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?
Monday, February 14, 2011
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:
Thursday, February 10, 2011
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.
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.
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.
Friday, February 4, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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.
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.
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