Vacation Roadtrip

Tomorrow Rhonda, Tori and I begin a road to the Bay Area. We are staying in San Jose, and will visit Cupertino, Berkeley, Monterey, and San Francisco. Probably have beers with some peers at Lab126, and lunch with a Larry at the Googleplex.

Larry ran the company that Rhonda and I worked at when we built schedule and control software for ATM/SONET gear and video conference muxes. I gotta say at much fun as it was to control such large pieces of hardware, I kinda like making software for devices like the Kindle.

I do look forward to seeing Larry again, it's been 14 years I think. Tori does not remember too much from back then, being at the office and playing video games. Come to think of it I miss working daily with Rhonda too.

I look forward to meeting the fine folks at Lab126. Now if I could just find a way to join in on a yoga session at Apple's One Infinite Loop campus. (Hint hint, Steve in case you are reading this ;-)

MyLife 3.0 - Scene 4

I must say that when I read The Long Tail by Chris Anderson I was excited by the notion that there could be so much diversity in products and demand. The concept is that when merchandising moves away from the limits of store shelves to the infinite shelf-space of the internet and searching, an infinite number of product variations can exist and be sold.

This exercise of selling media from our bookshelves has been quite the validation of that. Each day, Tori receives orders for between 2 and 4 books. I am also excited to note that our books have condensed to the shelves in just one room. I estimate that we not have about 60 linear feet of books on shelves.

I am most curious to see if the pace continues until all the books are gone, or if it tapers off. And if it does taper, which books will remain?

Cooking by Kindlelight

I spent 5 days in Whistler Canada sharing a house with some friends. After skiing hard all day Saturday, I returned exhausted. After medicating my very sore muscles with some excellent Belgian beer Laura bought, I opened my Kindle to use the cookbook I bought. The recipes I had already bookmarked. The menu was avocado soup and lemon Dijon sole from "The Simpler the Better." I found cooking with the convenient and easy. I also liked being able to search on an ingredient and locating all the recipes that used that ingredient.

In the picture to the right I am holding the beer and the Kindle. In the background is Laura doing perhaps a Vulcan mind-meld to Mark. Laura was my ski buddy for the day, and I must say was very gracious in not laughing at me as I must have looked quite silly learning to ski backwards. (And since I have been asked, this means facing uphill while skiing downhill. Though if someone has a way to try skiing uphill, I am all ears!) (Photo taken by Geoff)

MyLife 3.0 - Scene 3

My daughter Tori (Victoria) is 16 and at a really interesting time of growth. I am using my need to get rid of books and videos as an opportunity to spark an entrepreneurial spirit in her. I showed her how to register as a seller on Amazon.com and list books. I have also been picking books, videos, and games out that I'd like to sell. The deal is that she lists the media for sale, receives the orders, takes them to the post office, and she keeps the money.

The first day she has listed 20 items and sold 5 and made $20 profit. Not a bad arrangement for either of us. Each day I spend a couple minutes picking out books I can part with. We are making good progress.

Power of Spoken Word

Not all audio books are the same. I am not speaking just about the literal content of the words, but also the richness of the delivery. I have listened to dozens of audio books and find a range in quality of presentation that is not yet documented in reviews.

Written text offer a few ways to emphasis content. Question and exclamation marks are most obvious; and bold, italic, and underline text convey certain emphasis. Spoken language offer a much greater range of expression. In linguistics, prosody if the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech.

When books are translated into audio, a narrator is chosen. When one of the authors is a great speaker and enthusiastic, the delivery of the content can be unlike any written text. At other times, another narrator is used and the delivery is still engaged and alive with inflection and energy.

Sometimes either the narrator is less skilled and the delivery is dry and monotone. Occasionally the narrator has a strong accent that can cause fatigue to the listen during the 4 to 12 hour reading.

I hope we will soon have a way to rank this aspect of audio books.

Digital Books: Some great wins and a subtle loss

Amazon Kindle came out last year, almost 4 years after the Sony Reader. Kindle is a better experience because it offer instant gratification. If I am talking to a friend about a book I have read, I can load it and show them the book instantly. If a friend is telling me about a book, I can look it up and buy it instantly and start reading.

When reading late at night and my eyes are tired, I can increase the font size and easily continue reading for some time longer. I have also used the larger font sizes when reading in a car to make the slightly bouncy text easier to read. Font size adjustment can be a big advantage for people who are having difficulty seeing the small text. I recommend buying one for aging parents who may be loosing their passion for reading.

What is the subtle loss I fear as we move to digital books? The other day I was riding the elevator to a lunch meeting. In the elevator with me was a man holding a copy of "Made to Stick," one of my favorite reads of last year. "That is a great book," I said. His eyes lit up and said, "You've read it?" During our conversation, Eddie told me that he was starting a business and was greatly impressed by the insights he gained from the book. I suggested another book, "Meatball Sundae", that discuses the differences between the ways old school businesses produced products then mass marketed, verses new school companies find a market then develop products for it.

The suble loss is that as we move to digital books, we might loose the ability to know what people are reading. Without book covers being visible, we cannot tell at a glance who is reading what. An age old ice breaker could be lost. How can this be preserved?

I chuckled as I pondered this. Registering for a book online one could recieve a temporary tattoo, or a pin to wear. But that seems more like an endorsement of the book rather than a simple statement that one is reading the book. I thought perhaps that book covers could be made availible for printing. The printed cover could be slipped into the ebook protective cover. Then I realized that the e-book readers already have a high-contrast screen that requires no power to maintain an image. So, two simple changes would improve this situation. First, the e-book reader would display the book cover when in sleep mode. Second, the protective cover for the reader would have a transparent front cover.

While I am excited about having a Kindle, actually I have bought 3 so far one for my parents, my wife, and myself. I am far more excited about the competition in this space that Kindle has sparked. The next couple years will show a many options and new features.

Kindle On Amazon

Made to Stick
On Amazon On Kindle On Audible

Meatball Sundae
On Amazon On Kindle On Audible

Is Medium OK?

One day I went to lunch with two coworkers. We got in line at a small sandwich place and Brian ordered his sandwich and a large soda. The server said, "Sorry, all we have is medium." motioning to the single soda cup taped to the top of the dispenser. "Will that be OK?" "Yes," Brian said.

Peter, who had been talking during the previous exchange, ordered his sandwich and a large soda. "We only have medium, is it OK?" "Yes, that is fine," said Peter.

Finally it was my turn to order. I had been wondering why, with no other sized cups taped to the soda dispenser, this particular cup was a medium. The same 12 ounce cup at other food places might easily be a small or a large. I ordered my sandwich, "And a soda." Keep it vague, I though, and leave cup be with its delusions of medium-ness. The server paused, "The only size we have is medium. Is medium OK?" I smiled, careful not to laugh, "Yes, medium will be fine."

There are times it seems like the world has a grand sense of humor if only we are lucky enough to notice and patient enough to listen.