and build relationships online in other ways,” and suggested those that would like to continue hosting with Yahoo migrate their websites to one of the company’s paid hosting plans.

Either way, its sad to see GeoCities go, even though the service now is a far cry from its heyday in the late 1990s-early 2000s. Chances are if you were an Internet geek at that point, you at least had one website on the service. I know personally I either created or lended a hand in creating at least three.

I wonder if it’s still there? I’ll have to search. Would be a nice trip down memory lane…

Yahoo Mail is Unhappy This Morning

TechCrunch’s Leena Rao is reporting that Yahoo Mail is suffering a widespread but non-universal outage at the moment. Yup, I can’t get in to my account, but the first person I asked to check was fine.

Rao also says that Yahoo Mail is the most popular Webmail service, with over 300 million users. Let’s see if this glitch attracts even a meaningful fraction of the attention that the smaller-but-higher-profile Gmail’s hiccups prompt…

5Words: Windows 7 is Widely Beloved

27 reviews of Windows 7.

Windows 7 upgrade questions answered.

Pixi: $100, Sprint, November 15th.

Storm 2: Verizon, October 28th.

Apple tablet: SIM tray leak!!!

Netflix comes to the PS3.

Two guys dressed as iPhones.

eBooks: sparking interest in libraries.

TomTom iPhone kit finally available.

This watch is a BlackBerry..

White House goes open source.

Yahoo Mail is being temperamental.

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The E-Reader Explosion: A Cheat Sheet

By almost any imaginable definition, last week was the newsiest ever in the still-new world of e-book readers. We witnessed the unveiling of Barnes & Noble’s ambitious Nook. We got more details about Plastic Logic’s long-awaited device. We learned of an underdog known as the Spring Design Alex. We were informed that Amazon was killing the original Kindle 2 and lowering the price of the model with international roaming, and saw a demo of an upcoming Amazon Kindle reader application for Windows (a Mac version is also in the works). In short, the era in which it was logical to use “Kindle” as shorthand for “book-reading gizmo” is over.

It seems like a good time, then, to put some basic facts and figures about a bunch of major and/or new e-reader competitors in one place. After the jump, a quick Technologizer Cheat Sheet.

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Classic PCs vs. New PCs: Their True Cost

You’re familiar with Moore’s law.  You know all about the accelerating pace of information technology.  Regardless, you’re still amazed at how many gigabytes you can fit in your pocket these days.  Remember how your first computer’s entire hard disk only held 20 megabytes? You could accidentally swallow a thousand times as much data now if you weren’t careful.

But how much did that old hard drive cost?  I mean really cost?  Our memories get fuzzy on this point, because the buying power of the U.S. dollar has not remained constant over the years.  Inflation has decreased the value of the dollar, per dollar, continuously for over a century.  That means if you bought an IBM PC for $3,000 in 1981, you were actually spending the equivalent of $7,127.69 in today’s dollars.

Wait..what?  $7,000 for a PC?  Does anybody buy a $7,000 PC these days?  Does anybody even sell a $7,000 desktop PC now?  In our present climate of plentiful sub-$1,000 computers, surely a $7,000 PC must be the most incredible machine ever invented.  But for a business-oriented machine in 1981, that sounded cheap.

To examine this trend, let’s take six classic personal computers from yesteryear–some cheap, some expensive–and see what you could buy today for the same price.  And we’re not talking original retail price here; we’re going to take inflation into account.  For example, the Commodore 64–once considered a low-cost home computer–originally sold for $1,331.62 in 2009 dollars.  Today you can get quite a bit for that much money.  How much?  That’s what we’re going to find out.

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Facebook’s New Front Page Looks DOA

For a market-leading company, Facebook’s moves are sometimes so half-baked that it’s practically mindnumbing. The latest example of this is the site’s new home page. For whatever reason, Facebook has tweaked the news feed to become more of a “top stories” format then a chronological timeline of your friends’ activities.

(If you’re curious, here is why the company says the change was necessary.)

Oh yes, you still can get the old layout, but that’s now something you have to click through for and is called “Live Feed.” The site has attempted to make up for this by making that feed actually real-time: you no longer have to reload for the latest updates.

This was sprung on users without any warning at all. I initially thought Facebook was choking yet again when I noticed the status updates were all jumbled up. I actually didn’t realize there was a change until I noticed a news article highlighted on Techmeme.

Apparently, neither did most of my friends. “What the hell is wrong with Facebook now?” one said. Those that did notice what just happened were not much kinder. “This new layout sucks!” was a common meme.

Now Facebook groups are popping up demanding the old news feed come back. One called “Facebook: SWITCH BACK TO THE OLD NEWS FEED!!!” has garnered some 648,000 members in just two days. Another has about 440,000 members, and yet a third with over 51,000 users.

