From my perch I see Blackberry’s

First Generation Smartphone Grows OOOOLLLLDD

interest waning; its major strengths are pushed email and a wide variety of phones with keyboards.  If you’d rather type than touch it’s the way to go.

Apple’s iPhone has matured as a fabulous media/entertainment device.  Apple’s own website touts iTunes, HD video capabilities, and millions of apps on its own list of accomplishments.  Yes, it also searches the Internet and well, but…

Google Android’s got search, navigation, and mail at the soul of its machine. Androids ships with strong connections to Google’s apps and services, including App Pack Gmail, Google Talk, Messaging, Voice Mail, Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube.  Apple’s iPhone can certainly handle the same tasks, but the emphasis is on media–my photos, music, video.

With this logic, my clear choice was the Google Nexus One, but yours might be very different.  (And after Apple’s news that it would go after the Nexus One and other Android phones for violation of patents, I’m getting that cold feeling back in my feet.)

Other reasons I find Google phones appealing:

Less Is More: Apple passed the 150,000 mark for apps developed for iTunes. It could take the better part of a day to sort through crossword puzzle choices.  Android has only 20,000, Blackberry less still. Me, I’d rather have an edited list of best of breed apps than a free for all. I find iTunes offers hundreds of apps for each of my interests, but a large number of them turn out to be underwhelming.

Google Docs: As someone who knows how to get things done in Microsoft Office that even Microsoft can’t do, change does not come easy to me. I find many aspects of Google Docs inscrutable, but as sharing docs amongst devices and collaborators is becoming increasingly important, Google’s got the lead.

Though I expect Google will push its way into the content market (e-books from the Google store, for example, will be able to be read on most computers, phones, or e-book readers), I’m not going the single device route quite yet. My iPod Touch is still the best way to enjoy music, podcasts, photos, and videos.  And my Amazon Kindle is still the best screen format for e-books. But, when it comes to business, my soul is going to Google (at least this year).

The classic example is Ethan Allen.  Enter the term into Search and you’re out furniture shopping.

But all kids really want to know about Ethan Allen is that he was some great Revolutionary War figure from Vermont.

Wading through a cluster of furniture ads is confusing and takes away from the task at hand.  Other examples: Long John Silver, Madagascar (the movie or the place?)

If Google doesn’t want to create a student version they could simply make it one of the options–like Images, News, or Buzz.  A Student option would tailor searches more to academic terms and less towards advertising.

When the homework’s done you can just click back to regular ‘ole commercially funded Google.  School and homework should be given the importance of having a specific search engine optimized for learning not consuming.

Whaddaya say Goggle?  Introduce a study mode or run the risk of slim pickings for the next generation’s workforce.

]]> http://www.robinraskin.com/blog/2010/02/26/why-google-needs-a-student-version/feed/ http://www.robinraskin.com/blog/2009/12/01/could-you-have-the-last-gadget-standing/ http://www.robinraskin.com/blog/2009/12/01/could-you-have-the-last-gadget-standing/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:07:40 +0000 admin http://www.robinraskin.com/blog/?p=674

The Last Gadget Standing was the very first event that I produced for CES. That was nine years ago. The premise of the contest hasn’t changed. At CES you’ll see hundreds of new product introductions. But, by the time the year’s out, a healthy chunk of them are never to be heard from again.

Last Gadget Standing was created because “the people” can spot the winner in the crowd of new products. Unlike journalists, consumers are not likely to be swayed by a gadget without a reason, or by bells and whistles that you’d use once in a lifetime.

Past winners of Last Gadget Standing include a host of notables, from GM’s OnStar to iRobot’s Roomba, to the Eye-Fi card. This year, we’ve got products representing all of the major CES trends. There are smartphones that are so smart they deserve a PhD, 3D technologies on notebooks and TVs, and sports/fitness gadgets that marry the backcountry, geocaching, and even music to exercise by. You’ll see new products that extend the traditional Wi-Fi coverage and products that give sight to those with deteriorating vision.

Will the winner be keyless access to your home, a personalized entertainment experience, or one of the new ebook readers?

It’s up to you. To get familiar with the contests, check out Robin Raskin’s walk down memory lane. Or entertain yourself with last year’s video-d session. You can meet our judges and just maybe, if you’re reading this far, then you might have The Last Gadget Standing.

Last Gadget Standing has been ranked the most popular SuperSession of CES and that’s because you have the vote, whether you’re watching online or with us in real time. The event takes place on Saturday, January 9, 2010, at the LVCC, Ballrooms N257 and 258.

While it’s a far cry from pocket-sized, the Reader is a two-handed device that’s about the size and thickness of a hefty paperback. The body houses a high resolution (5-megapixel) camera with autofocus and a full-powered Linux-based PC with the Intel Atom processor.

The user aims the camera at the printed page and snaps a picture. The picture is then converted into the spoken word and played back via the internal speaker or headphones. Or the printed page can be converted into text and magnified on the unit’s built-in 4.3-inch monochrome screen. There’s sufficient on-board memory (4GB of solid state memory with 2GB for user storage) to house one-half million text-only printed pages.

