Archive for August, 2007

I am still trying to make sense of my iLiad and Mobipocket’s disappearing act isn’t helping.  I hope everyone took my advice the other day and did a backup of your e-book files.  The server was supposed to be back up by today, but it’s not looking too good.  Here’s a thought:  What if they don’t come back?  It’s been over a week and still no fix?  Better still what if when they do come back it’s different?  Could it be that the Amazon Kindle (prototype pictured here) is ready for prime time? And if so, maybe the Mobipocket we know will somehow be changed  to only work with the new device. It is a possibility and makes some sense of why they have been so closed mouth on the details about what happened to the DRM server. Well, I am done speculating…back to the iLiad.

I just got a new reader, the iLiad from iRex Technology.  So now not only am I as broke as a joke, I am overwhelmed by the e-book reader. I honestly don’t know what to do.  I tried playing with the device last night after it was charged and got frustrated in a matter of minutes.  The only instructions that came with my iLiad is a quick start guide that is little more than a picture guide to charging and turning on the device.  I tried to connect the reader to my home WiFi network, but I can’t tell if it is connected.  This thing costs too much money not to work right out of the box.  In all my tech adventures I have never been so intimidated.  Talk about the complexities and problems with the N770 and N800 all you want, but I was up and running mine in a matter of minutes.  Also Mobipocket is still down so this has only made my first impression of the iLiad worse.  So, earlier this morning, I went to the Mobileread forum to see what I need to do.  I am still lost and my head hurts.  After this post, I’ll send out a SOS post and see what happens. Why can’t something that is meant to be so simple, like read a book, work as soon as I take it out of the box?

I got my Project Gutenberg newsletter today and read about this concept e-book reader.  Here’s the link to the article.  This is the brain child of Pierre Schweitzer, who conceived the idea almost eleven years ago.  From the picture the screen reminds me of the early Palm Pilots as well as the Franklin eBookman.  I think this looks kind of cool and could be attractive to the younger folks out there.   From what I read this reader is really light and get this:

“The screen is surrounded by a translucent and flexible frame that folds to protect the screen when not in use. ”

Also different screen sizes would be available.  The default size is larger than a PDA screen and would sell for $100,  then if you elect a larger screen size, of course the price would be higher.  The part that impresses me the most is that no conversion is necessary.  All file formats would be readable.  That means no propriety format or DRM (Hey Mobipocket!).  Can you imagine not having to convert formats?  Wow, I might actually have time to read my books.

So, when can we get one?  Well, you know there has to be some bad news right?  Apparently this project has no funding.  You can read the explanation of it in the article.  I wonder how much money it would take to bring this reader to fruition.  Currently the folks over at Bean are putting together a reader  in conjunction with Bookeen.  It has been going on for quite some time.  Could a grass roots group do this?   I doubt it since it is only a concept, not an actual device that can be modified.  I can hope that they find a fairy godparent, but more than likely, we will never see this reader reach the market.  Please read the article and tell me your take on this.

When you own a lot of gadgets, software, and belong to several forums, how do you keep track of need to know information?   You could build a spreadsheet with the pertinent information, but what if your computer fails and you haven’t backed it up?  I used to keep all my information about my purchases in a journal, but after awhile it became so disorganized.  Now I use a paper address book.  Now I can enter information alphabetically.   The information I keep includes the name of the device, software, website, and serial numbers, tech support phone numbers, user ID, passwords, etc.  Basically everything and anything I think I may need. I find this has been not only a quick reference, but also serves as a historical catalog of my purchases.  I also keep information associated with extended warranty purchases. I often go back and write notes when I have to call a vendor, or if I decide that the product sucks.  It also helps when I reformat my computers and need all my registration information to reinstall applications.  Sometimes I keep non tech info too, like my son’s wall locker’s combination, and for my youngest, his lunch PIN.

If this was reported elsewhere, I missed it.  Ebook Technologies (ETI) has their own prototype e-ink device.  It looks a lot like Bookeen’s Cybook 2 and the Starebook  that I read about on Mobileread.  So, when will this be available?  I have no idea.  I am guessing that this may be the next generation device coming from Ebookwise.  It makes sense.  While I like the EBW 1150, Smart Media Cards are hard to come by and when you do find one, it’s just too expensive.  The cards are also limited in capacity, only up to 128mb.  I also wonder what formats it will offer.  Hopefully more than just the closed format on the current readers coming from ETI.  I remember that Fictionwise, which Ebookwise falls under has a reader software called Fictionwise reader.  It can display unencrypted Microsoft Reader files (lit), HTML, plain text, as well as it’s own format.  Currently this reader only works on Windows and Pocket PC.  So here’s hoping that this will be ported over to their new reader. This device could offer an alternative to those reluctant to buy their reader outside the U.S. , or simply want more local support.  If anyone can give more information about this device, please share.

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, Palm has updated their Desktop for Windows to include support for Vista users.  According to the directions it is not recommended for other Windows users such as XP.  Also, it does not support all Palm devices and is English only.  So check and make sure your device is listed.  It’s Beta, but a friend of mine has installed it (she owns a Palm TX) and it works for her so far.  Now she can get rid of her ailing XP machine.