By Lynn Tan
http://www.news.com/Cell-phone-doubles-as-home-surveillance-gear/2100-1039_3-6213505.html
Here’s and article from Technology Review about and open source hardware product called the “Bug”. I like it! If the base and the modules are cheap enough, I see this as a perfect gift for me and my husband.
Sony’s reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory … The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound.
The Electronic Book Reader Comes of Age
Here’s a very interesting commentary from Slate about the generational difference in electronic communication. It does a great job of describing a possible communication workflow a teenager might use instead of e-mail. It also talks about the transient quality of the IM, text, and Twitter and likens e-mail writing to old fashioned letter writing. Surprisingly, some of this is true in my life too. My husband and I send most of our throw-away conversations (“Lunch?”, “come get me”, “I’m leaving work” and the like) via cell phone text messaging. I send a lot of messages at work via e-mail, but most of messages I send have details that are too much for text message. I haven’t gotten into Jabber (IM) and I don’t intend to. When I want to broadcast to wide audience, I do it through blogging within work and outside of work. There are many modes to perform different layers of communication. A lot of it has to do with the content and intended audience for me. Anyhow, read that article and then think about how you now communicate with the world.
technology
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007, at 12:32 PM ET
Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2177969/ <!–rs = PStax; DM_addToLoc(“thisNode”, rs); DM_tag();
Could this be the future in the US too? Quite frankly this sounds a little scary, but at the same time it makes since that PC’s would become less relevant as mobile devices become capable of delivering richer media and communication experiences. I’m thinking now about how the Xbox 360 has become my gaming platform of choice over my PC (well, that’s mainly because my PC won’t run any game made after 2005 — sadness). I still, though, loath trying to access the internet via my cellphone. The network is too slow and the screen is too small to be legible with my pitiful eyesight.
I think this article illustrates the importance, though, of creating a wonderful home computing experience. To be honest, my computer is no longer an office tool. It is now our home entertainment hub and I’m craving an internet PVR and some file management tools that would make my home entertainment experience less cumbersom. I wonder in Japan, though, will the prevelance of gaming consoles that are multi-purposed as entertainment hubs supplant PCs. I wonder could PC’s in the US head this off by offering a richer entertainment experience than any gaming console could. How does microsoft view this since they offer a gaming console and the OS used by most PCs? Are they playing both sides? What about Apple? Hmm …
TOKYO – Masaya Igarashi wants $200 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he’s torn between Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV.
There’s one conspicuous omission from the college student’s shopping list: a new computer.
Follow the link above to read the read of the article.
More Rambling 