Category: internet

How PDAs have moved on

Pocket PC

I was clearing out some drawers and came across this old Compaq IPAQ Pocket PC, something I haven’t used for around 5 years.

At the time – summer 2002 – it was the height of sophistication and technology.

Not only did it sync with your PC, but it has Bluetooth, mapping software, plus basic Word even Excel should you so have wished.

For a few years, it contained my life – all my contacts, all my important dates, everything.

And then, one thing led to another, and I just stopped using it. The battery gradually lost charge and one day I forgot about it.

A year later, I found it again and all my information had vanished. The Pocket PC had reset itself and, although all the data was on the back-up disk, I didn’t have the heart to go through the reboot and reset process.

In fact, within the space of 12 months, it had become obsolete.

Today, I tried to charge it up and see what it was like. While it stilll worked, it looked extremely old-school in its interface.

What’s more, the IPAQ feels so heavy now, in comparison, say, to my iPod Touch.

The development of the likes of the iPhone and iPod Touch proves how limited the function of the Pocket PC was. No phone, no video, small memory.

In years to comes, this will be a museum piece and people will wonder and how limited and big a mini-PC could be.

Posted via email from Rob’s stream of web

Stuff No One Told Me

via stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com

Love this new blog I stumbled upon today, in the vein of Stuff White People Like, but adorned with lovely images by the Barcelona-based illustrator (and blog author) Alex Noriega.

Some entries are funny, some are simply truisms, all look beautiful.

Go on, stick it in your RSS Feed – you know you want to.

– More Stuff No One Told Me

– More creative stuff on my Posterous

– Found via Holy Kaw

Posted via web from Rob’s stream of web

When books, the web and video collide

People have been trying to get books to work online for a while. There are a variety of book social media sites, such as the Amazon-owned Shelfari, goodreads and Bookrabbit, to name just three. 

We also have the much-heralded arrival of the Kindle (Amazon again), numerous other e-readers and even iPhone apps, such as Stanza.

Then there are the TV adverts created specifically to look like a movie trailer, when they are actually a book plug – namely those of uber-author James Patterson.

There are also some authors, such as Jasper Fforde, who have tried to provide the equivalent of DVD extras, by getting readers to enter a password that’s hidden in books which then unlocks extra content around the specific title. 

But now there’s a new kid and new idea on the block. It comes in the form of mini-videos within a book that both complement and enhance your enjoyment of the material. 

Dark Origins has been created by Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the phenomenon that is CSI. Ostensibly a gruesome crime thriller about a serial killer, what raises this above the norm is the aforementioned additional material. 

To dovetail nicely with Zuiker’s own site Level 26 – a nod to the categorisation of the most heinous serial killers of all – every 26 pages, the reader is prompted to visit the site and enter a special code, which then leads directly to a relevant 3-5 minute video that ties in with the plot at that point. 

Naturally, coming from the creator of CSI, these short clips are extremely expertly and stylishly shot. They wouldn’t look out of place on CSI itself and I wouldn't mind betting that the amount of money spent on video is more than the actual book. 

Will it work? Well, it makes a book more interesting and definitely raises it above the everyday thriller, but a lot depends on how good the writing is. I’m only a short way into Dark Origins currently and the jury is out, as far as I'm concerned. 

The other issue for me still comes down to whether want to stop reading in the middle of a book to watch a video and also want someone else to show them what certain characters look like. 

One of the joys of reading a novel before it’s ever come close to the big or small screen is that you get to create your own idea of what certain characters look like. 

Even though he's been played by both John Hannah and Ken Stott, neither of them match up to my own picture of Iain Rankin's Rebus, so strong is he lodged in my imagination. 

Fair play to Zuiker for trying something different – he's got the clout and cash to do it, but I fear it will remain a gimmick, rather than become the norm.

Posted via email from Rob’s stream of web