As I’ve mentioned before, I am a happy Kindle 2 owner. The availability of titles, being able to read manga scanlations, and the 3G basic internet access have made it completely worth the purchase price for me.

Is it right for you?

If you browse around blogs or comment threads about ebook readers you’ll see a wide range of comments about their value and it may be difficult to make a choice. I’m hoping I can help a little bit.

Let’s start by setting the expectations for an ebook reader. It is designed to easily read and store text information in a portable format. That is it. In other words – it’s an electronic book. It sounds strange to say that because it seems redundant but it really needs to be emphasized.

Now let’s say what an ebook reader is not – it is not a portable media player, it is not a mobile phone, and it is not a portable computer.

This is where the confusion (and sometimes contention) seems to come into play with ebook readers. Some people want them to be more than their design allows. Remember, its main design function is to make a large library of text available in a small, electronic format that is easy to read. Any thing else is just a perk.

If you are looking for a portable media player, I recommend the iPod Touch or a PSP. If you are looking for a mobile phone I recommend the iPhone, a Blackberry, or a G1. If you want a portable computer then I recommend a netbook – perhaps a Dell Mini or Asus Eee PC. All of those devices can display ebooks (one way or another) but can also do other things that you may want to do that can’t be accomplished with a dedicated ebook reader.

One thing those other devices cannot do though is display text in a comfortable reading format with extensive battery life. If that is your priority then the ebook reader is for you!

Unfortunately, it is hard to debate the readability factor until you use an ebook reader extensively. You don’t notice how different it is using the dedicated display type of an ebook reader (commonly called e-ink) versus a screen on a computer or portable media player. It’s a very drastic difference.

Now, the other major factor to consider with an ebook reader is the number of books you read. Ebooks are generally cheaper than the published version of the book so you can save money in the long run. This really is only true depending on how you do your reading. If you only get books from your local library then this is not going to save you money (nor save shelf space for that matter). If you read a book every couple months then this is not for you either. If you are an avid reader or like to have books with you regularly then an ebook reader is probably a good investment for you.

The last question then, if you’ve decided to get an ebook reader, is which one do you want? This is tricky and I’m not going to answer for you. The popular ones are the Amazon Kindle and the Sony PRS series. A little less known but gets very good reviews is the BeBook. They each have different features and price options so be sure to comparison shop.

An excellent source of information about the different ebook reader options are the MobileRead Forums. They provide a ton of reviews, references, and a very active community that will help you make an informed decision. They also keep up with the latest trends so it may be good to wait on a purchase for an upcoming release (like the WiFi enabled BeBook due to be released soon).

Either way you choose make sure it’s a choice that’s right for you and if someone else chooses differently – let it be up to them. Personally, I think it’s very cool to have so many choices on how we can travel with our media be it Kindle, a PSP, or a Dell Mini – or a combination of them all.

If you have any further questions or want more details, feel free to comment and I’ll be happy to elaborate.

UPDATE: A friend recently wrote up their experience with trying out an ereader for the first time. Read her review on Murmur.

So how do we accomplish this amazing feat? Actually, very easily. The program to use is called Mangle.

Mangle does an awesome job of converting images to be optimized for the Kindle display and processed to work correctly with the navigation system of the device.

See for yourself. The following image was converted using Mangle and loaded onto my Kindle 2. The left side image is the original, the middle one is the converted, and the right side image is displaying on the Kindle 2. Click on the thumbnails to see the original sizes.

So as you can see it looks pretty darn good. You can see a couple other examples at the Mangle website.

Mangle runs as a stand alone executable so you can run it directly with no installation necessary. It’s a very basic layout so it’s very easy to use. You pick either a set of images or a directory of images, click the gear icon to get it started, tell it where to put the converted images and then it converts them for you. That’s it!

Once it’s converted, you will plug in your Kindle and create a folder on it called “pictures”. Put the new book you created (the folder with all the images) into the Pictures directory and you are all set. It should show up in your book list using the name of the folder as the title.  If you don’t see it, press Alt+Z to refresh the listing.

You can also use Mangle to convert pictures into a photo album or convert pictures to use as custom screen savers.

Yes… custom screen saver. It requires hacking the Kindle a bit but is very easy and can be reversed. Go to the Kindle 2 Screen Saver Hack wiki page at MobileRead and it will walk you through using it. The image you see above is one of my custom screen saver images.

This program works on Windows and Linux and is free to use. Feel free to post any questions and I’ll be happy to help out.

