Why Are People Still Obsessed Over SD Cards?

From my experience, the #1 reason people reject the idea of buying an iPhone (besides "I hate Apple") is: it doesn't have an SD card.

I heard the same thing when I got my Note 5 a few months ago "Well, I like the Note 5, but it doesn't have an SD card slot, so I went with another phone."

Why? To me, an SD slot was useful back in the Windows Mobile days, when the phone MIGHT have 128 MB on board if you're lucky.

When a phone has 64 GB of storage, plus all the cloud storage available, why do people still obsess over SD cards?

For my Note 5, I have 1 TB of OneDrive, 5 GB of Dropbox, Amazon Drive, Google Drive, and so on. I also bought a USB to Micro USB cable, so I can connect an external hard drive or thumb drive to my Note.

I can get having trouble with a lack of removable battery, but I don't understand why people are still obsessed over having an SD slot. That's like refusing to buy a computer because it lacks a floppy drive.

Windows Tablets Are the "Beige Boxes" of 2015

Remember the beige box of the 1990's? Every PC sold was a beige box with a beige monitor. It was the epitome of Apple's 1984 Super Bowl ad.

I've been monitoring Windows tablets lately, and I'm completely uninspired. It's not so much that I need a new one, but I love tech and if I found a decent deal, I'd get one. I probably have all the tech I need: MacBook Pro, iPad Mini 3, Dell Venue 8 Pro that I never use, and a new Note 5.

The Dell's biggest weakness is it only has a micro-USB port. Even with an adapter, it doesn't have enough power to drive a portable hard drive, which I use to backup files on my work computer. At work, we're still running Windows 7 and Office 2010. And we don't have wi-fi. When I lug my work laptop around with me, I have to physically plug it into a switch or I have no connectivity. Sometimes I think "Enterprise IT" is Greek for "You will work on obsolete shit determined by Baby Boomers with no IT knowledge and an r-selected irrational fear of change". Or "old Unix guys" who 30 years later STILL haven't adapted to a Windows environment they somehow ended up in charge of.

I've thought about getting a Windows tablet with a full size USB port to carry to work, so I can use features of a newer version of MS Office. I could bring my Mac, which has Office 2016, but I perceive it as being too big to lug around all the time. And the iPad doesn't have a USB port.

So anyway, I've been keeping an eye on tablets lately. And few of them are exciting. I kind of like the Surface, but I perceive it as being overpriced. Sure, it "starts" at $499 (Surface 3), but that's for 64 GB and 2 GB RAM. By the time you get a decent sized storage and 4 GB of RAM, now you're up into the $800 range, and you don't have Microsoft's overpriced specialty keyboard yet. I guess you could get a generic Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but that's extra gear to lug around.

So I look at the available tablets, and other than the overpriced Surface and Surface Pro, all I see are the equivalent of beige boxes. Or black slates.

Then of course, lets say you buy one. One of the difficulties of the PC world is all the crapware that comes pre-loaded. At least Apple doesn't include crapware (unless that's how you define Apple's software). Well, except for that stupid Stocks app that still comes with the iPhone. Has anybody anywhere actually used it? I imagine people who are serious about stocks would use a much more powerful, specialty app.

New PCs usually come with the 60 day trial of Office, McAfee and Norton trials, download managers (who uses them), music apps, and so on. Now they're coming preinstalled with Facebook quality games, which are very stubborn about uninstallation. It took me a while to get all the crapware off the 2-in-1 I got my wife for Christmas. Thank you, Toshiba, I paid you for a computer, not the extra crap you installed, none of which I actually need.

Bill Burr Takes on Steve Jobs

Bill does raise a good point. Steve Jobs didn't really "invent" anything. He led, inspired, and whipped a team of people into producing them. Bill complains that he showed up at "nerd fests" without the team of scientists and engineers who did the actual work. Conan brought up a good point when he said he was not going to walk out on stage with all the writers on his show.

I'm not convinced the devices Steve Jobs was credited for would have existed had he not walked the Earth.

Remember in 2007 when the iPhone came out? What other devices were on the market? We had Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Palm, and a bunch of no-named crap. Most only came with about 64 to 128 MB of on-board memory. Some had SD card slots, but in my experience, those did little to expand the on-board memory. The shitty Windows Mobile phones I was using required all applications to be installed on-board, which ate up all of the local memory.