Such rapid opposition signals to me that Facebook is going to have a lot of trouble keeping this around. But it also should be a concern to those with interests in the social networking company: it is repeatedly making questionable decisions that really seem as if they are not being thought out very well.

Facebook has grown exponentially as MySpace has collapsed. But at the same time, MySpace seemed to think through changes before it made them, or realized sometimes it’s good to leave things alone.

I see no good reason why Facebook needed to mess with the news feed. To begin with, this Twitter-like layout wasn’t really popular with its users, and now they’ve messed with it again in a move that seems to have significant opposition.

If they keep doing this, Facebook’s time at the top may not be long-lived. In the end the customer is always right.

Let Them Charge. Hulu Can Only Improve

The interwebs are abuzz (OMG!) with Hulu’s confirmed exploration of paid tiers and pay-per-view, in addition to the current ad-supported video content model. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, as quoted by the Associated Press:

Are we looking at it with a view of adding subscription services in there and pay-per-view movies? Yes, we are looking at that.

However, a company spokesperson acknowledges that free video supported by advertising does “resonate most” with viewers, so I doubt we’ll see it go away. Having said that, I have very little use for the current incarnation of Hulu. It’s content library still exhibits the “random crap syndrome” – which I had hoped would be cured when Hulu exited from beta. Didn’t happen. Still hasn’t happened. Shows come and go. Good luck finding an entire season/series. (ALF doesn’t count.) And then there’s the restrictive playback policies. No PS3 for you. Screw you too, Boxee. I appreciate the Internet as my video transport mechanism, but I prefer to watch television… on television.

So bring on the pay services, I say. I’m an adult with an adult salary and limited free time. Offer me something worthwhile at a not-outrageous fee, and I’ll pay for premium content and the convenience of quality aggregation. Should Hulu manage to provide it.

(This post republished from Zatz Not Funny.)

5Words: The Droid Invasion to Continue

More Droids on their way?

The PC industry’s herd mentality.

Facebook introduces a slowpoke mode.

Universal phone charger gets approval.

Google cleans up its maps.

Steve Ballmer on Windows Mobile.

Windows 7 thin and lights.

Dell’s Adamo: Here’s the rub.

AOL has a big secret.

Cell phones? No thanks, actually!

Kindle for Mac is coming.

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Five Free Tools to Tickle Your PC’s Fancy

I know you like new tools to try (I do too), so here are a stack for Windows. Play with them, see if they fit your working style, and maybe you’ll find a couple of keepers.

Geek Alert: Tune Up Your LCD

Listen, you know why the subtitle is geek alert? It’s because you need to like to take computing risks and you need some semblance of knowledge about LCDs. So before you read about Nicomsoft’s free Display Tuner, I want you to know that you can’t write me to complain the tool turned your LCD into one side of a 21-inch bookstand. (Or formatted your drive, or caused your spouse to leave you, for that matter.) Monitors are weird and even the program’s author has a stern warning for you. Got it? Okay, cool, carry on.

I never seem to get either of my ViewSonic LCDs tuned just right. And I really don’t like fiddling with those silly, hard-to-use buttons on the front of the monitor. Display Tuner lets you do those adjustments — such as geometry, color, and brightness — from within Windows. You can also set profiles for different viewing situations, say, watching videos, or reading text. That’s terrific. There are two limitations: If you have a dual monitor display, Display Tuner will support just one monitor and ignore the second one. And the tool works only with monitors that can be managed by software (they must support DDC commands). That leaves my ViewSonic LCDs out in the cold.

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For Gamers, the Microsoft Store’s a Rip (and a Mend)

The Microsoft Store stole plenty of ideas from Apple, but you definitely won’t find services for gamers in the Apple Store.

Destructoid’s Conrad Zimmerman was close by for the Microsoft Store’s grand opening yesterday, and he scoped out a few features for Xbox 360 and Games for Windows customers.

The neatest thing he found was on-demand printing of PC games. It works exactly like it sounds: Use a touch screen kiosk to browse Microsoft’s PC software catalog, toss the ones you want into a virtual kart and alert one of the store’s roving, Apple-esque minions. All the printing’s done in the back, and four minutes later, you’ve got a disc and box, complete with labels, cover and instruction manual.

The system allows Microsoft to carry an unlimited stock, and, well, it sounds kind of fun. I wish there was a similar system for Xbox 360 games, but unfortunately the store is sticking with boxes on a shelf for those (though Zimmerman says the selection is healthy).

Another service that should be appreciated, but not loved, is the ability to bring in your Xbox 360 for repairs. If it’s a basic problem, such as a faulty power brick, Microsoft’s service techs will repair it on-site. Otherwise, you’re at least saved the hassle of finding or paying for an appropriate shipping vessel when suffering the Red Ring of Death.

