The Kindle 2

And now we have the Kindle 2, the next generation wireless reading device. I am really pleased with so far. At just over 1/3 inch and 10.2 ounces, the new device is very sleek -- as thin as a typical magazine and lighter than a paperback. It is not radically different than the original Kindle but definitely a refinement of the user interface. The faster page turns are noticeable and the sixteen shades of gray instead of the current four makes the already sharp Kindle page sharper.

While the cell phone makers need three years to convert to the new micro USB standards-based charger, Amazon has already included it with Kindle 2. I think they have a winner on their hands. An analyst I heard today said that Amazon was cannibalizing it's book business. I think he missed the point. When Amazon sells a "real" book for $20 their cost will include the printing, binding, inclusion of a multi-color glossy dust jacket, picking the book from the warehouse shelf, packing it in a box, and loading it on a truck. When Amazon sells a "Kindlized" book for $10 their cost includes a server noticing the click on amazon.com or on a Kindle and the transmission of a few hundred thousand or so bytes of data over the air to the Kindle plus an infinitesimal amount of storage to keep a copy on their server. The only question is how many times greater the profit margin is in favor of the non-book book.

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Gadgets , Media February 26, 2009 04:07 PM

The Universal Cell Phone Charger

How many cell phone chargers have you thrown away in the last ten years? Not sure myself but a French study says that 2-3 million cell phone chargers become obsolete every month. The GSM Association says discarded chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste per year. Closets and drawers are strewn with old chargers and worse yet some of us have chargers plugged in that don't need to be because the phone is already fully charged. Chargers, chargers everywhere, but relief may be on the way.

The mobile phone industry group has announced that 17 wireless operators and handset makers have agreed to standardize chargers by 2012 for most of the cell phones they sell. The chargers would be interchangeable, evenutally making it possible to charge any phone that you own and new phones that you buy with the same charger. Imagine one small efficient charger in the kitchen that all family members could use as needed.

The initial group of companies that have joined the initiative include 3 Group, AT&T Inc., KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Orange, Qualcomm Inc., Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefonica SA, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone PLC. The new standardized chargers would use the micro USB interface -- which is smaller than the more commonly used mini USB connector but has already been adopted in a few handsets, including the BlackBerry Storm. The new chargers will also meet higher energy efficiency targets -- with up to 50% energy savings achieved by cutting back power use when on standby. That is the good news. The bad news is that the GSM Association -- which has limited authority over the vendors -- has set the goal to have "the majority of all new mobile phone models" supporting the new chargers by January 1, 2012. That would be triple or more of the product design cycle for introducing new phones. The other bad news is that although an impressive list of companies has commited to the new standard, some key players are noticeable by their absence -- namely Apple, which is clinging to the legacy iPod connector, RIM and Palm.

Why isn't the goal 100% and why can't we get there sooner than 2012? European countries would prefer to use regulation to get the job done and there is certainly an argument for it. It was that line of thinking that created GSM phones that now work in most countries of the world. Standards definitely work -- that is why the Internet is the great resource that it is. It has been the U.S. that has been behind thanks to lack of competition, far too many lobbyists, and an FCC which is a politicial entity. Nevertheless, when it comes to power chargers I prefer a market based approach to a government mandated approach. Some will argue -- probably Apple -- that being forced to have the same power connector as everyone else will eliminate innovation. Maybe they will find a way that by just placing your iPhone near your Mac that electrons will jump through the air and charge the iPhone -- no charger, no connector. Maybe someone will invent a picture that hangs on the wall that emits electrical energy and can charge any device in the room -- no chargers, no connectors. MIT has successfully moved energy wirelessly -- albeit not very much and not very far. In the meantime I think the market will work. Let's say Palm heldout and was the only mobile phone producer that did not use the standard connector and required a unique charger. I would think their market share would decline. I predict Apple will be the only holdout.

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Gadgets , Mobile , iPhone February 25, 2009 06:27 PM

IBM Happenings: January 2009

The month of January started out the new year with a flurry of announcements in hardware, software, services, acquisitions, and strategic alliances. The list of announcements made during the month is here and the index for all months is here. One of the major focus areas for IBM in 2009 will continue to be related to clouds.

