Why e-book readers compose awful gifts that year

Two years ago, the best holiday gift was an Amazon Kindle -- whether you could get your hands on one. They were hot, new and sold out hours after going on sale. Last year, the Kindle made an awesome gift as well.

This year, all the e-book readers on the market, including the new Kindles, are better devices than last year's Kindles. (Amazon announced that week that it has improved battery life by 85 percent, and has added a native PDF reader. These improvements are software-based, so most older readers will get them automatically by the wireless network.)

And there has never been more choice in e-readers. In addition to the Amazon Kindle, you could buy a Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, Hanvon N series, Bookeen Cybook Opus, Elonex eBook, Endless Ideas BeBook, Interead COOL-ER, Samsung Papyrus, Foxit Software eSlick, iRex Digital Reader, Jinke Hanlin or others.

The e-book market has never been better. But that doesn't mean you should buy one as a gift. Here's why e-book readers invent awful gifts that year.

Car cam 'black box' records video forward and back

Police cars have front-facing cameras to gather evidence during traffic stops. Airlines have black-box recording devices that gather documents in the event of a crash. Public buses tend to have cameras trained on the inside of the vehicle for shield and evidence gathering. But the new Car Cam Dually does it all.

The Wikipedia exodus is the least of our worries

We rely on Web 2.0 services like Wikipedia and Digg. But we've become dangerously reliant upon some "cloud" and online services. Many of these aren't profitable, and rely on venture capital. In fact, it's a near certainty that many of the services we rely on will not survive the next year or two. What happens when they go away?

Everyone likes a public Windows error!

More.

Found Video

The Lego folks must be stopped: Matrix scene recreation is incredible.

 

USB Gadget Hall of Shame

Gadget4all is selling a range of $28 Christmas-themed necklaces that are secret USB flash storage devices with capacities of 4 GB. As a general rule, humans don't like buying their jewelry from reduction gadget catalogs, and plus don't like notes storage devices to be obsoleted by the ending of the holiday season.

Remember the Pet Rock fad of the 70s? Now it's been modernized with a USB cable.

And whether that doesn't ruin your holidays, there's always USB Christmas tree lights.

This big chunk of useless plastic looks vaguely like a hamburger, but functions as a USB-powered massager and hand-warmer. considering, really, there's nothing we'd rather rub all by our bodies than hamburgers.

News You Can Lose

"Call of Duty" series revenue totals by $3 billion.

Report details war crimes committed in video games.

Cell Phone Follies

The most expensive cell phone ever is that $3.2-million gold iPhone 3GS studded with 136 diamonds.

The latest Chinese trademark infringement of Apple branding is the new Apple Q300 Ultra, which uses the name "Apple," says "iPhone" right below the screen -- and even has the Apple logo on the outside of the case. The product itself, however, is unlike anything Apple has ever produced. It's an old-school clamshell device, rather than an all-screen touch phone. additionally interesting and objectionable is that the phone uses an operating system that has no Chinese-language capability, so that phone is built for export outside of China.

China Unicom, which is the exclusive authorized carrier for the Apple iPhone in China, will plus sell a fake iPhone called the uPhone, which runs Android. The uPhone is probably the reply to rival China Mobile's iPhone clone, the oPhone. That's the market for touch phones in China: Two fake iPhones battle it out for supremacy on the two major carriers while the real iPhone languishes in obscurity and irrelevance.

 

Gotta-Get-It Gadgets

The Alpha UWCP Underwater Cell Phone System lets you yack away on the cell phone while you're scuba diving. The $1,790 kit features a full face mask with a cable (longer than the recreational diving limit) that connects to a buoy, which transmits the cell signal.

If you're concerned about the environment, or just too damned lazy to Radio Shack and buy some batteries, that wind-up TV remote might be for you.

Wacky Web Site

If you like looking at citizens with a healthy tan, thereupon you'll want to avoid that site: Pale Is The New Tan.

 

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Post your guess here! whether you're first with the right reply, you'll earn the dubious honor of getting your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

LAST WEEK'S MYSTERY PIC: No, it's not agarbage landfill, a hazardous waste dump, or even the future home of the Mike Elgan hall of fame, as suggested by some readers. In fact, it's a hill in Sonoma Valley, California. More to the point, it's the exact location of the famous "Bliss" wallpaper that came with Microsoft Windows XP, and taken by the same photographer who shot the original photo. Congratulations to MWinter for being first with the right reply.

Mike's List hyperlinks:
Mike's List home page
Mike's List on Posterous
Subscribe
Unsubscribe
Contact Mike

Find Me On:
 Twitter
 Technorati
 RSS Feed
 FriendFeed
 Facebook
 Google
 Digg
 Computer America
 Other Blogs
 And More!

More Mike:

The Raw Feed - Mike's main blog.

Computerworld - Mike's column about mobile computing.

Datamation - Mike's column about technology and the computer industry.

Brains Without Borders - Mike's blog about digital nomad, location-independent living.

If you don't have anything nice to say, say it to me! Send rumors, gossip and inside data to mike@mikeslist.com.

STEAL that NEWSLETTER!: You have permission to post, e-mail, copy, print or reproduce that newsletter as many times as you like, but please do not modify it. Mike's List is written and published from deep inside the black heart of Silicon Valley by Mike Elgan. The Mike's List newsletter is totally independent, and does not accept advertising, sponsorships or depraved junkets to sunny resorts. Mike writes and speaks about technology culture, smart phones, smart citizens, random gadgets, poor ideas, weird computers, painful implants, malicious robots and the Web.