Hey everyone! Not long ago I had the opportunity to go scuba diving with Bandito Charters and my diving- instructor, Craig Willemsen of Silent-World out here in beautiful Puget Sound. Even though it was a gray day out here in Seattle, we still managed to have a really good time. Thank you to Craig and Captain George Potts of Bandito Charters for everything. I can’t wait till the next time I can go diving with you again!”

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I’d also like to take a moment to thank you, dear viewers you are appreciated. I wish you and yours a love and laughter filled Holiday!

When it comes to technology, my husband is definitely the majority decision maker in this house. In this world of online words, he is a much sought after “guru” of technology knowledge and critique’. Go check his YouTube statistics (over 2 million channel views) if you don’t believe me! See, I’m not just bragging because I’m married to him, it’s a fact. That being said, in my world he is still my husband (tech-guru smuru) and sometimes I don’t do what he tells me to do or follow all his tech reviews… or advice. That being said, I should also mention I have learned to revisit my thoughts and opinions on products from him. He’s great at being fair and transparent with his views. I’m now on the road to reviewing more items myself, hence the story of my beloved Kindle.

Things you should know about me before I go into my reasons for buying the Kindle:

1.) I own over 500 physical books (maybe more, I haven’t counted lately).

2.) I read several books at the same time (I tend to have at least three going at once, based on subject matter).

3.) I don’t always finish the books I buy — This one drives hubby mad.

4.) I have a serious affection for words on wood pulp — high gloss magazines are my mind candy and I’m a confessed indulgent!

5.) When we moved from California, I thought about how much I paid for each of my books and the tally runs high; purchase cost, move cost by weight, shelf cost, room cost, heating and cooling my library, time lost looking for the right book within said library. I digress - the list is really long.

Pros

1.) Less bulk and weight. I always agonize on which book to take. Bag real estate is a premium for anyone who frequents TSA lines and sprawling airports.

2.) Less upkeep. No need to find space on my bulging books shelves for e-books, no need to even pay for their “delivery” as Amazon pays for the Sprint charges.

3.) Privacy and ease of use. I can read Jean-Paul Sartre AND Stephanie Meyer without my fellow middle seat passenger striking up conversation about either. Turn on, click title and I’m reading.

4.) Lots of books at a discounted cost. Most of the e-books are cheaper than their paper counterparts and offer a “sample” to try before buying.

5.) No more guilt over dog earring pages,”breaking” spines, or killing trees for my enjoyment.

Cons

1.) Husband will kill me, scratch that - husband will write and tell the world how I was defiant against his better judgement. :)

2.) What if I don’t use it?

3.) It could die if I don’t charge it and there are the take off and landing times of “please turn off all electronic devices”

4.) The Kindle’s expensive! $350.00

5.) It’s possible the books I want to read aren’t offered by Amazon in e-book form.

These lists are short but I could go on and on about why I decided to buy it and why I almost didn’t. What you really want to know is how it turned out, right?

Honestly, I love the Kindle. I use it almost daily while in the bath or before bed. I’ve read three books on it thus far and I’m in the process of reading several others. For my style of reading, it works out well. I like variety and I need it light and compact. Battery life is really good, if you turn the Wi fi off, it’s even better. I’ll admit I haven’t used all the functions, and I’m sure I’ll like it even more as I learn them. I like it for the book reading, the ease of use, that it’s light and stores tons of options for my reading pleasure. If I want to surf the ‘net, I usually use the iPhone (Chris is right there) but everyone KNOWS you wouldn’t want to read an e-book on the iPhone — talk about battery kill! I like the dictionary feature, most of all I like the look of the E-ink and the ease of purchase and download via whispernet. I also adore not having pages falling open or closed; that is a pet peeve of mine, cured!

So there you have it, I’m not a geek, I’m not a guru - just some gal who likes to read and this is my little story of the Kindle. We’ll need to revisit this subject matter in six months. I will reevaluate and see if I’m still happy about the purchase or if I’ve changed my mind.

5 Reasons to Love the iPhone

1.) Simplicity. I really like the iPhone because it’s intuitive. There are literally ONLY two buttons; everything you need to do can be done with these two buttons or with one finger on the screen.
2.) Threaded conversations within text messaging. If you use IM (instant messaging) online such as AOL, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, or something similar, you will love texting on the iPhone because your texts look just like an IM conversation. If you don’t IM, the reason to love it is you clearly see your side of the conversation and their side in chat bubbles like in cartoons — remember those? This helps in remembering who said what whenever they last said it.
3.) Internet when I want it and just as fast as at home. This is undeniably the reason to love the iPhone; I can get email from my work Outlook account and email from my personal Gmail account all with the swish of an index finger.
4.) Never being bored while waiting in line somewhere. Um, hmm — there are always things to read or new apps to play with and try out!
Which leads nicely into the fifth and most important reason to love the iPhone.
5.) The App Store! It’s amazing. it’s like an adult candy store — mind candy for as far as your little brain will take you. If you can conceive of an idea for an iPhone app, more than likely you’ll find something out there similar. Just make sure to read the reviews. I’ll confess that sometimes I get app happy and start clicking without doing the homework only to later find that certain apps take up a lot of resources or just aren’t as slick s you think they are when put to the real-life test.

5 Reasons to Throw it out the Window

1.) Battery life. It’s the bane of all iPhone lovers. It sucks at best and secretly we all check out how we each handle the issue.
2.) Dropped calls. This is another problem we all face. I’m not sure what the reason is, to be honest. What I do know is there’s not a good explanation for how the iPhone can be “the best phone on the market” when you are talking with a mom about serious subject matter and the thing cuts off three times.
3.) The hold button is sensitive to my cheek heat! I ‘ll say that again because I’m sure you are reading this and saying “What did she say?” Yes, this is my #3 reason to throw it out the window. I’ll be on the phone chatting away and the next thing I know my counterpart is very quiet or I hear “Ponzi, are you still there? Hello?” What’s worse is, if you’ve already been on the phone with the person and dropped the call once or twice, they are conditioned to just hang up and wait for you to call back. By the way, that’s the etiquette. If you have a 3G iPhone and whoever you’re talking to doesn’t, you are designated redialer when the call gets dropped.
4.) No realistic video capabilities. I know there are a few “invite” options for video, but the reality is, with battery life what it is, your choice is to try the video and keep lots of spares around, stand by a power source, or stay hooked into your computer — but that defeats the purpose of having video on your phone, because you aren’t mobile then, right?
5.) No flash on the camera. Flash would be nice. I’ve had several phones in years past (as in four or five years ago) that took great pictures better than what I can get on the iPhone.

The bottom line: it’s not perfect, but it is the best phone/mobile device for my lifestyle. I work and live the majority of my life being connected to the Internet and I love that I can pick up text where I left off on an IM with the iPhone. It gives me seamless integration so I can go run errands while I continue a business conversation. I love that I can watch YouTube or read Wikipedia while I’m in line at the grocery store or waiting in a doctor’s office, and I love having my email load lightning fast. What phone do you have? If you have an iPhone, do you have any fixes for my five reasons to throw it out the window? If so, please share!

Just took some time to answer some random fun questions. If you have any questions for Ponzi, go ahead and submit them either in the comment section or email me (Kenji) at Kenji@lockergnome.com!

Just a test video for our new Tube Mogul account.

Chris and I were at dinner not long ago and saw some forks that reminded us of what Doc Searls likes to call them. ;)