IBM revealed a comprehensive series of new products, services, clients and partnerships for its Blue Cloud initiative -- a collaborative approach the company is using to develop and test integrated cloud solutions for businesses. While Google, Apple, Microsoft and others battle it out for email and document cloud services for consumers -- much like the browser wars of the 1990's -- IBM is focusing on the enterprise. The company has a wide portfolio of cloud computing offerings for business, such as server capacity on demand, online data protection, Lotus e-mail and collaboration software, testing environments, and high performance computing for research and education. Customers in the pharmaceutical industry, for example, have selected IBM's Computing on Demand Cloud Services because it provides a highly secure and scalable storage and computing environment. Very large companies often want to build their own clouds and for them IBM offers Infrastructure Consulting Services for Cloud Computing and Infrastructure Strategy and Planning for Cloud Computing. IBM experts conduct workshops to help the customers develop clouds that are based on tried and true (and blue) solutions. I suppose many companies feel that building their clouds with "blue" will mean blue skies ahead for them.

Complete index of IBM Happenings

IBM February 16, 2009 11:59 AM

Kindle 2

The "e-book" -- replacing the paper book with something electronic -- is not a new idea. Project Gutenberg started in 1971 and now has a collection of more than 25,000 books which have been digitized. Digital books can be read on a PC and there are various software offerings that can enable you to read books on your mobile phone or personal digital assistant. Over the years there have been various "e-book readers" introduced. The idea behind the e-book reader is to have a dedicated device that is optimized for reading. I had never met anyone, myself included, that found reading a book on a PC, a handheld device, or an e-book reader to be a good experience. For years I had believed that the day would come but that so far nothing had compared to a real book. That was before I became "Kindlized".

I first saw the Amazon Kindle in early February 2008 when Steve Brotman, a fellow director of Knovel Corporation, showed me his at a board meeting. I was not convinced it would be different than the many predecessors I had tried over the years but I was intrigued enough to order one. After waiting a month for the backorder to be filled, I opened the box, turned on the Kindle and within a couple of minutes I was reading Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth in a new and comfortable way. I had recently purchased the paperback version of "Pillars" for $14.97 and was about half-way through the gripping 1,000 page novel. With my new acquisition I visited the Kindle bookstore on the device and keyed in "pillars". I selected the Follet novel and in less than a minute the Kindle version was ready to read. The $7.99 charge for the e-book was automatically placed on my credit card. There is no login, user id, password or network connection process. The "Amazon Whispernet" (from Sprint) is totally seamless. At the time there were 100,000 kindlized books -- now there are more than 225,000. You can also choose from a dozen or so top newspapers and magazines plus a very large number of blogs. If you are an author, there is a streamlined process to Kindlize your books. It took me less than five minutes to add Net Attitude to the Kindle Bookstore. You can also add virtually any document of your own such as reports, long emails, user guides, or just about anything.

And now we have the Kindle 2, the next generation wireless reading device. At just over 1/3 inch and 10.2 ounces, Amazon claims an even more sleek and thin design that makes Kindle 2 as thin as a typical magazine and lighter than a paperback. The new Kindle has seven times more storage and now holds over 1,500 books. Not sure I need that much storage but I look forward to the longer battery life and especially the faster page turns. Today's Kindle has a sharp image but the new one claims even crisper images by supporting sixteen shades of gray instead of the current four.

The most amazing thing about the Kindle is how easy it is to use. The "electronic paper" makes the screen as sharp and natural as reading ink on paper without the strain and glare of a computer screen. You have to see it to believe it, and the Kindle 2 will be even better. The device weighs ten ounces, never becomes hot, and is easy for both "lefties" and "righties" to read comfortably at any angle for long periods of time. I have arthritis in my neck and need to read without bending my head down. I use a reading stand which works very well except that with large books like "Pillars", it is hard to keep the book open on the stand. No problem with the Kindle. It just sits there and when it is time to "turn the page" you just tap a button on the Kindle and the next (or previous) page appears. You can select from six font sizes to suit your taste and compensate for lighting conditions. If you encounter a word you are not familiar with, a couple of clicks the built-in New Oxford Dictionary displays the definition. You can add bookmarks, notes, and take "clippings" as you read. There are no logins and passwords. No monthly wireless bills, data plans, or commitments. It is a joy to use.

The Chinese invention of paper in 105 A.D. changed the way the world communicates. The invention of "e-ink" may change it again. The electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. The screen displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting. All things considered, I think Amazon has hit a major home run with the Kindle and I can't wait to get the Kindle 2.

