Digital vs. Print: Book Publishers Should Learn from Game Publishers/Distributors

Should ebooks cost more or less than print books?  Should they have more or less restrictions?  I think that publishers of both ebooks and print books need to pay attention to what has happened in the video game industry. 

Digital download services like Steam and Origin offer games at deep discounts, as much as 80-90% off the release price, with smaller discounts on newer titles.  In contrast, discounts on console games for Xbox or PS3 are minimal for long periods of time after release. 

What accounts for the difference?  The XBox and PS3 games can, for the most part, be resold.  Not for what they cost originally, in most cases, but they do retain some value, sometimes as high as 40-50% of list price if sold within the first year.  In contrast, download services for the PC like Steam and Origin gives you much better pricing but lock you in to a single account.  Once the game is activated, it cannot be transferred or refunded. 

There are strong parallels in the book world.  Print books can be lent to whomever for as long as you want, they can be resold, and they are therefore inherently more valuable, at least for now.  In contrast, ebooks are more convenient, like digitally downloadable games, although both require a periodic and ideally a fast internet connection.   Ebooks were initially cheaper as well, prior to price-fixing attempts by Apple and various publishers.  This made up somewhat for the fact that ebooks cannot be re-sold or transferred to another account, or even lent, except for the occasional "one time, two week loan" that is more a marketing gimmick than a useful feature.  But prices have been slowly creeping back up for titles from major publishers, aside from the occasional sale.

I'm not suggesting that the best solution is making ebooks free, or even $0.99.  There has been a recent influx of free or very cheap books on sites like Amazon, and although that is great for a the few authors who make it to the Top 100 lists, the vast majority of such books are poorly edited garbage.  Still, there should be a more reasonable pricing structure for ebooks, perhaps 40-50% of the cost of a print book.  This would reflect the reduced value due to loss of lending rights and loss of resale rights.

Will the book publishing industry learn its lessons and adapt in time?  Time will tell.  In the meantime, we as consumers should be cautious about unthinkingly supporting unreasonable pricing for ebooks because of their convenience and portability.

A Tribute to My Grandpa Lee

It's been nearly a month now since my Grandpa Lee died.  I was reminded again of the tears of joy and sorrow at his funeral, of the outpouring of love and care by extended family and friends, and of the life that he lived.

Here are some brief words I shared at his funeral service:

What I remember most about Grandpa Lee was his love for people.  He would always greet you with a smile.  He’d find out your name.  He’d find out your life story.  Sometimes it seemed like he knew everyone around here!  He had a lot of years to get to know all of you.  But still, he had a knack for connecting with people.

I want my kids to learn to care for people like Grandpa did.  When we were going places as I was younger, I remember my dad, Ray, saying, “You need to mingle.  Ask people questions.  Get to know them.”  I’m sure that’s something he learned from Grandpa.

Another way that Grandpa cared for people was by how he and Grandma invested themselves in the Gideons [Bible distribution] ministry.  He wanted to make sure people could get Bibles – in schools, in hotels, or wherever they were needed. 

I believe Grandpa Lee’s love for people was best shown in his faithfulness to church.  He led his family to go to church regularly.  He taught his kids to value church.  They have passed those lessons on to us, to be faithful to church.

Grandpa Lee was a great example to all of us. But I’m sure he’d want you to remember that it’s not enough to be a good person by human standards.  Jesus said you have to be as perfect as God in heaven is perfect.

But none of us are perfect.  We all fall short of God’s glory. And our falling short, our sin, is the reason we all face death.

Jesus was both God and man.  He walked this earth and never fell short, never sinned. So God accepted his perfect life. Jesus also died to pay for sin.  Not his sin, because he didn’t have any.  Jesus died to pay for our sin. And God accepted that death.  Our efforts can never pay for the debt of our sin.  Our good works can never take away our guilt. But Jesus can.  So we need to trust in him.