The store also has five demo stations for Xbox 360 games, with their video projected onto the walls. Not revolutionary, but essential. Zimmerman wrote that roughly 15 percent of the store is dedicated to video games. So I guess only 85 percent of the Microsoft Store is an Apple Store clone.

Sir Tim is on Twitter

He’s as important a pioneer as Johannes Gutenberg or Alexander Graham Bell –except that he’s alive, well, and very much deeply involved in determining the future of the medium he created. He’s Sir Tim Berners Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web and the director of the World Wide Web Consortium, and it was an honor to sit in the same ballroom as the guy yesterday as he appeared onstage as the final guest at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

As TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters noted, Sir Tim has joined Twitter–here’s his account–and started tweeting shortly before his Web.20 session began, Like nearly every new Twitter user, he started out by being somewhat confused, as he noted in his first tweet.

Judging from Sir Tim’s third tweet, he’s already a user of the Twitter-like Identi.ca service–which makes sense, since (unlike Twitter) it’s an open-source project and therefore reflective of his dedication to openness on the Web.

Side note: Twitter’s recent introduction of a spam reporting feature is a boon, but there’s something jarring about the “report timberners_lee for spam” link at the right of his page. It’s a little as if George Washington suddenly showed up at the White House today, wanted to stop in for a visit, and was forced to walk through a metal detector…

Microsoft Revenues Fall, but Beat the Street

Microsoft managed to beat the street by clamping down on costs, but its first quarter earnings still fell 18 percent from this time last year. Office and Windows licensing sales declined, and Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division’s revenues fell flat.

The company’s financial reports, released today, showed revenue of $12.92 billion with a net income of $3.57 billion. Its earnings per share were $0.40, which beat estimates. Earnings were reduced by the deferral of $1.47 of revenue from Windows 7 pre-sales.

Microsoft’s revenue would have fallen a more modest 4 percent from last year had Microsoft delivered Windows 7 to customers and recognized the pre-sale revenue this past quarter, according to the company. Windows 7 shipped yesterday; Microsoft’s quarter ended Sept. 30.

“We are very pleased with our performance this quarter and particularly by the strong consumer demand for Windows,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “We also maintained our cost discipline, which allowed us to drive strong earnings performance despite continued tough overall economic conditions.”

There was a 6 percent decline in sales of Windows to OEMs, including revenue and units associated with Windows 7. Fewer customers purchased premium editions of Windows, which the company attributed to increased demand for netbook PCs. Netbook sales have been a persistent drain on Windows licensing revenues over the past several quarters.

Sales of Office 2007 fell 4 percent, due to reduced demand among business customers, and a shift to lower-priced products among consumers, according to Microsoft.

Office 2010 is due to ship in the first half of next year. It remains to be seen whether there will be a strong business case for customers to upgrade. Office 2010 focuses on delivering new online services.

Lastly, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming platform offset a 14% decrease in the sale of PC hardware products, Zune devices and services, and embedded device platforms. The division is responsible for producing PC peripherals, Zunes, and Windows Mobile sales.

I’m interested to see how Windows 7 sales will compare to Windows XP’s first quarter. There is pent up demand among customers to upgrade, and many organizations bypassed Windows Vista altogether. Needless to say, Windows 7 is an extremely important product for Microsoft.

Barnes & Noble Unveils Digital Lending

While most folks have fixated on the Nook’s ($259) secondary color screen, compared to the pedestrian and now antiquated Amazon Kindle, the most significant feature of Barnes & Noble’s upcoming Android-based eReader is digital lending. From the Nook FAQ:

With our new LendMe technology, you can now share from nook to nook. But it doesn’t stop there. Starting Nov. 30th, you can lend to and from any device with the Barnes & Noble eReader app, including PC, Mac OS, BlackBerry, iPhone™ and iPod touch. All you need to know is your friend’s email address. You can lend many of your eBooks one time for a maximum of 14 days. When you use our LendMe™ technology, you will not be able to read your eBook while it is on loan, but you always get it back.

We’ve previously seen some minor forays into digital media sharing (Welcome to the Social, MusicGremlin) and I had proposed a single license transfer model. Yet this appears to be the most consumer friendly and practical implementation. When combined with in-store wireless book browsing, the Nook experience (on sale 11/30) appears to closely mirror how we interact with physical media. However, B&N’s ambiguous language (”many” “up to” “a maximum of“) has me wondering what sort of lending policy variation we’ll see on a per title basis. And, if B&N is able to license content sharing from the publishers, you know Amazon will most likely implement similar functionality in the near future (along with another price drop?). But they better move quick before I pick up a pair of Nooks.

After the jump, some gratuitous product shots.

(This post republished from Zatz Not Funny.)

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