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February 10, 2009 09:40 PM

Gen XV

The 15th Annual Genesys Partners Venture Dinner -- Gen XV-- Monday night at the Union League Club in New York attracted more than 100 venture capitalists, investors, journalists, entrepreneurs, and industry executives. As always, Jim Kollegger -- CEO of Genesys Partners and one of the pioneers of the information industry -- was an elegant master of ceremonies. He introduced the various sponsors, next day panelists for the SIIA Conference, several startup CEO's, and a few of us who have been around the block a few times, each to make some comments.

Like a broken record, I offered the normal upbeat view of the future of the Internet but prefaced my remarks by asserting that we are only 5% of the way there. In other words, of all the things that could be done on the Internet that would save us time and make our lives better, only 5% of them are there. It may sound low but consider retail e-commerce. Although there has been continuous and steady growth of retail e-commerce it still represents just over 3% of total retail (as of the end of October). Why isn't it 25% or more? Much written about that here at patrickWeb but the short version is that there are still a lot of lame web sites. "Click here for the location of our nearest dealer where you can buy the product you just found" or "Click here to download this form and fax it to us". And of course there are the ubiquitous clipboards at doctor offices where we take a pen and write information that they already have.

I described one man's view of the evolution of the Internet including the seven characteristics below. This parsed way of looking at the Internet has served me well for quite a few years. The things going on under each area continuously change and Jim asks me once a year to do a thumbnail sketch of my latest thinking.

Fast
Broadband in the U.S. is not a pretty story compared to other parts of the world. The problem is that there are too many lobbyists and the FCC is a political organization. I was in Greenland this past August. It is three times the size of Texas, has no trees, and only 50,000 people. The entire population has access to the Internet. When the chairman of the FCC was asked by CNBC why the U.S. was not even in the top ten countries of the world in terms of broadband availability, his reply was that there many rural parts of America!

Always On
WiFi is becoming more and more a part of the fabric of the world. Hospitals will soon be replacing their infusion pumps with WiFi infusion pumps that will enable hospital administrators to know where the pumps are, which ones need maintenance, and even allow doctors to adjust drop rates of intravenous solutions via the Internet WiMax continues to struggle. Some believe it will replace WiFi. My bet is on WiFi.

Everywhere
Cloud computing has become the mainstay for me and for millions. Whether it is gmail or MobileMe the convenience and reliability of the clouds is compelling. The next big wave is enterprise cloud computing. Virtualization is making enterprise servers more scalable, reliable, and efficient than ever. Broadband in the enterprise likewise. Security models allow remote access for telecommuters and AJAX is enabling applications to run in any browser on any kind of computer including mobile.

Natural
Social networking may not be a business model in and unto itself but it is becoming fundamental to all aspects of our economy and society. Integration of social networking with a full range of web applications will evolve to become the primary means of collaboration.

Intelligent
The Semantic Web is the next big turn of the crank. Most web pages have links but do not have context. In other words the words on the page do not necessarily mean anything -- but they could. If a web page said "Join us for a concert by The Eagles at Kimmel Center in Philadelphia next Tuesday" that set of words could have a lot of context. Clicking on it could add the concert to your calendar, knowing what "next Tuesday" means. It would also know exactly where the Kimmel Center is and that The Eagles is a performing group that performs a particular genre and your music player would receive a list of suggestions of music they have recorded or links to live concerts under way at the moment. This is the tip of the iceberg. The semantic web will lead us to a point where most of the interactions of web pages will be between computers not between computers and people.

Easy
Technology isn't the easiest thing at times. There are many dimensions to "easy" but one good example is the Nintendo Wii. At a local senior center, members find the Wii to be their exercise coach. It is not just for kids!

Trusted
This is the big one. Will we trust the Internet? Security technology is available to achieve much higher levels of security than presently deployed both at enterprise and consumer levels. The bigger issue will be privacy. Banks have our personal information and they are using it. Healthcare insurers have more information about our health than our doctors do. Nevertheless, there is much to be optimistic about when it comes to electronic medical records. Maybe 5% of doctors and hospitals use them but this will likely rise fast and the result will be better care, better outcomes, and fewer errors. And, fewer clipboards.

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Conferences , Internet Technology , Media February 1, 2009 09:10 AM