A Three-Nook Family

photo © 2010 þä½ | more info (via: Wylio)
I have to say Santa was good to my family this year. I got my usual coal but with gas prices being what they are my annual present could be valuable. The only odd thing is that for the first time in family history both my wife and son wanted the same thing for Christmas: the Nook Color. Now I have been an original Nook user since February and I love it. However, the other two members of my family always turned their noses up whenever I asked them if they would like a Nook for themselves. Guess they were waiting for something better to come along like the iPad.

The latest Nook adventure started when my wife asked for an iPad. She belived a tablet would help her as she surfed the Internet and check-in Facebook more often (something her family and friends have been on her case about). I asked her what she exactly wanted to do with a tablet. "Surf the Internet and read books" she replied. I told her there was another device we should look at, the Nook Color. When we went to our local Barnes & Noble a sales person gave my spouse a demonstration of Barnes & Nobles' latest e-Reader and what it could do. After the demonstration my wife turns to me and says I want one. Now! We make the purchase and go home.

When we arrive our son asks to look at the new reader. He had seen one before and knew what it could do. He ran off with it to his room. A couple if days later I asked my wife how she liked her Nook Color. "I love it, if I ever get my hands on it" she told me. Apparently a struggle over who got to use the new device developed between mother and son.

A few days before Christmas my son issued his latest Christmas wish list. At the top was a Nook Color. Arrangements were made with Santa for a Christmas Eve delivery. My son likes to have his Nook Color close by in case he needs to look something up quickly while doing homework or so he says. My wife finds the reading experience enjoyable. As for me, I am enjoying peace back in our house. We are all eagerly awaiting to see how Barnes & Noble will develop their new device in the coming year. Perhaps we will become a three-Nook Color family in the future.

The Rapid Rise of the E-Book

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting e-publishing to the Island Writers' Network of Hilton Head Island. While I resources were gathered since booking the engagement in the summer, I must admit I didn't put the presentation together until a week before the event. I was glad I waited! If I had done the work even a month ago I would have had to delete most of the work I had done and almost start over. The reason is e-publishing is evolving so fast it is leaving me in an almost state of shock.

I know many who just love the feel of a traditional, paper-bound book but I also noticed the increasing number of people carrying e-readers. A couple of days ago a Facebook friend asked if she should buy a Kindle or a Nook. Local retailers are starting to carry up to five different e-readers. E-book sales are now overtaking hard copy books, something I thought would happened in another five years. Companies including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu, and Smashwords are making publishing to e-reader formats as easy as uploading a document to their websites. The companies do all the conversions and you just wait for the money to roll in from sales (well not that easy a task).

This explosive growth in e-publishing should be great news for beleaguered students weighed down by heavy bookbags. Barnes & Noble just made things interesting by announcing the Nook Color. The latest Nook is a full color touch screen device that will run the Android operating system. Barnes & Noble says the Nook Color will be able to show videos and surf the Internet, what e-textbooks need to be effective. The $249 price tag makes it a compelling device to purchase over the iPad if all you want is an enhanced e-reader. A big drawback is users will not be able to add any Android apps but Barnes & Noble plans to offer their own app store. Even if the Nook Color does not fit the e-textbook bill it is a major step forward. With the rate e-readers are progressing, it won't be long before better devices will enter the market. Note to IT leaders: you better figure out how to integrate Android or iOS into your networks. It does not look like Microsoft is doing too much in the tablet and e-reader areas.

Let me know what you think about e-readers. In the meantime I am going to curl up with my Nook and catch up on some reading.

Books on they way out? Teacherbytes December 30, 2009

I hope everyone had a great holiday but is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come pointing its bony finger at the demise of traditional, paper books or students armed with smartphones invading your classroom. Is doom and gloom what some teachers see as more technology comes their way and they can't seem to stop it? No but here are glimpses of what the ghost is pointing to.

Another sign of the apocalypse

Some will see this as another sign the apocalypse is coming but on December 25th Amazon reported more e-books were sold than physical ones. Before you head off to your bunker to wait out the doom you should realize the Kindle was the most gifted item in the history of Amazon. While in the near future traditional books should not worry but if more e-readers are coming, and speculation says 2010 will see a flood of them, then will we have neighborhood bookstores by the end of the coming decade? Yes but they won't look like they do today. Source Engadget and Mashable.