Going far beyond traditional books, the Intel Reader can magnify or translate things that hold folks back from having a normal life: monthly bills, instruction manuals, a recipe from the paper, an offer in the mail, even labels on pill bottles.

The Reader cannot display graphics, just text. The price tag, $1,499, is a bit of shocker, but if you compare it with other low-vision solutions, it’s actually on par. Perhaps the biggest downside is that photographing an entire book, page by page, to turn it into an audio book or a large magnification screen seems like a lot of work. The unit has an optional stand that holds the camera in place ($399) and helps when photographing multiple pages.

I don’t expect the 55 million people who could be helped by the Reader to charge out there and buy their own. I suspect that institutions such as schools, libraries, and other public places may lead the way. But one thing about Intel, when they enter a market, they’re usually in it for the long run, and that’s a good thing.

The answer of course is a featherweight netbook.  I recently got a new Acer Aspire Netbook to try out for a few weeks.  The Acer weighs under a pound.  The keyboard, though smaller than full size, is big enought.  The battery life is decent enough.  The screen display is has plenty of resolution. I can even get used to the fact that the Aspire running Windows Vista is like asking Roger Bannister to run the four minute mile in snowshoes.

What I can’t give up is having my ALL of my precious data close at hand.  This made me realize that netbooks, tantalizing as they are, are just not ready for me you.  I can’t always be sure whether the next place I’ll be will have an  internet connection and there’s not much you can do with a Netbook that isn’t logged on to the web. I can talk to my PC at home using LogMeIn, but I can’t depend on my home computer to keep running reliably if I’m gone for more than a day. (Curse you Time Warner Cable.) And I’m not too keen on putting call of my most important data “in the cloud” using programs like Google Docs. I can’t back up the data that’s stored on Google Docs

I can’t accept large documents;  I can’t use Outlook — which, dated as it is — is still the best way I know to organize my frazzled life.

I’m not giving up, but I now understand the true limits of a netbook, and you should too.  There are far too many people who think that they’re buying a low cost PC only to get it home and find out that a netbook is a horse of a different color.

I’m going to face my netbook head on and start devising systems to keep my netbook and my PC in synch.  I’ll learn to trust data that’s stored somewhere in the Google ether instead of my hard disk. I will do it or my back will never forgive me. So this time ’round I’m asking you for advice. If any of you have learned to have a full life on your netbook (creating documents, answering emails, opening attachments, sending edited revisions, let me know how you’re managing. For the moment I figure that I have a very inexpensive, very small Internet surfing machine, not a working PC.

As I thought about legacy I started to think about legacy products.

Here’s an obvious one. Legacy Locker is what it says it is, a locker for your digital assets. This is sort of like digital equivalent of an online safety deposit box. You can specify a beneficiary to have access to your digital assets in the event that you die or become incapacitated.

The beneficiaries aren’t permitted any access until they show up with a death certificate or some certificate proving that you can no longer manage your accounts.  This is not a sexy product, but it’s an important one.  And it’s not a bad deal, especially since you’re walked through how to name people, compose legal letters, upload and download. You can store everything from passwords, to access codes to music and photos. The only limiting factor is your pocketbook. There are full featured offerings for  $29.99 per year, or $299.99 for a lifetime subscription. A trial version with limited features is available for free.

Fast Pencil is a legacy of a different entirely color.  The youngsters may be busy living life, but older folks are busy sorting out these blasts from the past and letting their creative juices fly into Act II.  Boomers are the heaviest users of self publishing software; they’ve got lots to say and more time to say it.

Some publishing programs like Blurb (Blurb can create extraordinarily beautiful photographic books. Lulu, another self publishing program prides itself on creating speedy printed books on demand.  A new program I looked at last week,  Fast Pencil  is not dissimilar. It provides templates and typefaces and editing tools to get your printed pages to behave. What it gives you that the others don’t is a social network. Bookwriting no longer needs to be classified as a lonely task,  The social media part is the fun part – if you like collaboration that is

Researching your family history?  Why go it alone. Get them all involved, Comment, Edit . Set up chapters.  Putting together a family cookbook?  A travel book?  It turns out that Fast Pencil is a great way to manage group collaborations.  The site is also building a network of supporting talents whos work is for hire,  Need a graphic artist? Special typography?  Copy Editor, — the entire publishing community is invited to swap gifts. A recently launched addition to the product is called Color Book Creator (which has nothing to do with coloring books)  lets you import photos and illustrations into your book.  Even if only your five BFFs and three relatives buy a book you’ve created a legacy.

I’ve always felt a little sheepish about comparing a human teacher to a computer, but when it comes to Rosetta Stone’s language immersion software, TOTALe, it’s hard for to give the advantage to Dr. Salas. (Tom Adams, the company’s CEO, would argue that Rosetta Stone was designed as a teaching supplement, and not a replacement, but maybe he didn’t have Dr. Salas.) 

