On Thursday, my first day as a San Diegoan, two crazy things happened: We had near record-breaking heat and the whole city went dark for 12 hours. From 3:35 pm on, the afternoon and early evening were muggy and quiet, as if the whole city, and the million or so others in Southern California, western Arizona, and Tijuana, held their collective breath waiting for the air conditioning to...
There is a certain peace of mind books create that you won't get from watching television or playing video games. The sound effects, the acting and the scenery is all in your head. Your inner movie screen can make things as vivid as it wants. You are participating. It is odd, then, that a (well-funded!) start-up wants to give you a soundtrack to your book. Because, you know, books are...
Back in school, I used to schlep my textbooks all over campus. I didn’t have a laptop or tablet to add to the load then, and I still found it back-breaking, just trying to move my voluminous haul over to my classes. It was also super inefficient. Wouldn’t you know, even if I made it to class on time, then on to my internship, over to the library and then off to an evening lab, there was...
Tablets are hot. Laptops are versatile. eReaders are inexpensive. So which is the best fit for your back to school bag? At the end of the day you may well go with the gear that sings to your heart. Let’s face it, a lot of times the final factor in buying a gadget comes down to a gut feeling loosely translated as, “Yeah, I know this one makes the most sense, but that one’s SO FREAKIN’...
Hear ye, hear ye!: We may now be witnessing what is, for all intents and purposes, the dawn of a renaissance in application development — a return to the heyday of the once-ubiquitous web app. This was the thought running through my head when I heard about this morning's news from Amazon, which announced a new web app (Kindle Cloud Reader) that effectively turns every device you have...
I'm moving. Again. I've never been one to turn down a newer, more interesting city, whether it be New Orleans, which I experienced and got swept out by Katrina, or Chicago, which always will feel like a second home. As I get older, though, my baggage is getting heavier. And by baggage, I mean books. No one is trying to be symbolic here. I have my own books, which, as of this year,...
The summer is well underway, and whether you're headed to a foreign destination, or simply heading to the cottage, these applications are must downloads for you lifestyle-app lovers out there! Road GPS Navigation – NavFree Live GPS USA/Canada – FREE – iTunes App Store NavFree is what the makers call "the world's first FREE 'onboard' professional GPS navigation software, with turn-by-...
Yesterday, Barnes & Noble PR called. Today FedEx showed up. Later this afternoon I have a product briefing phone call. Must mean the new Nook is in the house! Some of you may recall how I fawned over Nook Color to no end, proclaiming it everything from “the best value on the market” to a great device for “Android fans wanting a cheap tablet to tinker with.” Of course, Nook started...
Herd member Emily Price has a great post this week on e-books taking over the traditional paper book market. As an author, I absolutely love physical books, but I also read e-books when I’m on the road and have happily published a couple digital books myself. Both are cool. Both are necessary. I have another question, though: Where did all the damn stores go? And I don’t mean just...
The ad-supported Kindle is now Amazon's best-selling Kindle. The e-reader comes at a $25 discount from the traditional Kindle; however, displays ads and special offers as full-screen screensavers and small banner ads at the bottom of the homescreen. Back when the ad-supported Kindle was first announced, we talked a little bit about what ad-supported electronics might mean for gadget...