First Thoughts on iPod Touch

Yesterday I bought an iPod Touch. I got the 32 gig version from Costco, which actually has a better warrantee deal than the Apple store and sells the product for a little less. These are my initial thoughts on the purchase.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. Apple makes a remarkable product. (I've been sold on Apple since converting from the Amiga to the Mac in college.)

Mostly I got the Touch as an ereader. I've been contemplating ereaders for some time, and I realized I really want an additional feature to the ones recently described: portability. I can slip the Touch in my pocket and take it with me wherever I go.

The announcement of the iPad indicates that Amazon really screwed up, I think. Who would pay Kindle prices when the Touch and iPad are about the same price with phenomenally greater functionality? Plus I can read Kindle ebooks -- and every other sort of file -- on my Touch.

Instead of making an even bigger, even clunkier, even costlier Kindle, I think Amazon should have made a smaller, simpler, cheaper one. A Kindle the size of a Touch, sans the ridiculous touch pad and wireless, could have been sold in (I'm guessing) the hundred dollar range. It could have offered the simple, eye-friendly black-and-white screen with USB transfers.

But when I can pay the same price for a portable, elegant, multi-function Touch as what the lower-end Kindle costs, it's simply no contest. Plus, all the other ereaders I've read about coming out this year follow the high-priced Kindle model. I don't know what they're thinking, but I predict massive failure for those products.

The iPad, on the other hand, is both two large and too expensive for my needs. I will be very interested to see how Apple handles ebooks. (This is particularly interesting in light of the spat between Amazon and Macmillan.) Will Apple's ebooks read on standard epub readers, including Adobe's Digital Solutions? Or will Apple ebooks read only on Apple software? Will the ebooks be available for desktops and iPhones, too, as I assume will be the case?

I was surprised that the Touch doesn't come loaded with the ability to transfer and read all the files. Instead, I had to buy an app for that. I first tried using Stanza, but its pdf to epub conversion completely sucks. I ended up with formatting problems and words run together. I checked out FileMagnet and, after reading a positive review, purchased it. It allows the transfer of all sorts of files via my desktop's Airport feature. I don't why it doesn't just use the USB cable, but at least it works, even if it uses a ten-dollar solution for a nickel-sized problem. I have already started a library of pdf and html books, and now I'll be able to read them on my Touch, no problem. (I don't even want to download DRM-free books directly to the Touch, as I want everything mirrored on my main hard drive.)

I also downloaded the Kindle app, so now there's a good chance I'll start buying ebooks through Amazon, which, at least so far, offers the best selection and prices of any service I've looked at.

The Touch will also make a great music and video player, calendar, and hot-spot internet browser. While I would have gladly paid (significantly) less for a portable, dedicated ereader, for the money I'm glad to have the extra functionality. Plus, I think I can get the Skype app and use the Touch as a phone in hot spots, so that may be very cool. (One of the reasons I got the larger-sized Touch is that it comes standard with a microphone, which is built in to the headphone assembly.) So, sweet! I love Apple.

I do have a couple of complaints. Why Apple didn't make it easy to transfer text files (txt, html, pdf) via the USB baffles me. I mean, come on -- that's just ridiculous.

Also, while the Touch is set up for Bluetooth, from what I can tell that only works with headphones. Maybe there's some technological complication I'm missing here, but why can't I use a Bluetooth keyboard with the Touch? That single feature would make it phenomenally more useful. (I've read about adding a Bluetooth keyboard only to jailbroken Touches.) The cynic in me suspects that Apple is intentionally limiting the functionality of the Touch in order to bolster sales of the iPad. Assuming the touch is capable of using a Bluetooth keyboard hardware-wise, I sincerely hope that Apple provides the software to make that happen. (While the touch-screen keypad is surprisingly functional given its small size, it's still not nearly as good as a real keyboard.)

Overall, so far I'm extremely pleased, and I look forward to getting my Touch lined out and integrated into my life.

Skiff Promises "Multiple Formats" for Ebooks

In my quest to keep tabs on the eublishing industry, today I glanced at articles about Apple's forthcoming Tablet (which will be much more than an ereader) and Skiff, a company that promises to produce an innovative ereader and sell digital content.

As cool as the Tablet looks, it also promises to be fairly expensive -- more costly than low-end notebooks -- and I'm not convinced that sort of screen can function well as an ereader, which should allow for hours of comfortable reading without undue eye strain.

Judging from the pictures and descriptions, the Skiff screen looks like it will be a good reader -- and apparently you can even bend the device without ill effect. I'm a bit put off by the large size of the machine: 9 by 11 inches. I want an ereader that I can carry around more easily.

I sent Skiff some questions, and a representative sent me some answers, though they weren't very specific. I asked:

Will Skiff sell works with multiple publishing options, including HTML, pdf, and Digital Editions, or will Skiff, like Amazon, sell only works converted to a proprietary format?

In other words, will purchasers of Skiff content need to download a Skiff reader (for non-Skiff devices), or will that content read on existing and popular software?

Also, will Skiff release a smaller version of its reader for those of us who would prefer something easier to carry around?

This should be an exciting year in the epublishing industry, and I look forward to seeing how Skiff competes.

Here's the email I got back:

Ari,

Thanks for your interest in Skiff. I'll answer as much as I can at this point in time.

The Skiff service will support multiple formats. More details to come.

One of the unique benefits of Skiff's platform is the ability for content publishers to submit their curated content (i.e., branded newspapers, magazines, etc.) into the Skiff Platform, where it is then tailored to match the unique characteristics of different devices that utilize a variety of different screen technologies - from smartphones to eReaders.

The Skiff digital storefront will allow consumers to easily access and download a wide assortment of newspapers, magazines, books, blogs and other content from multiple publishers for use on dedicated Skiff e-reading devices, other e-readers and innovative devices, as well as multi-purpose devices such as smartphones, netbooks, tablets, notebooks and PCs - as well as via the Web. Items purchased from the Skiff storefront will be delivered to these devices via 3G, WiFi and other forms of connectivity.

We look forward to your following Skiff as we make additional announcements during 2010 in the lead up to our formal launch.

Chaim

Chaim Haas
Senior Vice President, Technology & Emerging Media

Of course, whether Skiff lives up to the company's own hype remains to be seen.

January 6 Update: Popular Mechanics has an update. One detail is that "while the screen is flexible, the device itself is not."

Apple Service

I love Apple. I love my iMac computer, yes, but I also love Apple as a company. previously I wrote about our new computer. I have since processed an HD video file two hours in length; the computer worked fine (though it takes time to process files that big). The source file in iMovie is about 100 gigabytes.

Recently I needed some information about iMovie versus Final Cut Express, the mid-grade software. A guy named Eliot at the Flatirons store spent a few minutes answering my questions about the software. (I learned that iMovie is a lot more powerful than I had imagined.) As we also briefly discussed, when you buy an Apple product, you're not just buying the stuff, you're buying the service, which is worth a lot.

Just decades ago, the technology I have sitting on my desktop was not available at any price. Just years ago, it cost several times the value of my house. The technology revolution has allowed the economy to move forward despite all the federal interventionist shenanigans. Just imagine where we might go in a free economy.