When I met Tom Adams from Rosetta Stone, I was prepared to roll my eyes a bit. I’ve listened to podcasts, visited websites, and made a few other attempts to get my Spanish game back.

Tom explained that the magic sauce behind Rosetta Stone is that it treats you like an infant. Infants learn by matching words to things. Rosetta Stone starts you off with simple pictures and language. But within 10 minutes, just by looking at pictures and hearing words, you’re differentiating between a girl and a boy, girls and boys, men and women, and whether they’re drinking, eating, running, etc. You’ve learned masculine and feminine as well as singular and plural without realizing it.

The second magic ingredient–the one that’s really changed–is the social networking component. In addition to the course, the newest version of the product, Rosetta TOTALe, lets you practice with a live coach, play online language games, meet native speakers, and join groups of people so you can practice at your level. There’s even an Audio Companion that you take with you in the car.

You need a headset and microphone to use to Rosetta Stone. The program checks your pronunciation and inflection. There are scheduled tutorials with native speakers.

The TOTALe approach just adds a level of gravy to an already world-acclaimed way to learn a language. It’s not inexpensive, either. Rosetta Stone costs $999 for a 12-month subscription (regularly priced at $1,100).

Gulp! As much as I’m motivated to improve my Spanish, I have to confess that in the last month I’ve only been able to put in an hour of practice time. That’s an expensive hour! Dr. Salas, on the other hand, was with me every day at 5th period whether I was motivated or not.

So what was going through Dad’s head when he invited everyone in his AOL address book to join him as a friend on a porn dating site? According to Dad, his friend Eddie made him do it. Dad fell for the old “can’t-say-no-to-a-request-from-a-friend”; that’s just part of his upbringing.

Eddie never sent the invitation out to his friends either. Both of them received messages from people they knew really well, asking them to become friends. Once they accepted, the site asked if they would like to invite others to be friends. Once Eddie and Dad clicked on the “yes” to invite others, the site’s program went to work, looking at all of the email addresses in their address books and immediately sending out the same “join my group” invitation.

But it was the reaction of family and friends to Dad’s invite that showed how different generations react. In general, the elders fell into two categories: naïve enough to accept and then send out their own invites or mortified, terrified, and violated. I got the same Desktop Dating invitation from a few other “mature” relatives the next day. They did it because it came from Dad.

The younger kids didn’t lift an electronic eyebrow. They hit the delete key. Of all of the many young cousins, grandkids, nieces, and nephews, only three of them made any comment to their parents. It was something along the lines of “Got a weird email from Grampy today.” My own daughter warned me of Grampy’s request by forwarding it to me with the comment, “looks as if Grampy’s new computer is lonesome.”

The best response came from an octogenarian. Cousin Marty wrote my dad a rather lengthy apology for not accepting his date. “I’d love nothing more than to be your desktop date,” said Marty in his email to Dad, “but it seems as if Verizon does not want me to be your date. They won’t let me join.” He went on to offer a solution: “I’ve forgotten my password on Facebook, but I do have an account. Maybe we can date there instead.”

Dad’s a bit PO’ed by the whole event. He hates looking dumb (and haven’t we all been there). The elders have proof that the kids don’t react much to out-of-the-norm web events. The grownups are reminded again that even your best friend Eddie can be someone else on the web. I’m reminded of the big gap between the two and wondering how my kids’ kids will react to it all. I’m also reminded of how great it is to have your extended family as web friends; the generation gap has always been there, but now we get to experience it in all sorts of new ways.

Along with the WrinkleFree kit’s eye patches and special activators, a tube of daily retinol for under the eyes and a product called FaceLift are included. The kit costs $30.

Beating Botox

My first two treatments had pretty spectacular results. I still don’t look like a teenager, but the lines around my eyes were considerably smoothed. The improvement for puffiness under the eye was negligible, though.

The kits are available in Duane Reade, Target, and other large box stores and drug store chains. My friend, who does the PR for the company, suggests the following to maximize the results: Be sure to apply the patches to clean, dry skin without any lotion/greasy residue for best results. Also, wear the patches for 20 minutes only.

Remember that retinol has certain side effects. You may look a bit red and feel like your skin is drying. And the treatment can be dicey when used in nonoptimal conditions. My third treatment was done on a hot, muggy dog day in August. The heat of the day turned my patch into an oozing puddle. Activation cream leaked onto my eyelid and for the next 48 hours I had something that looked like a sty beneath my eye. Word to the wise? Keep the patches a healthy distance from your eyelids.

What will I look like in a few weeks? Who knows? Will I  become a WrinkleFree junkie, buying kit after kit? Who knows? What I do know is that, for the moment, WrinkleFree Eyes yielded marked improvements on the fine lines around my eyes. It’s less effective with my dark circles and puffiness. (Botox has a similar problem but WrinkleFree costs a fraction of the price and is certainly less invasive.) http://www.universitymedical.com/ump/products