One of the retorts people gave to the iPhone's (at the time) massive 8 GB was "well, it's limited to 8 GB. MY device has a theoretically unlimited memory with hot-swappable SD cards." Yeah, but who wants to keep switching out SD cards? Oh, crap, I want to listen to this song and run this program, but they're on different cards!

Whether you think the iPhone was a good device or not, I consider it a game changer. Finally, Microsoft, RIM, Palm, and all the others were FORCED to start producing new, reliable devices with applications and on-board memory. Microsoft folded Windows Mobile and retooled for Windows Phone, which is a pretty damn good platform EXCEPT for the limited application support.

Also, remember the bad old days when you wanted ONE SONG, but had to spend $20 on a CD full of 9 other crappy songs just to get it? In part, because of the work Steve Jobs did, we can now buy that one single song and ignore the rest of the crap put out by the music industry. We can even get most of them DRM (or as I call it, CURM- Customer Use Restriction Management) free. Remember having to drive with hot-swappable CD's? Now I can get in the car and run a single playlist off my iPhone over BlueTooth. Awesome.

Steve Jobs was as flawed as any other man. But he was a leader and a visionary. I respect his legacy and I'm glad for the work he left behind. I like the iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, and single-song purchasing capability he left us. Now, where the hell is his revolution of the television he supposedly came up with right before he died?

MacGyver Is A Verb

I grew up on MacGyver. At least, my early teenage years revolved around it. I got a Swiss Army knife for my 14th birthday (which I mysteriously lost on my 24th birthday) which was my pride and joy for 10 years. When I was in the Navy, I used to say I did more than half of my maintenance on the Close In Weapons Systems (CIWS) I worked on with that knife.

Unfortunately, I just can't watch MacGyver anymore. A fictional character who was my hero when I was 12 just doesn't seem the same in my late 30's. But still, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Where I work, we use smart cards to log into our computers. Our current distribution is HP laptops. Some people have Dells, but they're old. The card reader on the HP model is exactly above the DVD tray. That means, it's easy to accidentally stick the smart card into the DVD drive. When that happens, the only way to get it out is to unscrew the screw holding the DVD into the laptop and pull it out. No amount of shaking the laptop will get the card out of the DVD when it's too far in to pull out with your fingers.

So I was talking to some of my team members today, and saw our Enterprise Architect shaking her laptop. I knew exactly what to do (because it's happened to me before). I walked up with my utility knife out (It's not Swiss Army. It has a U.S. Navy logo on it. I think my wife or my in-laws gave it to me for Christmas one year.)

So I walked up with my knife out and said "I know how to handle this." I unscrewed her DVD tray, pulled the smart card out, and put the tray back in. Then somehow we ended up in a discussion about MacGyver. I'm not sure how. And another person in the office commented on how great it is I just happened to have a knife handy.

Somehow from the time I was 12 and now, "MacGyver" has become a verb. I can verify that, because in the first episode of Richard Dean Anderson next famous show, Stargate SG1, another character says "I'll have to MacGyver it..." about a piece of equipment while his new character looked on with a funny look on his face.

Microsoft Actually p0wns Apple!

I never thought I'd live to see Apple p0wned by Microsoft, but IF Surface is anything like they say, I think we just witnessed it.

I've had little excitement for Microsoft products since the Vista let down. Sure, Microsoft works hard, but something always screws it up for them.

I have a reason to be hopeful about Surface though:

• Microsoft made the hardware.

That's always been a weakness of Microsoft's. Sure, they can produce an operating system, but unless it's a mouse or an Xbox, somebody else makes the hardware. That means they also have to write the drivers and produce middleware, then they load it up with crapware.

I'm sure Windows Mobile could have worked if Microsoft didn't leave it up to the OEMs and telcos to screw everything up.

But in the case of Surface, Microsoft made the hardware itself. That means if there's a Blue Screen of Death due to a driver conflict, it's their own fault!

I'm looking forward to it. If Surface is available somewhere in the $400 range, I might try to squeeze another year out of my iPhone 4 rather than replacing it.

Google Working On Heads-Up Display

According to the New York Times, Google is working on a Heads-Up Display (HUD). Supposedly, it'll be a pair of Android based glasses that give the user streaming access to email and other information.

I'm sure plenty of people will roll their eyes and mutter something like "people don't NEED something like that". I'm not sure what my opinion of the end product will be, but I'm excited about the development.

