Kindle, A Good Idea Wasted

So, if you haven't been following, there's a new Kindle coming to town. I cannot begin to even tell you how disappointed I am in this new reader. $359 is a lot of money, but the price you pay for having cutting edge technology...$489 (the price of the new Kindle DX) is complete uncalled for; especially if they are calling it the Kindle that every college student will want, because it will save them money.

They are "probably" right about the saving money thing if you account for long term; many publishers haven't put textbooks on Kindle, but that will probably change come Fall if Amazon holds up their end of the bargain. The problem, of course, is it will take between two to three years before a college student has actually "saved" money. By that time, it's very likely that the screen on the Kindle has broken, or there's something much better on the market.

Realistically, college kids don't have $500 dollars to put down on something that won't actually save them money for two to three years, and parents aren't going to see this of much of an investment because it's just too new. As far as textbook e-readers go, the rumored $200 touchscreen Android netbook seems like a better solution, because in addition to reading books, you can get applications. If I was going to blow $500 for a e-reader, I would hold out for the rumored Apple tablet, which is expected to be just a little more (and, I'm willing to bet, will be capable of running the Kindle application like the iPhone and iPod Touch).

Sure, it's nice that the Kindle can now read PDF's; and that rotating screen is a pretty nifty feature that is sure to make all your friends say "cool," but that's not enough to get me to pay over $100 more. I was actually expecting a price drop, not a price hike--I guess they just assume that if you enjoy reading then your not one of those poor saps out of work, because your smart enough to keep your job during the economic crisis?

What does the Kindle need to win me over (in five easy steps)?

First, drop the price. $200 is more realistic. I read that it cost about $190 for Amazon to make a Kindle, but the hardware isn't where their profit is--it's the books. They are making a pretty penny selling things that cost basically no money to produce, sell or ship.

Second, give it a touchscreen! You want college kids to use this like they would a textbook? Students highlight textbooks! Sure you can use the highlight/bookmark feature, but that's hardly interactive or easy to do.

Third, make the experimental features REAL! A functional Web browser shouldn't be "experimental." It should be a real, fully operational feature that sits on the home screen...not tucked away in a less visited place. The same can be said of the MP3 feature, which is really quite lousy--you can't even browse songs, for crying out loud! You'd get a better MP3 player off some street vendor.

Fourth, give it a light. I'll be honest, I tend to use my iPod Touch more than my Kindle when I'm reading in bed. How hard is it to put a little back light on it? The iPod Touch is so much more piratical for night time reading.

Fifth, again, get the price down. If they can't do this by dropping the price then find other ways. Like users get $200 if they subscribed to the NY Times or WSJ for a year or two; or initiate a Kindle loyalty program that let's Kindle first and second generation users turn in their old Kindles for an upgrade at a reduced price.

I love the idea behind Kindle--I love my first generation Kindle. I just hate the price.

A 200 dollar laptop? An Apple Netbook?

When Apple starts thinking about jumping on the netbook wagon, you know it's more then just a trendy little phase; in 2009, the company is rumored to release a netbook version of the Mac. It's said they might actually compete with others by setting the price in the 500 dollar range, but one has to wonder if that's really competing...a new $200 netbook is also rumored to be coming out next year from Eee PC; granted the Eee PC is a Linux model, but you really can't beat the price if all you want to do is type and surf the net.

As the economy continues to hit sour notes, it's easy to see these computers completely taking over the laptop market...they kind of already have. It's hard to justify paying 1,000 dollars a for a laptop when these will do just fine.

The Mobile Computer Lab

A few years ago, I had a conversation with an IT guy about computers at the library that he worked at; he explained that all the computers were leased for about 400 each for two or three years; it didn't make sense, and I told him so; for less then 400 bucks you could easily buy a desktop that you would never have to give back. He argued that if things went bad on that, it might not be covered in the warranty, and the cost of upkeep were just too high. I found the whole conversation frustrating, because he was getting paid to upkeep the computers and would save the library a lot of money by not having to get a new lease every two years. Times have changed, computers are even cheaper, and he's probably still leasing them for the library.

Today, however, I think a bigger argument is why would a library lease when netbooks are so cheap? (for reviews, see yesterdays blog) The time of the 200 dollar, and maybe 100 dollar, notebook is here, and I think it's time for libraries to reconsider the idea of checking out computers. A few libraries have experimented with the idea, but the cost of mini notebooks are so cheap that it's more of a reality for even the smallest library.

The problem I've seen in many older branch libraries is there's simply no room for computers; bookshelves are often removed to make space; new libraries are obviously built with computers in mind, but what about the little guys?