UPDATE: The Kindle 2.3 update breaks the screen saver hack. The updated version can be found at JYA’s site.

UPDATE 2: The Kindle 2.3 update has some new image viewer options. For some it has caused issues and for others it has not. If you have any issues, the new PDF support has worked pretty well for manga. IrfanView does a good job of converting the Mangle converted images to PDF (process: thumbnail viewer->select all->print to PDF using CuteWriter).

UPDATE 3: After speaking with Amazon customer service and tech support it seems the “developers” have decided that any use of the built in image viewer is considered a hack and therefore note support. After bothering them over and over about it though I was told an image viewer would be developed in a future release. I’m assuming that it will be part of the new active content  that is coming to the Kindle (think “App Store”) and the recent release of the Kindle KDK (Kindle Development Kit). This could easily mean a dedicated comic book reader as well.

UPDATE 4: Looks like the latest update for Kindle (2.3.3) corrected many of the view issues. The images are refreshing correctly now. Settings still aren’t working exactly right but at least the viewer is working again.

UPDATE 5: Kindle update 2.5 didn’t do anything to help with the image viewer (though it does seem snappier). The new PDF functions also don’t help much with reading manga or graphic novels on the K2 (but the Kindle DX does work pretty well with PDFs).

Here’s a quick video overview of the service:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The good thing is that you can be selective on who can see your location and you can turn it on or off as you wish. I can see a few useful functions though and hopefully it will have a few more fine tuned controls as it matures.

You can install it into an iGoogle page using this link or go to http://www.google.com/latitude from your mobile phone.

UPDATE:
Privacy settings are more advanced than I originally thought.  Here is a good video about the privacy levels available:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The difference in instructions between the driving directions and walking directions is that you won’t be routed via one way streets or highways.

I can see this being very useful for mobile users in urban areas and I hope it gets better as it works its way out of beta – maybe offering walking trail or pass throughs as options instead of just roadways. Also would be nice if it avoided directions along roads that don’t have sidewalks.

There is a limitation that after a certain distance it assumes you will be driving and doesn’t offer the option for walking directions – so no walking directions from Chicago to San Francisco.

The basic gist is that the iPhone will be better and cheaper.  The biggest items are that they will have GPS and be 3G compatible – which means faster data speeds – and that they’ll be a lot cheaper ($200 for 8GB and $300 for 16GB). There are also lots of new applications coming out soon.

If you’ve been in the market for an iPhone – wait! The new ones come out July 11th in 22 countries (and 70 countries total shortly after that date).

The other info was that the new OS X 10.6 will be called Snow Leopard and .Mac service is going way and will be called MobileMe and provide enhanced services for iPhone and iPod touch users as well as OS X users.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out their site for newly available Hi-Res versions of their videos for use in the work place.  I would HIGHLY recommend using some of their videos as training material. The Zombies in Plain English could save a life.

It’s the Willcom D4:

Click here to view the embedded video.

That’s a sleek looking device. The ultraportable market is definitely shaping up.

This is useful for when you are out and about and see a product you want to purchase but figure Amazon likely has it cheaper.  Instead of having to remember to check later, you can check via text message and if it fits what you want then you can proceed with the purchase.

Seems like a very savvy way to provide mobile purchasing without requiring a data plan.

There is a bit of presetting to do to link your account to your phone and be sure the shipping is in order, but it seems like a pretty easy process. Of course, standard text messaging rates will apply.

Amazon MP3 also opened its doors in 2007 and has been doing very well (I’d recommend them over iTunes for quality MP3s and the lack of DRM).

So is the CD on its way out the door? I’m sure there are solid numbers out there about this, but I’m lazy and it seems like boring data anyways so we’ll just use anecdotal information. I think the CD is definitely out the door and the reason I believe this is the simple fact that it is harder and harder to find audio CDs. There aren’t many chain music stores – they all sell multimedia now, not just music and music related stuff – and the big box places that do sell CDS have such a marginal selection you can tell it’s not worth that much of their time and effort. The local music shops seem to do okay by servicing local bands, collectors (especially vinyl), and the scene, but they seem to carry a lot more mp3 players than usual.

Also, lets look at the new Border’s concept store being test marketed in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s being given a make over to provide more of a “hang out” atmosphere. They have added a digital media space as well where customers can use computer kiosks to purchase and immediately download music and books to their MP3 players, flash media, or even burn a CD. Ars Technica has further details about this new concept store.

So taken all together it seems like CDs are on the way out.  As one final piece of anecdotal evidence… just look around see if you see more people with portable CDMD players or MP3 players?