More on Pico Projectors

Pico projectors started coming out in 2008 but have not made much of an impact yet. The biggest reason is you almost need a completely dark room to see a mediocre picture at best. This is starting to change, slowly. RoyalTek announced the RPJ-2000 which is supposed to be the first of five new pico projectors coming out in 2010. The $315 device can project a 65 inch image at 640x40 resolution with 14 lumens of brightness. A very dark room is still needed but it is getting better.  You will also need a $43 converter kit if you have a Mac. Pico projectors can be useful for teachers who are not assigned to one classroom or does not have access to a regular projector or does not want to lug around a projector. Source: Engadget

What can you do with a pico projectors?

Other than the obvious Logic Wireless has the 150LGW Projector Phone. This little device sold at Skymall (the catalog you browse waiting for your plane to take off) will set you back $499. The projector is said to project an image up to 64 inches but no word on resolution or brightness. The phone is built to be a portable office with dual SIM card slots so you can use it on different carriers and Quad Band GSM. Software for the Symbian-based phone includes a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF viewer. This is the second phone to be bundled with a projector. The other phone is the LG eXpo which will offers a projector as an option. Cell phone use in classrooms is coming, just think about the first time a student pulls out one of these to show their project. Source: Engadget

Get it while it's hot!

Apple dropped the price of its entry-level MacBook to $728 for educators and students. It is not known how long this price drop will last so if you still have some Christmas cash left and are wanting to dip into the Mac waters this might be your chance. Source Engadget

Verizon sees slates everywhere

Last week OLPC announced they are working on a thin tablet PC for the education market. Almost everyone is speculating on the rumored Apple slate computer which is supposed to be announced early next year. Well Verizon apparently wants to take advantage what many think will be next computer craze and make sure you can access the Verizon network on slates like you can on some netbooks. Source: CNET

Easy Shot Videos

Concord Keystone is going to announce the Easy Shot Clip camcorder at CES next month. Specs on the $70 camcorder is it can shoot 640x480 at 30 frames per second. The 2GB memory will allow for up to 2 hours of video. All this will be in a 2-inch package you can hang around your neck or mount in various places. This could be useful to have to quickly shoot video of class activities that may be unplanned. Source: Engadget

Odds and Ends December 16, 2009

Evernote for Android

Mashable reports Evernote has released an app for the Android Smartphone platform. I have used Evernote to take notes on my BlackBerry at conferences and it is a great way to take a organize notes on the Internet.

Speaking of Android

An e-reader based on the Android operating system called the Entourage Edge has been released according to Engadget. This device has been billed as a textbook replacement. At $490 and some bugs in the system, this device won’t be lightening backpacks until it stops lightening wallets.

Increasing Community Involvement

All schools are looking for ways to get better community involvement through better communications. Mashable has listed 10 ways for increasing community involvement. Some of the methods recommended include make easy to participate, interact with your community, welcome newcomers, and engage with popular existing communities such as Twitter and Facebook.

Santa 2.0

When I was younger, the only ways to interact with Santa was either a face-to-face meeting at a local store or write a snail mail letter. Mashable describes five ways to connect with Santa on the Internet. There are some tried and true methods such as e-mailing Santa and my favorite Norad Track Santa. However, seeing Santa live on a webcam seems a little weird. I thought he was supposed to be watching us to see if we are naughty or nice.

Excuse me, is that a projector in your pocket?

I have always been interesting in pico projectors since they were first announced. However, current devices still work best projecting an image on a postage stamp in a pitch black room. However, the AAXA M1 micro projector is another step in the right direction. Engadget announce the newest pico projector. A projector that will connect with a computer will cost $359.

McWiFi

As if children’s obesity rates are going up like their weight, McDonalds has a new way to get people sit down and eat more fattening Big Macs and other artery clogging food. Engadget reports McDonalds will offer free WiFi in most of its restaurants starting in January.