Grandpa Lee’s good example is one we all should follow. But let’s follow him as he followed God – by trusting in Jesus.  Only in Jesus can we find true hope.  Only in Jesus can we find help to live a truly good life, with no regrets.  A life that honors God, so that when that life is over, we are remembered with love.  Only in Jesus can we together have hope of seeing each other again in heaven someday.  Even though death tears us apart now.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.”  He said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

I believe Grandpa Lee trusted in Jesus for that eternal life.  I plead with you to do the same. Be sure you are trusting in Jesus – to gain eternal life and to escape God’s wrath.  Jesus is the only way.

Trust Jesus today.  You are not guaranteed tomorrow.

If you are trusting him, cling to that hope for strength in this trial.  Jesus will never forsake his people.  Jesus will raise us up with him.  We eagerly wait for that day of resurrection.

Until that day, Grandpa, we will miss you.  Thank you for the lessons you taught us.

Careless Talk about Justice and Eschatology

Careless exegesis leads inevitably to wrong conclusions. Note especially the leap of logic under his second point. He takes the phrase "good news is proclaimed to the poor" as part of the ministry of Jesus, and equates it to a change in economic status rather than spiritual life.

Is This Discipling?

I saw a thought-provoking video today about discipleship and what it means for the church. 

I was curious who produced the video.  It was produced by Foursquare Church, which seems solid on several key doctrinal points, but believes all spiritual gifts are still active today (non-cessationist) and presumably would have no issue with female pastors (egalitarian).  Still, their work might be helpful, so let's consider what was said.

The video primarily criticized the emphasis of programs over people and questioned the value of the church gathered in one building vs. the church scattered to build relationships and evangelize.

True, American churches tend to have many programs, for kids and adults alike.  These programs can easily become the focus rather than the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).   True, it is sometimes easier to hang out in a Christian bubble than to get involved in the complicated and tiring process of meeting lost people and communicating the gospel by both words and actions.

But the Great Commission is not the sole command given to the church, nor is it the entirety of her purpose.  For example, Hebrews 10:24-25 has much to say about assembling together regularly for mutual encouragement.  Based on how this concept is used in the New Testament, it is probably, though not always, more substantial than a couple of believers gathering for coffee. 

My point is simply this: The church has several purposes, of which evangelism and discipleship/ministry are only two or three.  So let's not ignore the other purposes of the church, such as fellowship and worship, some aspects of which can only be fully practiced when the church is assembled.  Jesus said "Go" (make disciples), but he also said "Gather" (once disciples are made).  The church is not complete without both.


I had a few other concerns about the video, like whether soup kitchens and 'liberation' are to be the primary or even any of the activities of a local church, since that seems to confuse what I may/should do as a Christian individually with the church's main focus in how it relates to the world.  But that's a discussion for another time.

Neither 1984 Nor Brave New World, But Aspects of Both

Recently, officials in Massachusetts have been considering a plan to cache information gathered by police car license plate scanning technology.

If this plan or something similar is instituted, people may legitimately fear the strong parallels to the totalitarian society described in George Orwell's well-known book, 1984.  But, if such a plan succeeds, it will largely be due to the fact that most of us will be too busy pursuing other more interesting things, a la Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, to be bothered to stop it.

HT: Slashdot

The Role of a Pastor's Wife

Recently, I was considering the biblical role of a pastor's wife.  Because of long-established traditions, it is easy to have strong feelings derived primarily from observation and opinion, rather than biblical principle.

The main role of a pastor's wife is to be the wife of the pastor.  As a result, her focus is to be on the home (1 Timothy 5:14; Titus 2:4-5).  As she fulfills those responsibilities, she should also serve in her church, like any other believer, using the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 18-20). 

The pastor's wife is not the pastor for the women.  She is not the de facto supervisor of day to day church activities.  When she tries to take on too many ministry roles, her husband's ministry will suffer, along with her children.  The pastor must be careful to guard his wife's time, as he is the best judge of her strengths and weaknesses.  The church must also be careful to benefit from her spiritual gifts, without exhausting them by unreasonable expectations.  In this way, the pastor will have the support at home which he desperately needs, and the church will follow the biblical pattern of being led by godly men.