Computers have gotten really powerful, but the HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) barrier remains as limited as it did in the early days. No matter how much processing power the computer has, you can only communicate with it through the keyboard, mouse, and microphone. Maybe some specialty peripherals like a drawing pad. The computer can only communicate back to you through the monitor and speakers.

In the case of a smartphone or tablet, the HCI is a piece of glass. Also speakers and a microphone. That's it.

I've been looking forward to the breaking of the HCI barrier. I'm not sure what it will look like exactly. A hologram? A direct stream into your brain? That last one is not a joke. I've seen demos of products that allow you to control software with your thoughts. So far, all you can do is push or pull on a ball in three dimensions, but I'm sure this will improve over time and expand to be more powerful.

On Bandwidth

I came across a post on The Unofficial Apple Weblog today about hotels and bandwidth. I have  no idea why we continually get caught with fixed quantities of bandwidth. It didn’t take long for the first iPhone to be out before AT&T started bitching about how much bandwidth people were using. Now that the iPad is getting incredibly popular, hotels are complaining.

Business travelers are using their iPads to travel, stream video, and work. I’m not sure how much better the iPad 2 is than the iPad 1. I have an iPad 1, and though it’s really cool and great for reading and casual browsing, I’m not ready to leave my laptop at home yet.

Most hotels offer a pretty basic Comcast or DSL solution with wireless routers and repeaters. Yeah, it’s pretty bad. I’ve stayed at so called business hotels and had to keep calling down to ask them to reboot the router. I came back to a hotel from a meeting one time with the action to send the minutes and some documents out. It was over an hour before the hotel got their connection working long enough for me to do that. To complicate the problem, I did have a BlackBerry with tethering, but let’s just say I was in an area where you “couldn’t hear me now”. Verizon seems to pick hotels with the worst Internet connection and skip putting towers nearby.

Why It’s Not Cute To Deny Knowledge of Technology Anymore

Obviously, I’m writing this post as an IT professional. I have a degree in IT, I’ve spent years working in IT, and now I manage IT professionals. I’m getting tired of people complaining about technology. I’d like to remove the excuse in most situations.

A few months ago, my car was acting up. I had to take it to the Kia dealer to be looked at. I spent 8 freaking hours stuck off to the side of the showroom with a TV locked onto a channel playing The View, Real Housewives of New Jersey, and some crappy soap opera. The dealership did have wi-fi, but it didn’t work. I brought my work laptop in the hopes of getting some work done, but wi-fi didn’t work. My iPhone and laptop both saw a network, but it wouldn’t allow me to connect. That typically means the router needs to be rebooted.

What It’s Like To Own An Apple Product

I came across this cartoon. I think it’s accurate enough.

Apple has got to be the only company on Earth to have a product that is barely 2 years old and still under warranty (my iPhone 3G), but is 2 generations behind and functionally obsolete.

Rumors About the iPhone on Verizon Annoy Me

Ever since the day the iPhone came out, tech blogs have been whining about how it should be released on Verizon. Every time a new iPhone or software update comes out, rumors start flying about how the iPhone will be on Verizon soon.

I want to reach through my screen and ask the tech bloggers or reporters if they remember 2 basic facts:

1. Apple originally approached Verizon with the iPhone. Verizon would not bend it's will far enough to allow the iPhone to be what it is on AT&T's network.
2. Apple has a 5 year contract with AT&T. Let's see, the first iPhone came out in 2007.

2007+5=2012.

That means the exclusive agreement will be over about in time for the end of the world. Unless you follow Harold Camping, in which case the world will end a few weeks before the iPhone 5 announcement...

None of the “iPhone on Verizon” rumors contain any statements like “AT&T is releasing Apple from it’s agreement” or “Verizon is relaxing it’s dictatorial grip on smartphone capabilities”. The last time I had a Verizon phone, I still couldn’t transfer ringtones to it over Bluetooth.

Most of these rumors operate on the assumption that the day after the iPhone came out, Verizon got on it’s knees in repentance to Steve Jobs and said “We are most sorry. We will allow you to do whatever you want on our network regardless of our existing policy. Have your way with us, oh great Steve.”

So today The Unofficial Apple Weblog ran its 48,031st rumor that a Verizon ready iPhone has been in existence at Apple, and is being developed alongside it’s cousin until the day it can be released.

My prediction? IF the iPhone EVER is released on Verizon, it will be after June of 2012. If it’s EVER released. Show me some evidence that Verizon will actually allow the iPhone to run at it’s AT&T capacity or better on their network, and I’ll believe it.