Ostensibly, if you have nothing to hide (generally they are searching for child pornography), then you have nothing to fear. Unfortunately, they will look through all your information in their search.  This means looking at business documents,  financial records, personal photos and videos, tax documentation, emails, IM chat logs, etc, etc…

Even encrypting data won’t work because they’ll just ask for the encryption key… and get it by court order if necessary. Same holds true for that USB key or camera memory card – they’ll search that too because this search includes all media, not just the internal storage.

As more and more of a person’s life ends up in the digital realm, the more a search of a laptop or even a cellphone or PDA becomes an intrusive breach of privacy.

Downloadsquad does a good job of coming to the rescue with some practical resolutions to this situation.  They detail a good set of options for how to travel with your laptop, but still have all the access to the information you need.  It just takes a bit of planning.

One option they present and seemed like a good solution to me is to upload all the info you need to an online location and leave nothing on the laptop. Services like box.net or Google Docs or Delicious or Flickr can hold tons of information for you without it sitting on your laptop to be pawed through.

On the other side,  you want to be sure what you deleted stays deleted, you’ll want to use a secure delete program.  On OS X, if you click on Finder->Secure Empty Trash it will do a more thorough delete job than the regular empty trash. On Linux, the CLI command srm does the same thing. Windows doesn’t have a built in secure delete so a program will have to be downloaded. SDelete is a good CLI tool and is free.

Lastly, if you want your entire hard drive wiped clean and no data to be recoverable – use Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) disc and you should be good. This is especially good to use when selling your computer.

Do you do anything to protect your computer privacy while traveling?

There are few things that have come to mind I thought I’d let you know about.

Apple released a large update to their Leopard operating system.  Lots of fixes and tweaks.  Be sure to run Software Update again after installing because there is a graphics update as well.  Also, open Disk Utility (from Utilities folder in Applications) and run the “Repair Disk Permissions” on your system hard drive.

WHDb.com released an article with the top 50 proprietary programs that drive you crazy and their open source alternatives.  I don’t necessarily agree with some of their “top” picks, but the list is pretty complete. I suggest you check it out when you get a chance.  It is mostly Windows centric, but there are a variety of Apple apps on there as well.

I’ve been using twitter regularly lately and I think I’ve finally settled on a desktop app.  It is called Twhirl and does all the things I liked in the other programs I tried and none of the usual irritations. It will run on Windows and Mac using Adobe AIR (AIR will be coming to Linux soon). If you have a Blackberry, I recommend TwitterBerry. You can find me on twitter here.

Steven Brust has written a short story based in the Firefly world called My Own Kind of Freedom. It is free to download under Creative Commons and it is a nice added episode to the Firefly world.  Yes… the entire crew is in it. It’s a pretty good read and since it’s free you really can’t complain can you? I think it is a worthy addition to the rest of the canon.

Starbucks is leaving T-Mobile and moving to AT&T for their wireless services in their billions of coffee shops.  Current T-Mobile customers will still get 5 years of usage while AT&T broadband customers will have free access to even more wireless locations.  AT&T Cellular customers will be getting the same benefits soon.  Check here for current AT&T wireless hotspots around the world.

It looks like Blu-ray Disc may come out the winner in the HD Disc format wars. Two more big players are backing Blu-ray.  Best Buy and Netflix have both stated that they are backing Blu-ray.  Netflix will no longer refresh their inventory of current HDDVDs and Best Buy will be recommending Blu-ray over HDDVD.  Ars has the details about this latest development in the “format wars”.

As always – if you are looking for distractions, check out My Pownce or the feed to the right. Watch the Delicious bookmarks at the right too as interesting sites I find will end up there as well.

So it wasn’t too boring… was it?

In order to access the site, your phone and service provider must be compatible with Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). In order to know if it will work with your phone, the easiest way is to just test it. If you are unable to play videos – you are out of luck. I found that my Blackberry Pearl 8100 on TMobile fails so I’m out in the cold on this too (though I understand the 8130 supports RTSP).

If you are able to play the videos then you’re in for some fun. Not only can you watch the expanded selection of YouTube videos, but you can also sign into your account. Why does that matter? Well, you can now upload videos directly to YouTube from your mobile! No longer do you have to wait before sharing that embarrassing video of your friend – you can share it right after it happens!

Neither of them do voice or video though. So it seems getting a multiprotocol IM client is not enough anymore. So what are the options?