For further help on this topic, see a helpful series of articles which can be referenced here. 

Like a Little Child

During the 4th of July weekend, our family was able to go camping up near Port Austin, MI for a few days.  About halfway through that trip, my one year old son, Braeden, was really tired.  Worn out from lack of naps and playing outside, I was rocking him in the hammock and he fell sound asleep.

I was struck by this, as I have been before in similar circumstances.  My son fell asleep, trusting me completely to hold him safely and take care of him while he rested.  In the Bible, God describes Himself as our Father, and tells us to cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7/Psalm 55:22).  Even as my son can fall asleep without fear and without worry when I hold him securely, so too we as Christians should rest in the power and goodness of God.  He is our good and loving Father.

The Civil War

Today I was discussing plans for Memorial Day with my wife, part of which might involve visiting a Civil War display at the nearby Greenfield Village.  I was struck by the fact that America has only experienced one Civil War.  Many other nations have undergone several; some have even experienced dozens of civil wars. 

As we look to Memorial Day, it is good to remember with gratitude those who have given their lives to secure our present prosperity and freedom, as well as to watch with suspicion for those who would steal it away piece by piece behind our backs in the name of ease and security.

Most of all, we should thank God for what freedoms we enjoy and be mindful of how we use the time and other advantages we have; they are not guaranteed indefinitely.

Christian Hip-hop to Replace Hymns?

World Magazine had an interesting article yesterday. Over all, I was disappointed with the direction taken by the article.  Rather than trying to approach the issue fairly, the discussion was prejudiced from the first sentence:

If you are looking for theologically saturated Christian music that has the greatest potential for widespread appeal, your best option may be Christian hip-hop.

"Potential for widespread appeal" should never be our primary criterion.  Fidelity to what Scripture commands or teaches in principle must always come first, and rarely is that approach popular.

Oddly, the implied question "What music is most popular?" is paired with the question "What form of contemporary music today has the most theological content?"  Or, to put it another way, "Isn't a song that uses more Bible words better than a song that uses less?" The first question implies "CCM has failed [for evangelism/edification]; what will work better now?", which is rather blatantly pragmatic.  Admittedly, the second is an important question: is more Bible in our music better?  But perhaps a more basic question is "How does God expect me to use and receive music?"  Should my focus be on music I enjoy or listen to when alone, or on music in the context of my local church?  Or some combination of both?

One key factor in answering those questions is the relative uniqueness of our current situation.  With many people in our congregations possessing iPods, internet access everywhere, and enough extra money to buy recorded music (CDs, MP3s, and so on), accessibility and personalization of music is possible to an unprecedented degree.

Contrast that to the early church, where no recorded music was available for personal enjoyment or edification throughout the week; in all likelihood, the only Christian music they would have experienced or participated in was in the weekly worship service.  For that matter, consider the situation even in the past century; individuals having nearly immediate access to thousands of songs is a very recent phenomenon.

The author asserts:

It is important to keep in mind that Christian hip-hop, unlike other contemporary genres, generally is not intended for use during corporate worship, so rejecting its appropriateness for the liturgy is not relevant.

However, we cannot entirely divorce what we do at home or on our own time from what we do at church.  The two settings are different and our range of activities will be different, but I am still the same person, so what I do in the one setting will affect to some degree what I do in the other.

Does the Bible discuss specifically me listening to music at home?  Not really, as is to be expected if this is a recent development. But, the Bible has clear principles about the use of music by the church, which is a good starting point for informing the discussion.

The Scriptural precedent for using music to edify other Christians is primarily found in Ephesians 5:15-21 and Colossians 3:12-17.  While the text does not explicitly say that such edification is to only take place when the congregation is gathered, it does seem to be a direct verbal process between believers who are part of the same congregation.  This is implied from Paul writing these epistles to specific congregations, as well as the "one another" language Paul uses frequently in his epistles to describe person-to-person ministry in the church setting.

