wordbit

Going email free

Resolution #27: Sort through the 250 unread emails in my inbox.

That dreaded resolution sound familiar? How about taking it one step further and eliminating email altogether? A few weeks ago the IT firm Atos made waves when they revealed they were phasing out internal emails in favour of other networking tools. That got me thinking that email is dying a slow death for personal use as well.

Email was invented in 1972 and has had a good run, but it’s time to move on. Let’s take a look at the facts:

1. Texting and IM has become more of the norm.
2. Networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow you to stay in touch with friends and colleagues.
3. Email newsletters are dying in the face of highly personalized reading tools like Google Reader, Flipboard, and Instapaper.
4. Free organizational tools like Evernote allows you to create tagged notes and task-oriented lists. No need to email yourself anymore.
5. Web browsers like Firefox can be synced so that all your bookmarks, history, etc. is available on any computer.
6. Smartphones offer instant notifications from all of the above and has become the communication nexus for most people (no pun intended).
7. Official organizations like your bank or the government won’t even touch email because of security issues. Yep, still a fax or phone call for these guys.

That leaves email as nothing more than a digital garbage can for junk mail. And who wants to waste their precious time being an online janitor? Not many. So forgive your grand-kids for laughing at this quaint “email” you tell them about - it’s just so 70s, man.

Which kindle is the best?

Answer: None of the above.

Back when the Kindle came out in 2007, it cost $400 and I didn’t think anyone would want one. But these days, a Kindle starts at $79 and is highly affordable. There are also more options to choose from.

If you’ve been buying e-books from Amazon, then you’re pretty much locked into their ecosystem. You may be wondering if it’s worth upgrading to one of the new kindles. Or perhaps you’re thinking about exchanging your crap Christmas present for one. Either way, let me tell you straight up: The best kindle is what is now known as the Kindle Keyboard 3G. Yes, that’s the Kindle 3 that came out over a year ago. Why? Well, let me tell you why the other ones suck:

Kindle: Without a physical keyboard, searching the store or browsing through books has become a major hassle.

Kindle Touch / Kindle Touch 3G: The bezel is far too small to grip comfortably. And without the extra space at the bottom, accidental page turns are frustrating.

Kindle Fire: No e-ink! You can’t read books in sunlight and the LCD screen is harder on the eyes. The Fire fails as a dedicated e-book reader.

With e-ink, a wider bezel, a physical keyboard, and physical hard keys for page turns, the Kindle Keyboard 3G is by far the best kindle you can buy today.

No rest for the dead…battery

My recent article on Battery Recycling is now available in the November issue of alive. I wasn’t aware of this before researching this topic, but you can recycle both single-use and rechargeable batteries in British Columbia.

Personally, I’m a big fan of eneloop batteries. I believe the batteries Apple uses in their wireless mouse and keyboard are re-branded eneloops.

Remembering the man who changed everything

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. What is there to say about a visionary who changed the way we interact with our computers, communicate, listen to music, or even appreciate the beauty of typeface. There is so much to say that has been said more eloquently by others. I am greatly saddened, as are so many others, by the loss of such a powerhouse in the tech world.

Yet, although he has left us with many cool toys like iMacs, iPhones, and iPads, it is his inspiration which is a far greater legacy. Steve was uncompromising, sometimes to a fault, in living each day to the fullest. He followed his heart, his passion, his gut. He was crazy enough to believe he could change the world, and so he did. The way he owned the public stage with such exuberance and enthusiasm for his creations was infectious. He was, unapologetically and wholeheartedly, doing what he loved to do.

Goodbye Steve, and thank you. Thanks for showing us that following your dreams is more important than all the money or fame or gadgets in the world.

A revolution nobody cares about

So, yesterday the iPhone 4S was announced and the general sentiment was that it was a huge letdown. Even the media jumped on the bandwagon with news reports on CBC about how disappointing the whole deal was. Most sane observers will tell you the truth of it though: people get hung up on a name. An iPhone 4S sounds like a spec bump whereas an iPhone 5 sounds like a major upgrade, despite the fact that the new guts of the 4S are pretty impressive.

But one revolution that no-one seems to care about is the Siri voice assistant. The functional AI and incredible voice recognition technology that will open up a whole new world for the visually impaired. Bigger screens and thinner profiles are for kids who want a new toy so that it looks like their new phone is better than last year’s model. But this bleeding-edge technology heralds a new age of AI assistance and usability for the disabled. Why aren’t more people making a big deal about this?

Here’s a mock-up of where I think this technology could go in the very-near future:

Now this doesn’t seem so far-fetched, does it? After all, they’ve been doing it on Star Trek for over 20 years now.