Well, iChat on the Mac is actually excellent for voice and video, but it only works with other people with iChat or the AOL IM client. I’m trying to have fewer programs not more so that doesn’t really work for me (though may be enough for some).

Well, if I’m going to install another IM program to handle video and voice then I want the one that the majority of people are using and has the most available uses. This is where Skype comes in.

There are other programs like Skype (Gizmo Project is also coming of age), but Skype has wormed its way into so many areas that it really seems like it would be the best way to go.

So why use Skype? Well, lets say you are going on a business trip to a foreign country, and you know that the cost of phone calls is going to be ridiculous. Install Skype on your computer and your friend’s and family’s computer and now you can have a live voice chat with them. If you have a webcam available you can even use video.

I don’t know these people.

It doesn’t end there either. You can get on Windows/Mac/Linux, on your Wi-Fi enable mobile phone, on a dedicated Skype phone, and soon it will be built into the PSP and they have partnered with MySpace. So now it’s easy to use and available many form factors… but there is one more little benefit – you can send and receive calls from regular phones and even have voicemail. That part isn’t free though – but still pretty cheap for a phone service.

Oh wait – did I mention that yet? Yeah. Skype is free. Video and voice between Skype clients is absolutely free.

Adium and Pidgin don’t support voice or video (probably won’t for awhile) which means to have voice or video you’ll need another client. To pick only one… I would suggest Skype.

Don’t have GPS on your phone?  No problem!

The new version of Google Maps Mobile now has a feature called My Location which allows you to find your location on Google Maps Mobile by using cell tower information.

This short video from Common Craft has more details:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can install the newest version of Google Maps Mobile from http://www.google.com/gmm (full process depends on your device).

It works very well on my Blackberry Pearl.  I like to rub the “no iPhone” support in some of my friends faces too!

Kindle is Amazon’s new eReader device (also known as an eBook). They just released it today and when you visit Amazon, you may see a letter from CEO Jeff Bezos about how much he thinks this is a great product.

If you read the reviews though (of course almost nobody has held one so I’m not sure how they are giving it a real review) it seems most people think this is a lame product.

It can store tons of books, newspapers, magazines, blog/news feeds and also has access to Wikipedia and can display them all in an easy to read digital format. All the updating and ordering of books or newspapers can be done through the device using cellular networks.

The display is a high resolution grey scale (easier to read and easier on the eyes using grey scale instead of color (better battery life too)) at 800×600 and the device size is 7.5″ x 5.3″ x .07″ and weighs approximately 10 ounces. It is designed to be easy to use, has a long battery life and claims to be very durable (site has a video of a drop test).

As far as content, there are over 88,000 books, most of the major newspapers, magazines, and over 250 blogs/news sites to choose from, subscribe, and or purchase. There’s even some international newspapers.

All this can be yours for $400! — but not the books. You have to buy the books of course. They usually run about $10 or less for the current best sellers.

So is it worth it? Well, most of the commentators on the site don’t think so but they are also the ones who have never touched it… and likely aren’t in a position to even really want this device. To be honest, eReaders haven’t been very popular. They are just so expensive and it’s hard to beat actually having the book or newspaper in your hand.

This one is a little different though. First, it’s fairly cheap as far as eReaders go. Also.. the cellular wireless it uses, called Whispernet, makes this thing really worth taking a look. It isn’t just for reading books but checking your latest online news, and viewing that word doc that someone needs approval on or checking Wikipedia to make sure you won that bet about who starred in Explorers.

This device is certainly not for everyone. I don’t need it, but I wouldn’t mind having it for my daily commute. I can see this especially for regular travelers so they aren’t limited to picking up only the books in the airport snack shop. they can buy the 4 books they’ve been meaning to read and only need to pack this one device (and the books will be $10 instead of $20).  They can also buy a new book while sitting in the airport if they finish one before they expected.  I like it. I think it’s cool – but not for everyone.

How will it do? I think it will actually do very well. If it wasn’t tied to Amazon I’d say it would fail or end up doing just as well as any other eReader (how many do you know about?). Since it has the wireless access though and Amazon behind the books and newspapers I think it will do pretty well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you start seeing these on the New York subway or Chicago Metra.

Jeff Bezos states:

“The physical book is so elegant that the artifact itself disappears into the background. The paper, glue, ink, and stitching that make up the book vanish, and what remains is the author’s world.”

I think this is very true — the story is the important part. The device for delivering the story disappears when you are reading and they are hoping that Kindle will also “disappear” and just give the customer a good book … er – story.

Update: Ars Technica has written up a hands-on review of the Kindle.