Since we live in an age of digital proximity and personal distance, what does application of those passages look like for us?

First, participating in congregational edification has priority.  The Bible does not forbid my being edified at home or outside of church by music produced by other Christians I will never meet, but I need to be participating in worship and mutual edification in the gathered assembly of my local congregation.

Second, supporting my local congregation has priority.  If I'm spending all my money on buying songs from other Christians or professing Christian musicians, and I fail to support the work of my local church, I am failing in responsibilities directly commanded by God (e.g. 1 Timothy 5:18; 2 Corinthians 9:7).  This holds true of other things as well - buying Christian books, attending seminars, and supporting parachurch ministries may be a legitimate use of my money, but not until my pastor and his family are provided for and my church is equipped financially to do their work well.

Returning to the article, here is a major premise the author is making:

Could Christian hip-hop simply be the “ugly” music of our era?

Earlier, he answered the question in a way that implies that what is "ugly" is completely relative to when and where you live. 

Dr. David Koyzis, in his book Political Visions and Illusions, highlights this ignorance by noting, “Many conservatives dislike ‘pop’ or ‘rock’ music and prefer, say, the baroque pieces of Bach or Telemann. . . . The very label ‘baroque’ was used in a derogatory fashion by conservatives of that day to describe what they felt to be ugly music.” Today many hail the “ugly” church music set to baroque as the height of Christian music and a form that should be normative today.

Or, he snidely implies that applying some form of the regulative principle is merely a personal preference:

For example, in Christian traditions that sing only the Psalms without instrumental accompaniment, the worst thing for them would be to sing praise to God using lyrics not directly from the Bible and to pollute music offered to God with instruments like a pipe organ.

As an aside, lumping all those who oppose the use of hip-hop into a category with people like David Stewart at Jesus-is-Savior.com is an easy out.

But even with the deep theological content found in much of Christian hip-hop, many evangelicals view it as an inappropriate medium for Christian music. This objection reveals some level of ignorance about the historical development of Christian music.

While it is true that perceptions of appropriate instruments and music styles have changed over the years, we should not then assume there are no objective or absolute standards of beauty.  Sometimes music is perceived as ugly because it is different.  Sometimes it is perceived as ugly because it is ugly, and time will not change that perception for the thoughtful Christian. 


Perhaps some biblical principles for determining objective beauty can be explored further at another time, with Philippians 4:8 as a starting point, as well as the question of whether using more Bible words equates to a better song.

The Glory Due His Name: Review and Related Thoughts

I've been doing some study on the topic of worship recently. Part of that study involved reading The Glory Due His Name: What God Says About Worship by Gary Reimers, part of the BJU Seminary faculty.

Having finished the book a few weeks back, I believe that Dr. Reimers made some helpful points.  For example, he described five key aspects of proper worship in a service: preparation, praise, prayer, presentation (i.e. the offering), and preaching.  These categories were supported from Scripture and carefully explained.

The more intriguing section to me was the second half of the book, which addressed wrong forms of worship.  The first part of that section (Chapter 2) involved exegesis of Exodus 20:3-6 and similar passages in the Old Testament, which according to Dr. Reimers teach a frightening principle: God will punish your children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren if you insist on worshiping Him in a wrong way.  I still need to think through the implications of this concept, but it seems to be supported fairly well by contextual and exegetical evidence.

Connected with the above principle, in third and final chapter of the book, Dr. Reimers evaluated the consequences of wrong worship.  What does wrong worship look like?  In other words, "worshipping the right God the wrong way"?  He gives four categories: 1) worship based on imagination (from Exodus 32, the golden calf incident), 2) worship focused on innovation (from Leviticus 10:1-3, where Nadab and Abihu were killed), 3) worship like the world (from Deuteronomy 12:29-32), and 4) worship marketed for convenience (from 1 Kings 12:26-31, where Jereboam started the false worship at Dan/Bethel).