As you probably know from my blog yesterday, I am a new fan of the MSI Wind. Not only is this a great computer for the average user, it's a great computer for the average library. Instead of finding odd nooks to handle large desktops, why not check out computers? For less then 10,000 dollars, a library could have twenty+ brand new notebooks. The battery life on a computer with a 3 cell battery is about two hours, so a patron can't horde it all day if you don't give them power supply.

Frequently, even in new libraries, computer labs are in the least desired part of the library--stuffy rooms with no natural lighting.

A patron has the freedom to roam the library with laptops, and use the computer wherever they're comfortable. Theft is not a problem if you have a policy that requires valid library card and ID. Obviously the right check out policy is the biggest issue, but it can be done.

I think the time has come for libraries to seriously consider the mobile computer lab.

The Death of a Laptop

My laptop has been dying several months; I didn't want for it to happen, because I love that laptop, but, as a writer, it's something that happens all to often. I type over one thousand pages a year; that means in less then a year the letters on the keyboard begin to quickly wear off. This is soon followed by keys that stick. Those things you can live with, but when the computer begins frequently locking up or crashing, then you know it's time to start looking for a laptop.

For the past two years, I have been using a Toshiba Portege R200; it's less then three pounds, and can go for about 4 to 5 hours if the wi-fi is on, and 6 to 7 hours if the wi-fi is off. The new Toshiba R600's are awesome, and equally light with great battery life; the problem for me this time around is I don't have $1,500 to $2,000 to spare on a laptop. I also knew that I could not go without a laptop.

I could have gone with the cheap 400 dollar laptops that are usually on sale at Best Buy and Circuit City; but I write on the go, and I needed something ultra-portable.

My next option was a netbook. In the past, I've been against them because their hard drives were too small (and most ran Linux, which I like for secondary computers, but not primary ones). This year a swarm of XP netbooks came out with 60+ gigabyte hard drives. The first one to catch my eye was the Acer One; it has 1 gig of RAM, a 120 gb hard drive, and has been on sale at CostCo for $350. I had two problems with that one. One, it had a 3 cell battery, which meant only two hours of battery life; and two, a small keyboard. Further investigation also revealed that it has a known problem with overheating and is quitee loud. There are reports that a new Acer is coming out with a six cell baterry next year.

Next I considered the more costly Lenovo Ideapad ($399); this was a little bit more, but had a larger screen, thus bigger keyboard; it also had a smaller hard drive. The biggest problem I had the Lenovo was the battery—again, a three cell. It was tempting, because it was a name I could trust, but in the end I decided against it.

I did not even look at the HP netbook, which is probably the most commonly purchased business netbook; FYI, I think HP is the worse computer on the market. I have have never had one or known someone that had one that didn't have a series of hardware and/or software issues; part of the problem is they often use Compaq parts, which is basically the lemon of computer parts.

The last computer I looked at was the MSI Wind; Amazon had it on sale for $430, and it was everything I wanted (6 cell battery, 160 hard drive, 10 inch screen, 2.8 pounds); it had a SCSI hard drive, so it would be slower to transfer larger files, but I could deal with that.

I now have the laptop, and couldn't be more please. It's a little bit heavier than my Toshiba, but the flaws stop there. It's quiet, does not get even a little hot on the bottom (unlike just about every other laptop out there), and surprisingly fast. The keyboard feels just like a full size one; although the comma and question mark keys are just a tad to small and awkwardly placed, and the mouse pad is less than ideal.

Normally cheap laptops have tons of software preloaded on the desktop, and your first hour with the new computer is spent getting them off; not so with the MSI. It has a trial version of Office, which I promptly took off because I cannot stand the new version of Office. Once I dig up my old external CD drive, I'm going to install an older version of word, but for now I'm contempt running Open Office, which is basically the same as Word and free.

I've heard all the reviews say that netbooks are great as a second laptop, but not as a main one; I disagree. If you are doing graphics, video production, or something that requires a quick processor then stick with a desktop; but if all you do is type, use the Internet, video conference (web cam is built in!), and take digital photos, then the MSI is the perfect computer. The only thing it doesn't do is burn CD/DVDs, but with most people using USB drives, then why do you need to? I still have a desktop for that, but I could live without it.

Unfortunately, Amazon sold out of the MSI Wind the day after I made my purchase (you can buy them elsewhere, but I haven't found them as cheap); they have a black model for just a little more, but it's on backorder, and won't ship for six to seven weeks. I suspect it will magically come back in stock for Black Friday or Cyber Monday.