Short Story 6 - Nothing

This is the sixth short story in my Counting Down the Days book, currently a work in progress. We have so far taken a sneak peek into other short stories in this collection viz:  The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma, Power to the People and Counting Down the Days.

Nothing

My Current Reads

I have recently renewed my love for Issuu. This is partly because I'll very soon be publishing Connect eMagazine, with monthly editions available for online viewing and free download on our Issuu page.

The bigger reason, however, is that Issuu more than makes reading online an enduring pleasure. On Issuu, you get to read very useful documents as well. I have so far shared some of them both on The Walkabout and on this site.

Today, I'll share one about how to Innovate.
Hope you like it :)

As we eagerly await the Connect eMagazine launch later this year, I invite you to join Connect eMagazine on Issuu so that we can learn and share together, even as we count down the days...

Have a great weekend.
Cheers

Short Story 5 - Counting Down the Days

Counting Down the Days is both the title short story and the fifth in my upcoming collection Counting Down the Days.
We have so far highlighted The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma and Power to the People.

Counting Down the Days

In this story, Edwin has been injured in what has been erroneously referred to as an accident. Interestingly, he had just watched Nokia's 4th Screen TV ad on YouTube minutes before this "accident". He was anticipating change, but is now forced to inevitably wait for that change for a very definite number of days.



With every passing day, Edwin gets to see a better version of the bigger picture that awaits him. He is able to better plan, and carefully review his choices.
In losing the ability to do something he really wants, he gains the latitude to ultimately attain what he actually needs.

My Current Reads

I am totally immersed in Chris Anderson's Free: The Future of a Radical Price. The book simply explains what has happened in our lives all along, where businesses make big money by offering free products and/or services.

Nothing is surprising or new in doing that, especially when you think about free-to-air radio and TV from commercial broadcasters.

Interestingly, Malcolm Gladwell [who authored The Tipping Point] doesn't agree with Chris Anderson. FYI, Chris also wrote The Long Tail. Malcolm had a lot to say about Free in The New Yorker.

As a strong advocate of online publishing and on-screen reading, I have recently started to read, and shall be actively sharing/embedding magazines in my reading list.
Most, if not all will be hosted at Issuu, which is my favorite hangout when it comes to reading online. Following is the June 2011 edition of CIO East Africa Magazine.

Please note that upon launch, Connect eMagazine will also be available for online reading and free download at Issuu.

Have a great week good people. Let's continue reading and writing together.Cheers!

:)

Books, eBooks, eReaders and Tablets

Last week, I engaged in some interesting discourse with both @Wamathai and @SonyK_Imani. It was about our preferences for book print editions or digital editions [e-Books].

Note: In this post, e-books will hereafter be referred to as eBooks, e-readers as eReaders and print editions of books as simply books.

On the same day, CNN highlighted the findings of a study where more Americans now buy eReaders than tablets. BNET has gone ahead and put this report [PDF, 774KB] in perspective, largely because the new shift is bad news for tablet makers, especially Apple.

Interestingly, Amazon in a press release says that it's now selling more e-Books than print editions of books.

eBooks
Much has been said about digital editions of books. I still stand by my word about the convenience, unparalleled mobility, reading [many might not agree with me on this one], and interactive elements such as in-text search and embedded multi media.

As  I work on my book Counting Down the Days, my only option is to publish online, and unless something drastic happens to change my mind, I intend to publish subsequent books online. Online publishing affords one a global audience, timeless archiving of the work and highly cost effective publishing, marketing and distribution.

Tablets
Reports and analysis aside, I love eBooks. In fact, I cannot wait for the day I finally get my hands on an ASUS eee Pad Transformer. I really need it to read eBooks among other things [writing, listening to music, streaming radio, access Internet, watch movies etc] and have already made my intentions public in that regard.

The thing with tablets for me, is that they can multi-task. The screens are full color. A definite plus for the ASUS Transformer is the physical keyboard [docking station] that makes typing easier, adds more ports to the device and enhances battery life. The keyboard makes it a media creation vs a media consuming device.

Other Tablet devices do exist, notably the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia and Apple iPad. I just had to say a bit more about my personal favorite.

eReaders
The Amazon Kindle tops the list on this one, although it is faced with worthwhile contenders in the name of Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo eReader, Bookeen Cybook, Sony Reader and Pocketbook among others.

Wikipedia does have a very comprehensive comparison of all these eReaders. Every manufacturer seems to add more features with every new release, and the pricing is far much lower than for tablets.

3G Internet, Wifi, eInk, internal storage and integrated dictionaries seem to be fairly standard features.

Verdict
In light of all the above about  about books and devices used to read them, do you still swear by the traditional print book format? Have you embraced eBooks? And when it comes to reading them, do you prefer to use an eReader, a Tablet or a traditional desktop/laptop computer?