One of the things I’ve noticed about the release of any eInk device is the constant and persistent gainsaying by users of smartphone reader applications. Now, normally I’d chalk this up to brand loyalty and ignore it completely. However, even the Kindle which has benefited from a huge media blitz got the same reaction. I was quite baffled by this until I had a revelation.
I was once a great fanatic for the Nintendo DS. I still like the handheld, but it no longer captivates me the way it once did, when it was the best choice for good RPGs, instead of lame training games. One thing I learned in transitioning to the DS is that screen size is important. Why? Because small screens strain your eyes so you start to feel tired sooner than if you were using a larger screen. When I became interested in the PSP, I noticed that I was able to continue playing for longer due to the change in screen size. However, therein lies the reason for the ardent defense of smartphones! The typical response involves explaining how a backlight is necessary for reading in the dark. However, this is the very source of the eye strain. So people want the eye strain? Yes, because it helps people sleep- the eye strain itself can lull you halfway into sleep. So often in our caffeine-drenched uber-productive segment of society we find insomnia depriving us of sleep that our demographic by far prefers eye strain to eInk. At the subconscious level anything that helps us get what we need is defended, and especially something that helps us sleep, one of the most ritualized processes of the day for many people.
Sometimes it’s not about the technology, it’s about the humanity. In this case, it may not be the healthiest option, but if it works then perhaps that should be listed as a feature. 
Recursive information flow
“You talk in circles.”
- Prisoner ][
It occurs to me that having twitterfeed post my new blog entries on twitter then having my twitter feed at the top of my blog is strangely circular, but somehow still works out because I post other things to twitter and my twitter feed also goes to Facebook.
So I’ve read up on the Kindle and I’m a bit disappointed. I’m currently not in the market for a device, but I really wanted the Kindle to get off to a strong start. So far what I’ve seen is a device that’s locked in worse than an iPod with an unnecessary EVDO modem latched on to it. EVDO just arrived last month in the Central Valley, and that’s not too far off the beaten path in the middle of California. There are tons of locations that just aren’t going to have EVDO at all yet. According to some reports, this means you cannot buy any books at all from Amazon. You have to download and convert books yourself. What’s even worse is the format support – it lacks PDF and DRM’ed Mobipocket, a standard owned by Amazon itself (echoes of the Zune, which didn’t support Windows Media DRM)!!! To quote Amy Winehouse, “What kind of fuckery is this?” I love the sheer amount of content available, but honestly, one of the primary things that pissed me off was the fact that Amazon is actually charging for RSS subscriptions to blogs. HUH?!? Now according to what I’ve read, this is only for the RSS subscription and not for actually just visiting the website itself, but I find it hard to take this seriously (the web browser can’t handle the basic technologies in many websites). This is what I meant by worse than the iPod. Both devices can load up generic content (although format choice on both is limited), however the iPod can load up freely syndicated content without charge (Heeellllloooo Podcasts!) and the Kindle cannot. This is a major flaw in the business model, and I can’t stress enough that this should not be tolerated by the consumer. Similarly, DO NOT buy the classics from the Sony Connect store. Download them from Gutenberg and reformat them yourself. However, here you have no options – you’re locked into a device and service that are inseparable. Most of the conversion ability of the Kindle is locked up in Amazon’s Whispermail system, it would seem. And all of this is from a company that has in the past dumped it’s DRM’ed books and told it’s customers that they would no longer have any access to them. While I only lost a couple of books this way, it was enough to warn me off of any Amazon DRM system. It’s not a matter of if they will burn you, it’s a matter of when. The existence of concurrent standards in DRM’ed Mobi and AZW are enough to tell me where this story is going. What’s truly sad is that Amazon stands to lose nothing by sinking the ebook market – they can kill off the small fries (Cybook & Irex – the Iliad is nice, if the price was only lower) easily and most people have written off Sony more due to reputation than the actual merits of the product (I’ve seen people criticizing the Connect Store as if it were Timebook Town). In the end, if the ebook market goes back into its coma, Amazon will keep kicking the crap out of the brick and mortar retailers while having successfully fended off the only other angle of attack.
Pick your poison
Many of the sensations that one might describe as good or ‘heavenly’ may be nothing more than klippotic accretion, and many of the horrible experiences that one might describe as hellish might be angelic revelation pushing aside the curtains of slumber. The Upper Realms are certainly no more predisposed to be “friendly” to human interests than the Sitra Achra.
Mmmm
Just made a bitchin’ mocha. Read more
Various links and thoughts
La dee da dee dee
Posts, like dreams, come to me in odd moments, then fade away as the day wears on. Better to let them fly. Mind does not belong to one person (much less ideas), but rather in fits of will we push and pull to get the capacity for attention we need. The strong willed grab hold and hang on to it, but none can do so forever. Those who hang on too long sometimes face data corruption and it’s madness. Those who cannot hang on drift forever on a sea of meaninglessness. Chaos and void hover over the face of the deep. Better to have loved and lost. I do not trust that they will return, for I have no recollection of them when they go. We are transient creatures, at best. Pieces of us flitting about, some returning, others disappear forever, and we are none the wiser. They move to the next lover, the next encounter, exciting and fresh. And people wonder why the Zohar has erotic themes. Currents in the sea of Dirac/Ruach. And the beat goes on…