His application of the first category (p. 74) was focused on worshiping God according our conception of Who He is, rather than how the Bible describes Him.  His application of the second category dealt with church marketing approaches and their tendency to assume what is new or different is automatically better.  His application of the third category focused on the use of sanitized rock music by Christians in their worship services.  Finally, the last category was applied in terms of making the main consideration for service times, clothing choices, and similar decisions the convenience or lack thereof for the participants.

I think overall his book was written very well.  I do have some further items to consider in light of his applications of the principles, specifically related to music we use in church.

First, if we should not worship God according to our imagination, then we need to be careful about using songs which do not present a biblical view of God.  For example, singing songs that only present God as love, or more generally, only choosing those kinds of songs to include in our services, will give people a false view of God.

Second, if we should not worship God like the world worships their gods, then yes, we should acknowledge that various rock artists have stated they intended their music to promote sex, drugs, and general immorality.  But we would be wrong to assume that earlier musicians were entirely free of such motives in their works. It's not as though sin was something that began to happen in the 1960s; various musicians and performers in the 1800s participated willingly in the sins of their times, such as adultery and drunkenness.  It would seem reasonable, then, that such themes could have affected their compositions as well.

These are items I need to consider further.

God Is Good...Demonstrated Thoroughly

Randy Alcorn does an admirable job of attempting to vindicate God's goodness, power, and knowledge despite the existence of sin and suffering.  His work thoroughly addresses such topics as the origin of sin, the characteristics of sin today, as well as the consequences of both Adam's sin and our own, and the subsequent effects on health, morality, and all of life.

The best feature of the book are the section headings in each chapter, which help to structure the points Alcorn is making.  Without these headings, the sheer length of the book, and difficulty of the questions addressed, would be overwhelming.  Furthermore, the chapters are short and specific enough to be used in an encyclopedic fashion, as an alternative to reading the entire book.

Alcorn takes a moderately Reformed view of the question of God's goodness, power, and knowledge in terms of the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.  Interestingly, and helpfully, Alcorn clearly prioritizes passages which reflect God's perspective on the issues connected with evil and suffering, rather than man's perspective.  His basic conclusion on the issue is that God created the world, knowing and allowing evil and suffering to mar it, in order to fully demonstrate His character and more fully glorify Himself.

Despite a clear theological focus, Alcorn also includes human interest stories and asides which illustrate and involve the reader in thinking through what is at stake in the various topics discussed.

Although lengthy and at times more in-depth than the average church attendee might prefer, Alcorn does an excellent job of presenting an orthodox defense of the character of God, while addressing the heart-rending experiences and frustrations of the grief-stricken Christian who honestly and thoroughly considers the world in which he lives.

An Ironic Quote in the Context of Egypt's Troubles

In the NY Times for Monday, 2/14/11, an article entitled "Egyptians and Tunisians Collaborated to Shake Arab History" contained this quote:

According to the official, Mr. Obama told him,"You have a large portion of your people who are not satisfied, and they won't be until yo make concrete political, social, and economic reforms." 

Did you listen to yourself, Mr. Obama?  Do you not see the irony of your statement in light of your stance toward a significant percentage of us in America who don't want bread and circuses, but rather a stable government which protects our borders and our homes rather than one which provides for our every want and whim?

Choosing Between Kindle and Nook Color

If you're in the market for an e-reader, and you're not sure between the two main competitors, Amazon's Kindle device and Barnes & Noble's Nook Color reading tablet, here's a few questions to ask.  Note that Kindle refers to both the device and to the ebook format that Amazon uses; Barnes & Noble calls their device Nook Color and refers to their ebook format as Nook Books.

1) What's my budget?

The Kindle WiFi is $139.  The Kindle WiFi + 3G (adds a 3G radio which gives you very basic internet access via a cell connection for checking email or downloading ebooks) is $189.  The Nook Color is $249.  You can buy discounted gift cards for Barnes & Noble from various websites in order to knock another 4-9% off the price.  Currently, no discounts are available for the Kindle, and buying from a third-party is not ideal, since there is no way of verifying the seller is legitimate.  Amazon has the power to deactivate your device if the original owner tells them the Kindle was lost or stolen.

