My love of gadgetry goes way back. I’ve always loved the ingenuity and innovation that most of them bring to the user. It’s one reason I subscribe to Jay Garrett’s Gadgety News. I get all the updates on gadgets across the pond as well as in my own back yard in Jay’s unique style.
Gadgets Rule
I mean, who among us wouldn’t gain value from having a fork that tells us when we’re eating too fast? Or the must-have Solo-Dad Saddle? OK, maybe we can do without those. 
Some of the gadgets I can recall in my more recent history include:
- A combination ballpoint pen and LED clock (1984).
- A multiplex (Swiss Army) knife with screwdriver, toothpick and mini-scissors (1970).
- A PalmOne PDA with mp3 player, camera, video, and PDF reader (2004).
So it’s quite natural that I’m a bit conflicted about my next choice of gadgets. That a gadget is necessary is a settled fact. The issue before me is the choice.
Kindle 2 Vs. iPod Touch
Ever since seeing Amazon’s Kindle 2 up close, I’ve been drooling for one. It’s well designed, intuitive, and as cool as anything on the market.
To think I could carry my entire library with me on business trips, vacations, long weekends away….choose from almost any title depending on my mood…well, it sends chills up and down this reader’s spine.
So I’ve decided a Kindle 2 is in my future.
Then Came LE’s iPod Touch
I fulfilled my January promise of rewarding him with an iPod Touch if he managed to bring his grades up by the end of the year.
He worked very hard and earned every dollar’s worth of its value.
Because it’s the 5th iPod I’ve purchased over the last 4 years (4 were gifts), I’ve been curious as to its design and function. Each time I play with it, I’m simply amazed by the genius behind it.
Needless to say, I’ve decided an iPod Touch is in my future as well.
Enter the Conflict
There’s a problem. I have a rule that I’ve talked about before that involves not having stuff for the sake of having stuff. And not buying items that share duplicate functions. It’s the essence of simplicity.
I don’t have a stereo or a dedicated CD player or boom box. All my music is on my iPod Classic. When I want to listen without headphones I plug the iPod into my home theater speaker system.
Conflict #1 – Can I really own 2 iPods? Yes, and no. Yes, because my iPod Classic is mainly for music and holds my entire music collection. Yes, because I’m thinking of using the iPod Touch for functions my Classic cannot fulfill or when breaking out the laptop is inconvenient.
No, because then I’d have two iPods. 
This violates the non-duplication of function rule.
Conflict #2 – Now the iPod Touch can also be used in place of a Kindle 2. The geniuses at both Amazon and Apple have created the ability for the iPod Touch to also hold Kindle Books via a free application called Kindle For iPhone. This app allows you to purchase, download, and read any Kindle Book on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
I tried it out on LE’s iTouch by purchasing a book for him to read. Pretty cool, I have to say. You can even download free first chapters of any Kindle Book on Amazon. The screen can be read in both portrait and landscape modes. While the screen is much smaller on the iPod Touch, the Kindle 2 is only in black and white.
What Would You Suggest?
How would you suggest I resolve this conflict?
- Would you encourage me to stick to my principle of non-duplication of function and get the Kindle 2?
- Should I get an iTouch and read my books that way while ignoring the non-duplication of function?
- Or maybe buy both to say the hell with my non-duplication of function rule altogether?
Please give me your two cent’s worth?
Hmmm I cannot help you at all. I am old school. cheap cell phone no apps. and Paperback reading- Sorry
I think I’m much ‘older school’ than you are. Your comments are always helpful.
Did you read the article in the current Fast Company magazine? Interesting to see who will win… and the ramifications are bigger than just a device.
Dads – Thanks for the point toward the FC article. I read it online and you’re right, the implications for both readers and authors are incredible.
While the printed book will most likely remain with us, the flawed publishing model that exists today isn’t the model that will take us further.
Online marketers figured out a long time ago how to cut the middleman out of online publishing. It seems the commercial world is catching up.
Here’s a cute series of videos from one of my favorite bring-n-mortar bookstores in the Richmond District of San Francisco, Green Apple Books. They have 3 vids in this series. Check ‘em all out on YouTube!