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/
The Convenience and Potential of RSS
After being around for a couple of years, RSS, standing for Really Simple Syndication, has hardly caught on to mainstream crowds. Dubbed for “tech-savvy” users only, RSS is being ignored by a ton of people out there - possibly including you. What is RSS? And why the heck should you care?
RSS is what I’d like to call a two-tier system of delivering information. The two tiers compose of the feed and the reader.
The Feed
Each and every regularly-updated website and blog on the Internet should have a corresponding RSS feed. The instant an author publishes a new post on the website or blog, the feed is also updated with the entry. Thus, the feed is constantly updated.
There are many different types of feeds, the variety ranging from feeds that update only with content to feeds that update with video. That’s how services like Miro work.
The Reader
RSS readers (or “aggregators” - a really long word for “to gather in one location”) are definitely a dime a dozen, and all perform pretty well. RSS readers gather the feeds that you have subscribed to together (as you might have inferred) and updates regularly when you are connected to the Internet.
If you’re looking for a simple RSS reader, why not try Google Reader?
…So what?
Up till now, you probably haven’t seen a practical use for RSS feeds. However, here’s where things get really interesting. I know that everyone’s got a set of regulars - a handful of websites and blogs that they just have to drop by everyday for an update. That number could range from as little as two to well into the double (even triple, I daresay) digits. The more websites or blogs you have to check, the more convenient this is going to be for you.
The time spent remembering and navigating these sites alone already takes out a huge chunk of time and doesn’t feel too united, does it? Luckily for you, there’s RSS. Basically, you input the RSS feed URL’s to every website or blog you check regularly into the RSS aggregator and wait for the updates. The feeds update on a regular basis when you are connected to the Internet.
You wanted to subscribe to magazines for free - what is the difference between having the content come to you via a mailbox or an RSS reader?
Where is the Potential?
Where does the potential of RSS lie? When the world finally decides to take RSS seriously and everyone turns into a subscriber, I see many things already taking place on a minor scale:
- Magazines subscriptions are going to drop severely.
- RSS feeds will grow much more profitable with the possibilities of advertising popping in.
- RSS feeds will deliver multimedia, such as music and video.
Are you going to Change?
The days of you going to the library to see the latest magazine or book is over, and the days of information coming to you has just begun. The world has gotten that much smaller. The question is, will you be part of the change? If you will, I also suggest subscribing to the Digital Media Break feed - I know that you could use a break in your day for digital media.
The RSS icon, which you should be used to right now. If not, keep your eyes peeled for this fluorescent orange little icon, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
