Kindle, an iPod for print?

Will Amazon's Kindle do for portable print what the iPod did for music?

While, I don't think we need 1,000 novels in our pocket, I do see that this new book/blog/newspaper/magazine reader is set to change the world in a similar way.

Since the product includes free web access and a web browser, I can see using it when a laptop is too much trouble, which is most of the time.

There is a video demo of the Kindle in action here. See what you think...

Google gPhone over phone a year away?

Gizmodo hopes the gPhone will look like the image here.>>

Their wish list includes a music player that, "doesn't suck but isn't an iPod." Pretty funny, though the idea that it might use Rhapsody the all-you-can-eat music rental service is not a bad one.

No one knows when a gPhone will arrive but speculation is all over the map.

The most interesting thoughts I've seen are in this Taipei Times article that predicts the phone is a year away (safe bet I'd guess) and says the phone may be based on free software that Google provides to cell phone companies with the hope that developers will build on their open platform.

That sounds a lot like the wishlist from iPhone reviewers to me, though. "Let the phone be open to development, man!!" Well, now that Apple has announced the upcoming release of a
Software Developer's Kit (SDK) early next year, those complaints don't seem to be so urgent.
What reviewers are still on about is being able to use the phone with any Cell Provider they choose. Personally, I'd rather see Apple continue to tackle AT&T on behalf of the end users.
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Coda:

I posted the above yesterday (It is early November 5 2007 as I write this) and no less than the Wall Street Journal published an article on the gPhone today saying their announcement could come as soon as today! Well, who knows. But, it is interesting to note that Google is likely to bid on a big chunk of low end radio spectrum that could be used for an open standard cell phone project and that they've been instrumental in getting the FCC to suggest that whoever gets that 700 MHz spectrum may have to make some of it available for what could be advanced wireless services. Part of the band will be allocated to emergency public services. The auction takes place in January 2008 and Google's interest seems to be attracting other high profile bidders. Yahoo is said to be interested and Verizon may be taking the FCC ruling to the courts.

Is the iPhone legitimizing iPods for adults?

Sometimes, adults feel dumb carrying iPods or other music players. We smuggle them into the gym where everyone else is using one. We may use them in the car but not for a walk in the neighborhood.

I've had them for years but always felt like a awful doofus in public.

But now, I notice that a lot of grown folks who have iPhones are enjoying the iPod function more than anything else. After all, since you can take calls with the earbuds that come with your phone, no one really knows that you're not being a grownup.