graffiti in experience

In part 1 of my review, I talked about some of the form factor of the Kindle 2. But all said and done, the proof is in the eating, or in this case reading – oodles and oodles of reading. To best illustrate how the most mission-critical part of the Kindle 2 stacks up, I thought it best to let the pictures do the talking.

Mind you these are not screen grabs of any kind. They are are un-artificially lit (read – no flash) pictures, captured in natural light on a grayish day.

As you can see, it really is just like reading a book. None of the eye-strain traditionally associated with electronic device screens. The reason is that it is not backlit. Reading a backlit device is a lot like staring into a light bulb. This screen relies on the reflection of external light on the e-page.

This means there are 2 great benefits. First, the Kindle is remarkably comfortable on your eyes, even after hours and hours. Longest stretch I got was about 5 hours on a long-haul flight. The second, this thing works like a charm in bright light. That’s means you can read this in the park, on the beach or anyplace else you might typically take a book.

As you can also see from those screens, there are some experimental features on the Kindle 2. These include a plain vanilla mp3 player. I say mp3, because besides that and the aa or aax formats – other audio types are not supported. It has the basic functions (alt+space to start/stop, alt+f to go forward) – which work just fine if you want a little light background music when reading. Audio quality isn’t fantastic, and there is some noticeable static when refreshing a page.

There is a rudimentary browser, but because of the refresh rate of E-Ink, it is really not too useful for anything beyond looking something up on Wikipedia.

It’s relatively easy to search for and add books in the store via the device, but if speed is what you’re looking for, you will be better off shopping at your traditional desktop computer. Once you’ve added books, the Kindle will sync them wirelessly (within the US). If you are like me and want to extend battery life, then you have to turn wireless on via the menu.

The final challenge is what to contain the device in. I had very few requirements. It should look good, form-factor weighs heavily. It should offer some protection to the device (I’m not expecting an Otterbox, but it should cushion some impact) yet be very secure. Most of all – it really shouldn’t break my Kindle.

After lots and lots of hunting. I finally settled on this gem by Trendy Digital.

Nice secure slide in instead of flimsy elastic straps, little padded for those slight bumps, doesn’t use the poorly design side hook/sockets which appear to cause the cracks, no annoying plastic sheet over the screen that makes it excessively glossy and best of all – it looks sharp.

Parting thoughts – you definitely do not have to spend lots of money on books to start. New releases, sure – but look out for deals. Amazon frequently has free book offers. There are also lots of public domain books available.

• Public domain books by Gutenberg.org – also available on Amazon
• An alternate to Project Gutenberg – freekindlebooks.org (may have better formatting for some titles)
• Amazon’s Kindle store – filters out public domain books, then price sorted,  so free is first (filter further by star rating to get the user-rated ‘better’ books
• Another source
• And another

There may be some duplication there, but there’s a good enough source of free books to get you started without spending a dime. And the beauty of being able to hold 1500 books at a time, is that you can just get it. Remove it from your Kindle if you run out of space – but it will stay on your Kindle account, so you can add it back in later.

As I prepare for my shift from one television service provider to another, a conundrum presented itself. All these shows that I routinely watch, but more importantly record – I’m going to have to manually schedule those recordings again.

Now I guess that would be ok if it was an infrequent event. But it really isn’t much fun – if you’ve had to redo it because the set-top box needed replacing. Or in my case since I’m switching providers. Hey, even if I was going to go get a Tivo unit, I’d still want to be able to automate this. Or at least make it as painless as possible.

I propose a standardized spec, XML format, that is universally adoptable, regardless of your service provider. It will be somewhat localized to your region. TitanTV has already gotten halfway there. Channel listings specific to your area. Available in an XML format. What we need to be able to do is export those settings to a file, so that anytime you need to switch out hardware (or share the same settings across multiple boxes), it’s a snap.

Something like -

<recordingList>
<recording>
<id>1234</id>
<channelId>1006</channelId>
<progId>123456</progId>
<recFlags season=Y newOnly=Y hd=Y>
</recording>
</recordingList>

To take it to the next level, perhaps you could even enter a URL on your set-top box, from which to retrieve the settings. This way, you can manage your recordings online, and schedule or edit recordings from any web interface. Site, mobile – hey you could even tweet a recording preference to your recording manager.

The business case, we’ll let’s see -

1. As the host of such services, you have access to show popularity data (with relevant user privacy consent). Networks would pay big money for this.
2. You can tap into a new audience market when your current user-base evangelizes shows they watch, inherently promoting your service.
3. As a content provider, you would have increased adoption of DVR services, easier device upgrades and easier sell to new customers who may be on a different device.

Happy birthday Facebook. You really shouldn’t have thrown us such a UI changing party. No really.

The fine folks at Facebook have met yet another calibration to the profile page. Which has caused feed-issues, stress-anxiety disorder and other maladies. It seems to have not been as thoroughly tested and communicated as folks would have liked.

Which begs the question – how much will we users put up with before we abandon it all together. Facebook users have shown a resilience to poorly thought through efforts. But at what point are users going to abandon the web interface all together? There are other options for mobile, desktop (and I’m holding out hope for Roku) to get your fix.