2) Do I want something that looks like paper, or do I prefer a touchscreen like an iPod or cell phone?

The Kindle does not have a touchscreen.  Screens are navigated using a four-way toggle button with a select button in the middle.  But, the screen looks a lot like paper and doesn't have a backlight which causes eyestrain for some people after reading for long periods of time.  On the other hand, the Nook Color has a capacitive touchscreen which is very responsive and allows for quick highlights and notes, but is backlit like a computer screen.

3) Do I want to use my e-reader outside most of the time?  Or, a related question: Do I travel a lot?

Pick Kindle - nothing else is as clear and readable in sunlight - if you're reading outside a lot.  If you're traveling, then it depends on whether you want battery life measured in weeks (Kindle) or in days (Nook Color), in addition to whether you read mostly outside, where Kindle has the advantage, or inside, where Nook Color will typically be more readable.Also, the Nook Color weighs almost twice as much as the Kindle.

4) Do I want lots of free ebooks or the biggest selection of ebooks, magazines, and newspapers?

Amazon/Kindle has the biggest selection of ebooks/magazines/newspapers.  Many free books are offered on a weekly basis, though B&N will often offer the same books.  Amazon also typically has the cheapest prices, but since the advent of something called the Agency model, prices on certain books are fixed so Barnes & Noble will probably have the same price on bestsellers.  An interesting feature: Barnes & Noble will let you archive old issues of magazines and possibly newspapers; Amazon deletes the oldest issue once you have 6-7 issues.

5) Do I want to download apps? 

Kindle has a few (5-10) game type apps; Nook Color will shortly have a limited selection of 'reading-related' apps.  Many more are also available if you 'root' or hack the Nook Color to allow installing other Android apps,  including the Kindle app which lets you read ebooks from Amazon.  The rooting process is fairly easy but also runs the risk of voiding your warranty or messing up your settings.  Still, you do get the flexibility of reading ebooks from Amazon and Barnes & Noble on the same device.

6) Miscellaneous questions: Do I care about page numbers?  Do I want to download library books?

Page numbers are built-in to the Nook Color ebooks; they are a planned future feature for the Kindle, but not available generally yet.  Library books are accessible on the Nook Color, but you have to have a library which supports ebook downloads, then register your card, locate the book on their website, download it to your computer, and finally copy it over to the Nook Color using Adobe's Digital Editions software.  The selection of books is limited, and popular books have long waiting lists.  Kindle does not support library books at this time.

A final note:

Barnes & Noble also sells the Nook Wifi (not to be confused with the Nook Color).  This is an e-ink device like Amazon's Kindle but uses older technology, so the background is not as white and the text is not as dark (lower contrast).  The navigation is also not as intuitive.  I would avoid it, unless you can find it under $100, as a new model will likely be released in the next few months using the latest e-paper screen.

Finding an E-reader, Part 4: The Right Stuff

After my previous experiences with crummy e-readers, I was hesitant to try something else.  The iPad (at $429+) was well out of my price range ($250 or less), in addition to being too big (10") and too heavy (1.5 lbs).  The same was true of most Android tablets; they were too expensive (e.g. Galaxy Tab at $499; Viewsonic G Tablet at $350), or they wouldn't be released for several more months.

But I had begun to hear good things about Barnes and Noble's Nook Color.  Obviously with an LCD screen, there were drawbacks compared to the Kindle, including glare in sunlight, shorter battery life, and weight of 16oz, rather than the 8oz of the Kindle.  But the Nook Color also had many advantages, including an 1024x600 IPS screen that reviewers praised as bright and crisp, a reasonable price of $250, and the probability of upgrades from the current Android OS 2.1 software, either from B&N or the third-party developers who were busy unlocking functionality of the tablet.

I went to the store to check it out.  Three times, in fact.  The text was certainly crisp, not quite as good as the iPod Touch, but surprisingly good for a screen three to four times as large.  Although moderately heavy, the 16oz device was also ergonomic and well-built.  And the price was certainly tempting.  On the third visit, I bought the Nook Color.

