Wireless Reading Devices: Amazon Kindle
Unless you’ve been hiding a rock for the past couple of months, you’ve probably heard about the Amazon Kindle, the first wireless reading device. It might not sound like much, but take a look at the things you can do with it right now, let alone the future, which I’ll talk about Monday:
- Free book sampling, cheap books: Sure, you can do it at Chapters - or you can do it in the comfort of your own home, or even in the back of a Taxi. You get the first chapters of certain books absolutely free for your sampling delight, or you can get books for $9.99. Books are delivered wirelessly and in less than a minute - wow.
- Have your newspapers delivered promptly, and wirelessly: I honestly think that this is the coolest technology - the Kindle delivers information over its EVDO network, which unlike Wi-fi, doesn’t require any hotspots to stream data. Pretty convenient and flexible - nothing unusual from digital media.
- Kindle your interest: You’ve got Wikipedia on the Kindle for free - what more could you ask for?
- It’s a screen, but it looks like paper: The Amazon Kindle features an extremely high-resolution screen that looks like paper, so your eyes don’t get tired from the screen. However, I can’t really be the judge of that, as I don’t have one yet (Amazon, if you’ve got any extra Kindles on you, give me a holler).
- Storage: It’s got enough storage to hold over 200 titles, but still weighs only 10.3 ounces.
photo credit: John Pastor
Nope, this isn’t a sponsored review. I just believe that Amazon’s seeing the future and bringing it to us as I write, and I really want to get my hands on one of these babies. Want to see my look at the future of wireless reading devices? Wait for it Monday.
ReadyMade Magazine goes Digital
Alright, I’m not going to lie - I hadn’t even heard of ReadyMade magazine prior to last week, but I’m going to admit that I’m already starting to like it. ReadyMade magazine has recently started the digital version of their magazine - and no, I’m not talking about just shifting their articles online. I’m not even talking about scanning and then changing it to PDF mode.
It’s actually completely digital. All the content, including the layout, the advertisements, the table of contents, the words, the pictures, everything - is completely digital. “How’d they do it?” I wondered. And here’s a tip for everyone out there - whether it’s a Wordpress plug-in you want to discover in the page, or just what service they’re using, look in the Page Source. I did - and discovered that they were using a service called Texterity to completely change their magazine into a digital format. They also use Scalable Vector Graphics to make it available on such browsers as Safari on the iPhone and iPod Touch - wow, talk about next-gen!
What are the pros of ReadyMade, as well as other magazines, going digital?
- You get the traditional media layout in digital media format, meshing together the best of both worlds.
- They can be sold at cheaper premiums thanks to the negation of production, ink, and shipping costs. Of course, some of that would go to bandwidth - but still, not a bad idea.
- Compatible with wireless reading devices like the Amazon Kindle for a great magazine experience.
- Due to the lack of paper, it saves the environment and officially “goes green”.
I’m impressed, and as a possible future magazine editor and creator, I’m definitely interested in going green. Here are a couple of links for you to check out - visit them when you can.
http://www.readymade-digital.com/readymade/20080405/
Steam: Changing our World for the Second Time
First, it was Counter-Strike:Source and Half-Life 2. Then, it turned mainstream, and now a ton of game developers use it. What am I talking about? Steam, of course! No, not water-steam, but Steam, the content distribution system that’s out to change the way we get our software.
Gone are the days of having to bike down to the local EB Games to pick up a game, now you can pre-order a game available on PC via Steam, as long as you’ve got an account and a method of paying. Your Steam account is significantly important, as every single game that you purchase will be stored right on the account. If you’ve got more than one computer, this is a great system - download, and install. You don’t have to worry about CD-keys or CD-corruption because the data is all digital, and Steam games can be played on more than one computer, provided it is not at the same time. I’m not encouraging illegal activity, just stating the facts.
Steam’s also been known to be the distributor of free content for nVidia and ATI video cards. A couple of months ago, I ended up creating a Steam account in order to download Portal: The First Slice, and Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. They’re not bad games, but my PC could hardly handle them (I need a new computer).
The only downside to Steam is if you lose your account or password, or get your account hacked, you’re in serious trouble. I’m sure that it’s recoverable to a certain extent, but you’ll have a hard time providing the right information and either way, it’ll be a hassle. Don’t lose your password or username!
Steam’s following in the footsteps and pluses of digital media - delivering the content to you, as opposed to you having to go out and buy the game. It’s a great system, it’s flexible, convenient, and at times, there are special discounts and freebies given away. I highly suggest taking a look at Steam if you’ve got a great download speed and love for gaming.
Want to give Steam a try? Go right ahead - visit http://steampowered.com for more information.
