Article of the Day

I have an iPhone now, in addition to my Kindle. I read my iPhone on the bus, and my Kindle at night. I realized yesterday morning when I had a half hour before my class started that I was reading my iPhone at College Library, rather than just using a computer. So I went an used a computer, mainly because it's novel for me to read the news on such a large screen. Some people have asked if it's hard to read the iPhone when the writing is so small, but I haven't found it to be difficult. I wouldn't want to do it for a long period of time, or read a novel on it, but it's fine for bus rides.

An article ("Library in a Pocket") in the NY Times today discusses smart phones vs. e-readers.

With Amazon’s Kindle, readers can squeeze hundreds of books into a device that is smaller than most hardcovers. For some, that’s not small enough.

Many people who want to read electronic books are discovering that they can do so on the smartphones that are already in their pockets — bringing a whole new meaning to “phone book.” And they like that they can save the $250 to $350 that they would otherwise spend on yet another gadget.

Read the full article here.

Website of the Day

I'm not totally sold on flickchart.com, but it's definitely addicting when you start. The major drawback is that there aren't enough movies cataloged yet, so if your tastes range into more obscure areas, you'll find yourself getting frustrated.

Article of the Day - 2 other industries fighting to evolve

In the New York TImes this morning, I read (for free) two articles. The first is a blog entry with the headline About Half in U.S. Would Pay for Online News, Study Finds .

Americans, it turns out, are less willing than people in many other Western countries to pay for their online news, according to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group.

Among regular Internet users in the United States, 48 percent said in the survey, conducted in October, that they would pay to read news online, including on mobile devices. That result tied with Britain for the lowest figure among nine countries where Boston Consulting commissioned surveys. In several Western European countries, more than 60 percent said they would pay.

Staying in the Tech section, we see Nicholas Carr contemplating The Price of Free: what will happen to TV if we all stream shows from the web?

When, in late September, rumors surfaced that Comcast was trying to buy NBC Universal from General Electric, Wall Street reacted with dismay. Grandiose attempts to combine media production and distribution — programming and plumbing — are nothing new in the entertainment business, but they almost always end in disappointment. Witness AOL Time Warner. So what in the world could be prompting the Comcast chief executive, Brian Roberts, to start down this accursed path?

I fear that I’m to blame.

A few months ago, while stalking the aisles of my local Best Buy, I gave in to techno-temptation. I bought a Blu-ray player. What I didn’t realize until I unpacked the gadget was that it does a lot more than just spin high-definition discs. It is, as they say, Web-enabled. As soon as I plugged it into an outlet in my living room, its built-in WiFi antenna sniffed out my home network and logged on. The Blu-ray player became a gateway between the Internet and my television set

See! Many industries are struggling with the impact of new technology. There's a strange internal negotiation that goes on with consumers, wanting things quicker and freer, while also needing to acknowledge at some point all of the work that goes into that content.

Article of the Day

In my recent Learn@UW post I compared a potential library ad campaign to the Got Milk? campaign that started in the 90s. I sought out an article that might provide some insight into that ad campaign.

This quote from the article seems to suit libraries well: "Elated, Manning and Goodby sought to extend this dual strategy. They wanted to continue with the deprivation strategy, stimulating people to drink milk when they ate complementary foods. And, in addition, they also wanted to seize the opportunity to revamp milk's symbolism. Their second round of ads would continue to push milk's image from boring and old-fashioned drink to one that was cool and interesting."

Website of the Day

The website I'm going to endorse today is like.com. The most unique feature of the website is the ability to find products similar to a product that you like based upon the image provided. For example, if you like a pair of jeans, then you can search the image to get other similar-looking jeans. Just hover over the image and click on "See Details."

It's also nice that you can limit your searches by "On Sale" and "Free Shipping," and that you can refine the search by "Price," "Brand," "Color," "Style," "Material," and "Site." You can also upload an app to your iPhone. The website is easy to use, has lots of options, and isn't cluttered like many other online retail stores.

I need to buy a new pair of shoes, because the hole I have in my heel right now won't be good when the snow comes. This might be a good place to check. Never bought shoes online before. Hope they fit.

Articles of the Day

Check this Vanity Fair gem.

And this post, by Ben Casnocha, is a must read, and actually pertains to finding information.

Deep Thoughts

Whenever some declares a non-living thing as being dead, that person is really coming to terms with his or her own mortality and is starting small. Heard someone on the radio today say this: "I have this theory that nostalgia is dead." Nope. Or wait, maybe it is. I miss nostalgia.