Bezos: Kindle is "Buy Once, Read Everywhere"

I'm happy about this. One massive problem I've had with adopting eBooks, a technology that I'm really excited about, is a fear of "platform lock-in". 

Let me explain. Say you buy an eBook device. It doesn't matter which one. Kindle, iPad, Sony eReader, whatever. Now you can only buy books from a single provider. And if that provider goes out of business, or if your hardware becomes obsolete, you might lose access to your books.

I have an iPhone and a Barnes & Noble nook. I almost never use the nook. I've only gotten free books for it. It was a Christmas present (or an unmentionable solstice cultural observance present for those of you who go into seizures at the mention of Christmas). I'd hoped to be able to read pdf files on the nook, but most of them don't format properly which renders it nearly useless.

Any Barnes & Noble books I buy can be read on my PC and iPhone. But still, Amazon has a better inventory, and often better prices, so when I buy eBooks, I buy them from Amazon.

Also, Sony books can also be read on a PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. But still, Amazon has a better inventory with better prices.

I'm convinced that the hardware eBooks are read on is a secondary factor. What matters most is content. Who has the best content, at the best price, with the best way to avoid obsolescence? So far, in my observation, the winner is Amazon.

Which is why I was happy to see Jeff Bezos' (founder of Amazon) quote in this blog post. Despite providing their own hardware (Kindle), Amazon is still committed to delivering content (books) as far and wide as possible. Even though I have a competing device, most of my purchased content is for Kindle, which I read on my iPhone and computer.

eReader Race: iPad in the Lead, nook Ahead of Kindle

That was hard to keep straight. According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), Barnes & Noble's nook is beating out Amazon's Kindle, but the iPad is outselling both. Well, good.

I have a nook. I don't have a Kindle or an iPad. I'd like them. I read Kindle books on my iPhone. 

In the grand scheme of things, I don't see any doubt that the iPad has the most elegant user interface (UI). It also has the most function. Not only can you read a book, you can write a blog post ABOUT the book on the same device. Technically, you can do that on an iPhone as well, but it'll be more challenging.

I would say as a runner up in elegance, nook comes in second, although I've never physically touched a Kindle. I've never seen one up close. I've seen plenty of pictures and unboxing videos of them, but never seen one in person. Nook is very streamlined and pleasing to the eye. It would be #1 if the iPad didn't exist.

But when it comes to any kind of eBook reader, content is king. I don't care how cool your iPad or nook is if you can't read anything on it. At the present time, Amazon is the king of content.

I've bought a few Kindle books. I haven't bought any books for nook yet. Both Amazon and B&N offer free eBooks. B&N's don't seem to update very often though. I got my nook on January 15. At the time, B&N offered 2 books for free in a Star Wars fiction series. I downloaded them. Amazon offers those two plus book 3, which has yet to show up on Barnes & Noble. I've seen very little change in Barnes & Noble's selection (at least their free selection). 

What my nook is good for is reading pdf files. I download a lot of free pdf documents and rarely get around to reading them. I haven't found a good (free) way to read pdf documents on my iPhone, and my netbook's battery life is pretty bad (2 hrs). So I put them on my nook. But for books, I typically use Amazon.

I would love to see a universal content. Then you could buy the reader that you want, and buy the content that you want, and join them together. I don't like the current model where the reader you choose will dictate the content you can buy. The latest software update for nook allows web browsing and playing chess. Whoopee! I'd rather be able to read my Kindle content on it.

Tired of Printed Bibles? Try the iBible…

This is hilarious!

“…and a parental lock for the Song of Solomon and verses with ‘ass’ in them.”

So, What Do YOU Think of the iPad?

Today Apple announced the iPad,which has been referred to by fans as the Tablet for a while. I was getting sick of hearing about the Tablet. I was kind of hoping that it would turn out to be a figment of fans’ imaginations.

I watched the Gizmodo liveblog of the event this afternoon at work. I wasn’t interested in the Tablet, but I did want to know if the iPhone will see a software update anytime soon.

The name is cheesy. I saw Jason Dunn mention on Twitter that Apple must be moving into the feminine hygiene market now. I wanted to laugh, but there was too much activity around my cubicle again.