After all, as Ethan Beard of Facebook says -

“We want to be the underlying technology people use to connect with friends wherever they are on the Web.” -excerpted from NY Times

Perhaps rushed to market to compete with Google-mania? Is GoogleBuzz tolling the death knell for Facebook. I hardly think so. The barriers to entry are a little high (especially if you are not a gmail user – though that is a fast dwindling population. Though perhaps just enough of a threat to keep Facebook on their toes. Competition is good.

Not that the Google-tron doesn’t make me more than a little nervous. Here’s the Buzz-kill. When they came out, your followers and followees were public. You had to fix it yourself. They seemed to have fixed it.

But all that aside – picture a world where your calls, your email, your internet access (net neutrality much), your voicemail, your search, your browser, your cloud-based desktop computing, your social meanderings, the road you took, the satellite pictures of your home and work and favorite hangouts, your collaborative work with others, your im – was all controlled by one entity.

Oh and they are indexing and archiving all of this indefinitely. And extrapolating connections and generating profiles. They call that the Matrix. Ok not quite so doomsday, but you can see why it’s looking a little scary.

Could a bad meal really get in the way of Google’s plans for world domination?

While Google has taken on an ambitious project to bring high-speed access to the masses, the smudge may be on them for not cleaning up the search results on their brilliant sewer-system based high speed.

In fact a search of google+high+speed+internet revealed this result in 2nd place.

Search Results

Good stuff.

This past winter, I got a Kindle 2. I had my eye one for a while, and having compared the available options (including the Nook by B&N and Sony’s selection as well as some other cloned varieties), I took the plunge.

With the recent iPad release, and the unfair comparisons or predictions that it would replace the Kindle – I thought it timely to do a review of features and overall experience of what is uniquely a book replacement device.

Now this isn’t a multi-media device (though it does do music, more on that), nor is it designed for heavy web browsing (while it can do simple textual browsing). More importantly, it was designed for a very specific audience – book readers – who want access to new releases in near real-time, or don’t want to lug a library on those long-haul trips.

On to the good stuff.

It comes in a nice lean eco-conscious package just large enough for it. But it was in perfect shape. The package includes detailed instructions (also digitally loaded on the Kindle) and a USB cable / power dongle combo a la the iPhone.

Boasting a slim profile, this device is sleek and slick, with a brushed aluminium back, power slide switch and a headphone jack. The most surprising thing initially, is the weight of this reader. It is very light and yet fits ergonomically in either hand. One can see using this device for hours on end without too much hand/arm fatigue.

The buttons are firm to the touch, but in a very solid way and they seem built to withstand some abuse. Additionally, in a tip of the hat to lefties, pagination can now be managed on either side of the device. The 5-way switch is a common feature in most modern electronics, and the Kindle is no exception. Only tiny gripe is that the push-down feel of the 5-way seems a little squishy. The keyboard is well spaced, not the most ergonomic (RIM, maker of the popular BlackBerry smart-phone still holds the record on that.) But then again, how much typing are you planning on doing?

The device comes somewhat charged and will get you going, though charging it is recommended. The convenient USB cable / power dongle combo makes charging a snap whether at an outlet or using a USB powered connection. The light turns from an amber to green to indicate that charging is complete. Of course if you let it go long enough, you’ll eventually run it down, but the nice thing about the display technology is that last screen always stays up.

Now to the meat of things – how does it compare to a good ol’ paperback? It beats the pants off it.  In so many ways. Pictures of the screens, one of the best carrying cases and more, in the next post.

Too many former big-advertising-turned-digital have a lot of the old team structures in place. But lately, even the up and comer digital agencies have assimilated similar org charts. I’m speaking specifically about the role project management plays in the success of a digital campaign.

All to often, the emphasis is on creative and account management, that the essentials of any business – making money – fall by the wayside. The person best positioned to manage the effectiveness of the project team and handle the myriad of fires that can come up.

This Andy Gould post on AdAge sums it up best.

“Project managers, project managers, project managers. Digital work can be so much more complex to produce than, say, a TV spot, and project managers are the glue that holds it all together. Trust me, with so many moving pieces, it’s helpful to have someone whose sole focus is getting every job done on time and on budget. ” -excerpeted

All those AEs and Marketing folks may think they are doing a bang up job running a schedule, but project management is so much more than that. After all, you don’t ask a PM to push pixels do you? (no offense to those PMs who moonlight as awesome pixel pushers)

Now that doesn’t mean you or your organization should get mired in process-land, and spend more time creating paper than actually being effective. The best project managers know how to use the tools to get the job done most effectively, and don’t use process as a crutch. And it doesn’t matter if you are a serialist (waterfalls) or an agilist (SCRUM etc.), people remember when process works and when it doesn’t – not what process name was used.

We crave order. We organize chaos. We herd cats. We crack whips. We’re the conductors of the orchestra; when we’re allowed to do our thing well – it’s positively symphonic. But when the french horn is trying to supplant the first violin – don’t e surprised when we say no.

Think you can handle it? Up for the challenge? Take the plunge. Volunteer to lead a project under the guidance of a seasoned PM. It may mean long nights, lots of sympathetic ears and absorbing the friction when things heat up. But it can also mean basking in the afterglow of a beautifully executed masterpiece. There’s something masochistically special about it. Or as Chuck Lorre would say, we fuv it.