Barnes & Noble e-reader leaks early

October 22, 2009 at 4:59 am (Book review, Design, Gadgets, Technology) (, , , , , , , )

nook-in-the-flesh-08

In 2000 I started a e-commerce website selling books from a stocked inventory of books passed on to me by a semi-retiring publisher. The publisher was moving his business online and no longer selling them from his community stable brick and mortar.  His plans were to move online and sell his entire inventory.  I joined the race of online entrepreneurs looking for a niche market to enter and claim a stake.

I have since stop selling books online and began to revaluate our business model just in time for the rush of new e- reader devices like the Kindle, Sony Reader and now Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. bookstore chain has entered the market with the Nook.  The Nook was leaked today and finally reveled to the consumer market with features that not even the Seattle online book giant Amazon could brag about.

The “Android based” nook is calling itself the “most advanced e- book reader on the planet” weighing 11.2 ounces and a color touch screen.  The device releases just a few months after the second edition of the Kindle went for sale.   The features that are the most interesting to me is that it has a built in WiFi with 2GB of storage, a microSD expansion slot, MP3 player, built in speaker, USB port, with the ability to highlight words and make notes.  Since so many devices are competing for the 8 percent U.S. adult market who purchased a e-book in 2008 it helps that the Nook allows users to lend books to other e-readers, cellphones or computers through a feature called “LendMe.”

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Africa’s Future in Digital Media

October 21, 2009 at 2:23 am (Blogging, Digital Democracy, Technology, World News) (, , , , , )

Africa is the birthplace of civilization and for thousands of years introduced the world to technology, mathematics, science and medicine.  Even in today’s current conditions Africa is the place with all the answers.  Reading two articles by Mo Ibrahim and Richard Heek gave me a new insight into how much mobile communication is valued in poor countries along with the consumption concerns that come with it.  In Mobile for Impoverishment Richard Heeks referenced a few different researches only to conclude that we need more research into how mobile phones can help improve the lives of the bottom billion.

Reading the statistic that one research quoted was “48 percent of the respondents say they sometimes substitute important needs like food, clothing and education for mobile phone usage”  is not what advocates of new technology are proud of.  Yet other studies prove that incomes have increased for some users who use the phone as a tool of production rather than another useless consumption.  Unlike many western users the mobile phone is the fastest, cheapest and most convenient form of communicating with relatives, markets and business to businesses.  Without a mobile phone many entrepreneurs have to travel long distances to receive valuable information on the products they are selling or buying.  Just like the developed world technology makes things more convenient in Africa.

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