Through most of the event, I just couldn’t find anything to be impressed about. The iPad looks like an oversized iPhone. I already have an iPhone. But when they mentioned iWork, that got me interested. I do like the idea of being able to surf the Internet, check email, update Twitter, look at pictures, read books, and watch movies or listen to music on the go. That’s why I have an iPhone in the first place. I couldn’t make the intellectual leap as to why an iPhone that wouldn’t fit in my pocket would be a good idea.

Until I heard that you can actually work on the thing. I don’t do a lot of presentations. I’m hoping I can start doing some freelance writing soon, and the mobility and battery life are fairly attractive to me. It got me interested, anyway. I still think a MacBook Pro would be better for me.

As a technology blogger, I would be falling asleep at the switch if I didn’t offer a prediction. Here’s my prediction: this will be the last time Apple designs a product just because its fans and critics wouldn’t shut up about building a product.

That or it will be insanely successful and will revolutionize mobile computing.

Or a third option that I lack the imagination to see.

All I can say is I’m not that excited by it yet.

Nook to Get Update This Week?

Engadget has a report that the Barnes & Noble nook is likely to get a software update this week. For those of you following my eBook reader series, this goes with what I've been saying. Most of the problems up to this point reported with nook are software related, and should be easily fixed with a software update.

As far as I know, Amazon hasn't released a software update for their Kindle. 

Nook Has Been Rooted

Apparently, nook has been rooted. For those unfamiliar with the term, it means hacked. nook runs Google's Android phone operating system. I'm not sure which version. I think 1.5. iPhones are jailbroken, and Adroid devices are rooted. Like I said, all it means is they've been hacked.

What does this mean? For those who have to be on the cutting edge, it means that there may soon be applications to run on nook. The article even mentions the possibility of tethering thanks to the built-in 3G wireless.

Fake Steve: Conference Call with Randall Stephenson at AT&T

Fake Steve nails it. Here is a post on the Fake Steve Jobs blog about a fictional conference call with Randall Stephenson of AT&T about how iPhone users are using too much bandwidth and AT&T wants to find a way to give them (us) an incentive to use less.

For those of you concerned about such things, the language is a little raw so be warned. Overall, I thought it was hilarious. I wish the real Steve Jobs would tell AT&T the same thing.

And now here we are. Right here in your own backyard, an American company creates a brilliant phone, and that company hands it to you, and gives you an exclusive deal to carry it — and all you guys can do is complain about how much people want to use it. You, Randall Stephenson, and your lazy stupid company — you are the problem. You are what’s wrong with this country.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that Randall Stephenson is also a fictional personality. Sorry, though I've been an AT&T customer for years, I honestly never cared enough to find out who AT&T's executives are. Fictional executive aside, I'd still say Fake Steve (Dan Lyons) is dead on.

I Played with nook

Last night, the teens at our church had free babysitting. Christina had a coupon for Olive Garden, so we went. We learned from previous years though. Normally, we drop the kids off at 6:30, then find every place is busy. We spend 3 hours driving around looking for a place to eat with less than a 2 hour wait, and end up at Pizza Hut or McDonald’s before getting the kids. This time, I dropped her off at Olive Garden, took the kids to church, and got back to Olive Garden just as she was being seated. Perfect timing!

After we finished dinner, we drove across the street to Barnes & Noble. I wanted to get a look at nook. Remember, B&N is calling it nook, not The Nook, so I’m trying to stick to the same convention in my writing. I know it violates a lot of rules of the English language.

My impressions were about what I expected. It felt pretty good to hold nook. The girl at the booth didn’t seem to know a lot. I heard her tell another customer that nook is the first reader to have 3G wireless. That’s wrong; Kindle had it from the start. She did show off the Google books. I didn’t get to do a lot with nook, because a friend I hadn’t seen in several years walked in so I had to break away and chase him down.

I haven’t actually used a Kindle yet, like I said in my last post. I don’t know anybody in “real life” who has one. What I’ve read about nook is accurate. This thing LAGS! I’d hit a button, and nothing would happen, so I’d hit it again, but then the original command finally happened, so it turned out I hit something else, and then I had no idea where I was. B&N needs to fix that fast. It will be intolerable to buy one.

The girl doing the demo mentioned that B&N is talking about distributing software updates directly to the device. That would be cool.