I had a minor issue with an e-gift card that I had purchased to use toward the Nook Color; the online ordering system had a two-day backup so my "instant" e-gift card didn't come for two days.  But the local B&N customer service was great in allowing me to apply it retroactively to my Nook Color purchase.

After taking it home and installing the latest update from Barnes & Noble, I decided to see how hard it would be to unlock the tablet to install other programs.  Twenty minutes later, after following lengthy but detailed instructions, I had the Kindle app and various other programs installed and working great, as well as software in place to simulate physical Android tablet buttons (Home, Back, Menu).  After making a few additional adjustments over the next few days, the battery life is outstanding (projection: 8+ hours), I have access to downloading apps from the Android Market, and the text is clear enough not to bother my eyes for extended reading sessions.  Plus I don't need an extra light to read at night.

The Nook Color is by far the best value in the sub-$300 bracket of Android devices.  I'm sure faster and more-featured devices will come out in the next few months, but I doubt any will approach this price-point/feature balance.  Could I use a camera, Bluetooth, or GPS?  Sure.  But for reading books and using basic Android apps, the Nook Color is great.

Finding an E-reader, Part 3: Customer Service is Key

After a few months, I decided to look again into the tablet world.  QVC had the Velocity Micro Cruz T301 tablet for about $190, roughly $60 cheaper than anywhere else.  Despite the fact that it was QVC selling the tablet, and I'm a guy, I decided to go for it.  I had tried out a different Velocity Micro tablet (T103) that was on display at Borders; the build quality seemed acceptable, and the price was pretty good for the advertised features. 

What were those features?  The T301 was, first of all, partnered with Amazon and had the Kindle ebook app pre-installed.  Second, the T301 had a capacitive screen, so no more poking the screen with a fingernail to select items.  Third, the screen was in a 4:3 ratio, meaning that like the iPad, text should be larger when browsing the internet while held in portrait mode.

When I opened the box, I was hopeful this would be my ideal reading tablet.  The price was right, the tablet seemed solidly constructed, the instruction manual was short but helpful, the tablet was fully charged, and there was even a display stand to use the tablet as a picture frame. But then I turned it on.

After an hour or so, I was trying hard to still like the tablet despite its flaws.  First, the screen, while acceptable during initial testing, was clearly not high quality. Text was fuzzy, more so than the 800x600 resolution would warrant. Text was fuzzier than on my wife's 3rd generation iPod touch. Since the T301 is sold as an eReader or Reading Tablet, text clarity is crucial, and the tablet fails on that count.

Second, the apps crashed.  All the time.  I had assumed the Kindle for Android app would at least work, since that was the main one that was advertised.  I signed in, downloaded a few books, and opened one I'd read with no problems on my iPod.  The app crashed with a "force close" error.  One or two books worked, but if a book had any special formatting, it would crash the app. Restarted the tablet didn't help.  Upgrading the app via the included "Cruz Market" also didn't help.  I'm guessing that insufficient RAM may have been a culprit, but it's hard to tell.

After constant crashes in the Kindle app, I decided to try some other e-reader apps. The Nook app wouldn't install. The Kobo app installed but I didn't have sufficient time to test it.  Probably, the failure to install was due to the tablet only using Android 2.0. 

Since I couldn't get any reading apps to work, I decided to try the web browser. The screen, while capacitive as advertised, is nothing like an iPod Touch, or even a basic Android phone. Instead, you have to press firmly to scroll. The web browser crashed. The tablet even rebooted at one point while trying to use the browser.

A few other basic apps were included (email, facebook, etc), and those mostly worked. But I didn't buy the tablet to check email or update Twitter; I wanted to read my Kindle books.

