Kindle Finally Here (kind of)…

Well, it’s taken 10 years, but Australia is finally going to get the Kindle ebook reader. Not that it will really ‘get’ it per se, you’ll still have to buy it off Amazon.

It strikes me as ironic, in a way, that the company that pioneered online selling of books online now sells one of the most popular ebook readers in the US. Will it become as popular in Australia and the rest of the world? Who knows. Sony already has one on the market as does BeBook, and the take up of them has been by early adapters, although as Harold Wiegers from Bebook told me recently “looking at the iPhone e-reader app, which has been downloaded 1m times in the first month, there is a growing demand for e-reading.”

Personally, I can’t see myself buying one – in the near future anyway. I like reading, but am more old school. In saying that, I can see a need for them, and how the current younger generation would embrace the technology. It’s a natural extension of other technologies they have grown up with over the past 10 years.

Also, feedback from the US suggests that once you get a kindle, they are almost addictive with the amount of books people read.

Amazon and some independent writers are also looking into a model that will allow authors to put their books online without having to go through a publisher. This would mean previously unpublished author can have a place whereby they can showcase their work without having to put up with the tedium of dealing with bolshie agents or arrogant publishers. Then again, the public won’t get the benefit of the filters such people put on over some of the drivel that might get through.

What I do know is that the Kindle is here to stay, as are other ebook readers, which isn’t a bad thing.

2UE With Steve Price October 8

Steve mentioned the World Cyber Games, which are being held at the Beyond LAN Cafe in Sydney’s CBD. This is like the Olympics of gaming, and the winners of the Samsung World Cyber Games National Finals will be going to China to compete in the World Finals. Hope to see you there, especially if you are a gaming fan.

Also spoke about Pipe International, a little Australian company with big plans to revolutionise the internet by providing cheaper broadband, due to a cable it has laid from Australia to Guam. Already the likes of ISP provider Internode has reduced its prices due to the new cable, which goes live today.
Donna called to say that her sons had saved up enough money to buy their own iPod Touch media devices. Donna was worried that they could access the internet. They can, and I suggested to her that maybe they should spend their money on something else, especially if she is concerned that they might be accessing the internet without her knowledge.

Monica wanted to know how to retrieve an email if it was sent accidentally. This is something that happens from time to time, and can be very embarrassing. However, there is not much you can do about it. Some email programs allow you to issue a recall, but that doesn’t actually stop the email, just lets the person know you don’t want them to read it. However Monica was concerned that the attachment she had put on the email would be too big for her friend to download as he was still on dial up. A solution for her friend is to go into here where he can put in his email address and password, and then delete the attachment. Certainly save a lot of time if he is on dial up.

Eddie was wondering if there was enough space on his Foxtel IQ box to record Bathurst. A Foxtel box holds anywhere between 8-16 hours of storage, so as long as there is that amount available, it should be no problem.

Neil was looking for a portable laptop/notebook/netbook that had GPS capabilities and be capable of sending and receiving emails and not much else. There is the latest Dell Insprison, which might be not as small as he wanted

Finally, Chris was wondering about sound drop out on his new full HD plasma TV. This seems to have been a problem for some time with digital signals falling out. Now, people have been asking me for solutions, and I get the impression they hope it won’t involve anybody else. Living in a remote location, being surrounded by mountains, or living near high rise buildings aside, if you are having problems, then it seems you have get an aerial technician in to help. Most will groan at this, but this is the only solution. They have a meter that will measure the signal strength, but more importantly he or she will have a solution for those annoying dropouts.

Why I Love Smartphone Apps

As you all know, being a tech guy, I love gadgets and how they make our life easier. Occasionally I’ll come up against a person who longs for the ‘old’ days where life was a little less complicated and technology like the wireless and horse were the best ways to get information and travel, respectively.

But yesterday’s afternoon weather bomb that hit Sydney yesterday afternoon was a classic example of why I love technology – smartphone apps in particular.

I was in the city on business and got on the train and arrived at the Museum stop in the CBD and it was hosing down. Now, I had to walk to my destination and thought I’d sit it out, however there seemed to be no let up. So I hit my iPhone weather app, which had satellite images of the weather over Sydney and it soon became apparent that the clouds were going nowhere, but my appointment time was fast approaching.

I spied out the corner of my eye a bus stop. But when was the next bus, and more importantly, was it going in my direction and would it drop me off near my destination without looking like a drowned rat?

So I hit my timetable app on my smartphone, and viola! There it was, a bus was coming by in five minutes that would drop me off near my appointment.
And that folks, is why I love technology. Ten years ago, I would’ve waited out the storm or got saturated, and I would then have had to rely on getting a bus at random – or tried to figure out either via a printed timetable or asking a bus driver – to get uptown.

Forget the whole ‘I saved money on a cab fare because I used public transport’ argument. That benefit pales in comparison when compared with convenience and comfort, promptness and stree free transport.

So, this is just but one example of why I love technology – keeping life simple and helping out in those moments when all other avenues are closed.