Also, if I tell my dad “Sure, get me nook for Christmas”, I won’t see it for a long time. They’re not shipping until February 1 now. That makes me want to ask for a Kindle and hope that Amazon gets a clue and issues a software update to bridge the gap with some of nook’s capabilities. It would be fairly simple to issue a software update. I wonder if I could contact Amazon and say “I’m a blogger and I have a few questions. I’m sure at least 2 people read my blog, and might base their buying decisions on your answers. Will you be updating Kindle’s capabilities through a software update? Will you support ePub standards?”

Is nook Really Dead on Arrival?

Techcrunch has a post stating that nook is the BlackBerry Storm of 2009. I'm not yet ready to decide I'm pulling for one device or the other, but as I've said in other posts, I don't necessarily agree with some criticism about nook. Every complaint mentioned in Techcrunch's post can easily be fixed with one software update. It's not that hard.

The question is, will Barnes & Noble issue said software update in a timely fashion? That's what I want to know. If B&N said they'd have an update out by the end of January, I'd probably want to run out and get one.

Tonight I'll be in the vicinity of the Deptford Barnes & Noble. If I can talk Christina into stopping in briefly, I might go in and try to play with the display unit. Sadly, although I follow the blogs of a lot of Kindle owners, I don't know anybody in "real life" with one, so I haven't had a chance to play with it either. My dad has a 1st generation Kindle, but he said it won't charge. He won't take any steps to look into warranty service either. He lives 2000 miles away in Texas anyway. Maybe I should tell him to send it to me and I'll look into getting it serviced.

nook: Does Barnes & Noble Hate It's Customers?

That's my take on the title of one blog post I read today. I also came across Mashable's compilation of nook reviews. I left nook uncapitalized because apparently that's how Barnes & Noble left it. 'sposed to be more informal that way yo.

I believe I could be getting an eBook reader for Christmas (or for that unmentionable solstice cultural observance for you socially autistic people who freak at the mention of Christmas). The question is, which one? Kindle has been around the longest. nook is the new one. I'm not considering Sony for several reasons, like the root kit debacle a few years ago. I just don't feel like Sony likes it's customers. Sony likes money. Everybody likes money, but Sony doesn't hide it as well. Anyway, Sony is out of my consideration at this point. That leaves me the Kindle and nook. For the record, I don't believe Amazon or Barnes & Noble gives off a vibe of hating customers. I personally like both businesses. Amazon makes it cheap and easy to buy books. Barnes & Nobles makes it comfortable. I still remember the days when you'd get yelled at in bookstores for opening a book and trying to get a feel for what's in it. "Either buy the book or leave!" you'd be told. There's none of that at Barnes & Noble. It's very comfortable and pressure free to browse around. You can sit on a couch and read a book, with coffee. I've taken refuge at the Deptford Barnes & Noble many times when Christina needed to shop in places I didn't want to go.

Back to the point: I have Kindle and Barnes & Noble's reader on my iPhone. About the only reason I want a reader is the ability to read some pdf ebooks I pick up. I'll basically download any eBook that's free, but then I never have time to read them. They're not always easy to get onto the iPhone. If I had a Kindle or nook, I could convert them easier to read on the go.

If I ask for the Kindle, I could possibly get it in time for Christmas. If I ask for nook, I won't see it until mid-January or later because it's seriously backordered.

I'm less worried about software glitches and shortcomings. Those can be fixed by the company if it chooses. nook apparently has some glitches, but those could be solved by a software update. Kindle doesn't support the ePub format, which again could be fixed with a software update.

When I look at reviews of the devices, I try to take that into account. If a reviewer says "Don't buy nook because it's buggy", realize that a software update can easily fix the problem, so it might not BE a problem by February. Of course, it's also possible but less likely that the software problems will never be fixed. I suspect they will be. Although it would be nice to see devices released with perfect software, it's getting less likely by the day. We seem to live in a perpetual beta culture. What I mean by that is software is often released to the public in a state that seems unready. Sometimes this refers to software that runs on a specific device like an iPhone or Kindle, and other times it deals with larger operating systems like Windows or software suites like Microsoft Office.

In some cases, I think there is a strong "rush to market" mentality, and the product has to be on the market before it can be ready. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, schedules do slip. Unforeseen events pop up, and you're left with a ship date that's harder to make than when you wrote the schedule two years ago.

In other cases, I think it's simpler. Companies can only do so much testing "in house". There is no way Barnes & Noble can conceive of every possible use for nook, and so glitches and shortcomings often pop up when users get their hands on it.

Which one should I ask for? Kindle or nook?