Time to call tech support.  After finding the right menu options, I was at queue position 36. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, I was finally at queue position 2. When I got through and the phone started ringing, I discovered my two hours of waiting had landed me in...a voicemail box. There was no apology, no "sorry to keep you waiting for two hours when you could have left a message after 5 minutes." I left a message, expecting a call back the next day. I hadn't gotten a call back by noon, so I called in again. Once again, queue position 25. I called sales. They were also busy. I called PR and got in touch with a friendly but unempowered individual who promised to have support call me back "as soon as possible." By midnight Thursday night, there was still no call. Repeated attempts to reach tech support earlier on Thursday landed me in the queue at positions 26, 18, and 15.

Maybe I got a defective unit.  But I couldn't confirm this, because I could never get through to tech support.  Or sales.  And the tablet crashed constantly. 

The T301 went back to QVC.

What did I learn?  Even if the hardware is acceptable, buying from a company that doesn't have much experience with programming software for mobile devices, and especially from a company with poor customer service, will cause you to regret your purchase.

Finding an E-reader, Part 2: Don't Go Cheap

My first foray into the tablet world was when I acquired a Bed Bath and Beyond gift card at a 50% discount.  I also had one of their readily available 20% off coupons, so armed with these discounts, I decided to try out the Pandigital Novel e-reader they were promoting as a back to school special; I got it for around $100 after savings.

Now, the Novel is not a bad device aesthetically, except for the fact that the designer didn't think to move the power plug from the left middle edge of the device down to the bottom, which was a little odd.  That aside, while heavy for its size, the Novel seemed like good value.

After powering on the Android-based device and unlocking it to install other programs, like Amazon's Kindle app, I tried reading some ebooks.  Unfortunately, no matter how I turned the screen, I got a kind of moire or rainbow effect which made it nearly impossible to focus on reading.  I suspect that the touch-layer of the screen was designed with poor quality materials.  In addition, the resistive touchscreen required quite a bit of brute force and use of a fingernail to actually turn pages, since there were no Next/Previous page buttons.  I decided this was not worth hassling with.

Needless to say, the Novel went back to the store, courtesy of BB&B's excellent return policy.

What did I learn?  Don't go cheap, avoid resistive touchscreens, and don't buy computer-type devices from companies best known for making digital picture frames and similarly low-tech electronics.

Finding an E-reader, Part 1: The Options

Well, it's not about theology, but it does have to do with reading, and might be helpful to someone looking into ebooks.  I had been searching for the past month or two for a reading device with a larger screen than my iPod Touch for extended periods of reading ebooks, like from Kindle or Logos or B&N or Kobo. 

My criteria for an e-reader: 1) excellent text clarity, 2) decent battery life, 3) user-friendly interface, 4) support for notes/highlights, 5) reasonable size/weight, and 6) the eventual option to access all my ebooks from one device.

I had previously tried the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, and would have been happy with my Kindle 3, but it stopped working (don't buy expensive tech from Craigslist!).  My iPod Touch 4th generation is great as far as text clarity and ebook availablity (supports all my preferred formats), but the 3.5" screen requires holding it close to your face, or increasing the text size to only get a few words per page, plus it's hard to hold it comfortably for long periods. 

Since the 6" screen and half-pound weight of the Kindle was great, those became my target dimensions.  I also enjoyed the dedicated page-turn buttons which left the screen free for text instead of looking at my fingers swiping or tapping to turn pages.  I could have gone for another Kindle after my previous one broke, but I was hesitant to spend close to $200 for a single-function device, if I could get a comparable multi-function device for a little more money.  Most tablets are either 7" or 10" screens, so I opted for the 7" screen size.

The options for tablets that could also serve as e-readers basically boiled down to three categories.  1) Tablets with resistive displays that were fuzzy or hard to push or both, and usually had poor battery life or build quality, running a generic Linux OS or an outdated version of Google's Android OS; 2) Tablets with capacitive displays that ran current versions of Android OS; or, 3) Apple's iPad.

Prices in the first category ranged from $100 after discounts to around $200; the second included devices from $200 to $600; the third started at $499 ($429 if you went with a refurbished model) and went up beyond $800.

Subsequent posts will cover my experiences with various devices from these categories.