karen’s blog

Amazon's new eReader product, Kindle, was released today. From Amazon's product overview (in part):

• Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
• Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
• Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
• Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
• More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
• New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.

I haven't had a chance to use it (or even see it in person), so this is my take from afar.

Some features are very attractive:
+ Would be great for traveling: I can never decide which books to take when I go away, and even with Audible audiobooks, it's hard to decide before I go what I'll want to read
+ Looks to be fairly small and at 10 ounces, is pretty light
+ The liquid ink technology is said to make it easier to read text on-screen than typical displays
+ Comes bundled with EVDO wireless capability without an added monthly charge or contract

Having said that, I have some misgivings:
- The pricetag! Yikes, $399 just seems way too expensive.
- Walled garden.... from what I can tell, you can't browse the Internet on the Kindle. Huh? Wouldn't that be the perfect synergistic application for an ebook reader with built-in EVDO?
- You can read newspapers on the Kindle for $10-15 per month per subscription. (See "Huh?" above.) I can read the New York Times (and most other newspapers) online for free -- even Murdock is planning to make the online Wall Street Journal available at no cost.
- You can pay to read blogs on your Kindle. (See "Huh?" above.)
- Why is the keyboard so big? My guess... to make it easy to buy new books. Otherwise, why have a keyboard at all (or at least make it smaller).

What I'd love to see Kindle v2 include:
* A smaller keyboard
* Opera browser, to enable the ereader to double as a basic Internet tablet; of course this would mean dropping charges to read newspaper and blog content (see next point)
* Rather than charging subscriptions for news and blog content, create a monthly subscription model for ebook content (a la Audible.com); doing so would provide a predictable content revenue stream, and after spending $399, most Kindle buyers would still buy ebooks in addition to their monthly subscription cost.

I want to see Kindle succeed, I really do. Why? Because I want to buy Kindle v2, after Amazon has had a chance to tweak their initial offering. In the interim, I'll be watching ebay to benefit from early adopter buyer's remorse.

Edit: Seth Godin suggests that content should generally be free, with the hardware being the only real cost. His reasoning... "the people willing to buy the device are exactly the sort of people that an author like me wants to reach. No harm, no foul, all three of us win." Excellent point!

I've finally seen Into the Wild, a long-awaited film by Sean Penn (screenwriter and director). This is a review perhaps best told in 2 parts: 1st as a film lover, and 2ndly as an Alaskan.

As a film lover, I was blown away by Into the Wild. If I had to choose only a few words to describe it, I'd choose haunting and expansive. Haunting because the viewer knows the end from the start, and wrestles with determining whether Christopher McCandless (the young man who ultimately dies in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wild) is an Emersonian dreamer or simply a reckless youth -- the truth likely lies somewhere in  between.

And the cinematography, where to begin? Those beautiful, expansive shots of the American midwest and west: South Dakota, Arizona, California, Alaska... simply breathtaking.

It's a long film (150 minutes) and Penn lingers longer than necessary on some elements of the back story (the scenes in the desert slab village come to mind). However, those scenes provide a basis for later scenes including Hal Holbrook, whose performance is so touching and genuine that one feels they're watching two people interact in real life, rather than a Hollywood production. Other fine performances include those by Emile Hirsch (as our protagonist), William Hurt, Vince Vaughn, and Catherine Keener.

Now, for an Alaskan perspective -
As someone born and raised near the Alaskan Arctic Circle, I have mixed feelings about McCandless' pilgrimage. Sadly, far too many people roam to Alaska in search of themselves only to find that they cannot escape themselves -- they are who they are, no matter where they roam. Long-time Alaskans have a healthy respect for the outdoors and wilderness, and would never venture out so ill-prepared; however, those not from the far north may not realize just how extreme the elements can be, and naively venture out into situations they simply are not prepared for.

Also, as an Alaskan, it was surreal sitting in a theater seeing footage of my hometown (Fairbanks) shown in the opening scenes of a major motion picture. It was nice in a way, but also quite odd. I must say that Sean Penn did a fine job of showing Alaska as Alaska... it's a beautiful place but the elements can also be quite inhospitable.

Would I recommend Into the Wild? Yes. I just wouldn't recommend taking the same path Mr. McCandless did, i.e., ill-preparedly trying to find oneself in the Alaskan wild.

Note:

• If you haven't read Jon Krakauer's book, you may be interested in reading his article about these events in Outside Magazine, Death of an Innocent.
• And for Eddie Vedder fans, the soundtrack is excellent (I've just ordered it via Amazon).
• Also, an interesting article about the wildlife scenes.

I've been a Krusell Classic case user for a while now, at least back to my Treo 600 days. When I picked up an E61i, I knew I wanted a Krusell Classic case for it. (NOTE: There is another Krusell e61i case - the Cabriolet - which apparently doesn't work so well. My review is about the Krusell Classic, not the Cabriolet.)

Interestingly enough, the Krusell Classic case seems to improve E61i usability since it makes the phone much less slippery and provides more tactile feedback when using the keyboard. And, of course, the case also provides protection from scratches.

And since Krusell Classic cases include a spring clip, there's no need for a separate holster.

The E61i has become quickly become one of my favorite Nokia devices and Krusell Classic seems the perfect case for it.

I picked up a Nokia E61i several weeks ago, mainly for the qwerty keyboard. It augments (but doesn't completely replace) my N95, which I'll continue to use as my primary camera.

This might be a good time to confess that I'd never really been interested in the E61i -- its wide form factor made me think it would be like holding a board up to my head when making calls. Indeed, it is probably the widest phone I've ever owned (even after having a Treo 600 and 650).

But something changed once I actually started using the E61i... I realized the wide screen (afforded by its wide form factor) was great for reading email, texting, and web surfing. The qwerty keyboard let me type out messages so much faster than possible using a regular phone keypad (even with T9). And as an e-series device, the standby display is very customizable. And voice/audio quality? It's a Nokia... enough said!

Within a few weeks, the phone I'd previously derided as "too big" became my favorite Nokia yet (and I've owned several Nokia devices: 6056, 6236i, 6256i, N73, N75, N93, N95, E65). The E61i recently enabled me to easily stay in touch during business travel by providing functionality I'd normally obtain from a laptop. It's a great phone and definitely recommended.

I'm always curious what others install on their mobile devices, so here's a list of what I've installed onto the E61i:
Jaiku mobile
Fring
Opera Mini
Opera Mobile
WorldMate
GemMagic
Y Tasks
Y Browser
Nokia Beta Labs Conversation
TumbleWeed
Frozen Bubble
OfficeSuite
Spodtronic
Handy Calendar (great calendar app by Epocware, currently in beta)