Death of the blog?

I thought it might be slightly ironic to post this..

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/rip-blogs-lapsed-bloggers-last-post-20110921-1kjzn.html

Amazon tablet announced

vs

So, the rumours were true..Amazon today announced the Kindle Fire, a 7 inch tablet running on Android (funny, can't see any mention of a version in the press release).

Since my previous post yesterday, I've had some second thoughts about what this new tablet means to the marketplace. As an Android user (both my phone and tablet) I find the OS superior to Apple's. The Android system gives me, as a user, a much greater degree of flexibility; be it modding the interface, file transfers, USB plug ins...the list goes on, so it continually annoys me to read the press in Australia fawn over the 'i' products (pad, phone, pod) and use terms such as 'wannabe iPads' as I saw in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

I wait with bated breath (what does that expression mean anyway?) for the moment where something comes to the market that finally makes gadget writers of the mainstream press kneel down in front of and declare the ‘IPAD KILLER’ (possibly a good name for a future serial killer?). As I said yesterday the Kindle Fire is not it, but now I realise that's not a bad thing.

My fundamental mistake in yesterday's post was thinking the war was Amazon v Apple where in Amazon's mind it is clearly Amazon v Barnes & Noble. The Fire has been produced to compete against B&N’s Nook. The Nook has been eating into sales of the Kindle in the US (Amazon’s biggest market) as it is basically a colour Kindle. This does not surprise me in the least as my first thought when I saw a Kindle was – “but it’s black & white – who would want that?” It just felt to me like a step back akin to going out and buying a 10 inch B&W TV set.

Expect to see a shedload of these new tablets in people’s hands on trains, buses, trams etc when they come out, particularly if the pricepoint is as low in OZ as it will be in the US. With a library of over 100,000 movies and TV shows, 17 million songs, 1,000,000 books and Amazon’s android market for games and apps who wouldn’t want one?

This can only be a good thing for Android users everywhere as the more people wanting Android apps, the more developers will concentrate on providing products. Then maybe those Apple fanboys will stop bleating about how many more apps Apple have vs Android once and for all.

New Amazon tablet on the horizon - iPad Killer? Perhaps not..

So apparently Amazon is going to release a tablet shortly.  Rumour has it that it may be a bit of a haphazard job merely to get one on the market.  This, in my opinion, is a bit of a poor decision by Amazon. One just has to look at the buzz in the media about an 'iPad killer' to realise that what a company needs to do is release a tablet as good as, but preferably better, than the current iPad for a lower price.

If anyone is in the position to do that right now, it is Amazon. They have shown by their earlier pricing strategy for Kindle that they are prepared to release a product at a low price in order to get a foot in the market. If they sat back an waited a bit and did just that, the word iPad may just be a distant memory in years to come.

Scientists Reconstruct Video Clips From Brain Activity

Cool....I've always wanted to record my dream activity. OK, it's still not here yet but it seems to be a distant reality. I must say though, some of the things I dream are definitely for my eyes only.

Imagine if celebrity dreamtapes started flooding the internet. It could make celeb sex tapes look very tame indeed. Hmm..maybe I should buy celebritydreamtapes.com before anyone else thinks of it..

Scientists Reconstruct Video Clips From Brain Activity

Free shoes? Doubtful..

I just spotted a bargain at Ozbargains. Paul's Warehouse having a sale where Asics runners are $0 + 10 delivery.

Surely it's an error on the website but I bought two just in case.  After all it's 'buy one get one free'.

Will they honour this purchase? Doubtful...

UPDATE: Just received this email..

Dear valued customer,
Unfortunately overnight on the 19/09/11 our website www.paulswarehouse.com.au had a computer malfunction that reduced Asics footwear to $0. This was totally out of our control and we were unaware it happened until this morning. We are writing to inform you that this stock is not available for $0 and we will be refunding your $10 shipping as soon as possible.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding.
Your Paul's Warehouse team

Oh well, it was worth a try!

UPDATE 2:

Just got this follow up email..

Dear Valued Customer,
We appreciate your patience and understanding in regards to our pricing inconsistency, which took place on 19th September.
We wish to notify you that your order has been cancelled and the appropriate shipping fee reminiscent on your order has been refunded in full as of 21st September.
Pauls Warehouse is at no time in possession of credit card details, as the purchase takes place online and in real time via our merchant account with St George Bank.
In order for us to have processed the refund, the Credit Card number was neither required nor viewable to us, but only the transaction number was used to complete the refund.
Our website is fully automated and connected to our inventory system like most eCommerce systems online today. During an automated update process which took place over night, a technical malfunction transpired after hours which resulted in specific Asics footwear models being wrongly priced at $0. The inconsistency was realized the morning of 20th September and immediately resolved.
Pauls Warehouse, in good faith and honesty, sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused and is offering you a one-time only 30% discount off RRP on NEW ARRIVAL items and further 10% off our BUY ONE GET ONE FREE range.
In order to receive this discount, please order online and send us a copy of this email to orders(at)paulswarehouse.com.au. We will then refund you the appropriate difference.
Your Paul's Warehouse team

Very nice of them (and good marketing) but as I was just a no-good bargain hunter and not really that interested in actually paying for shoes I don't think I'll take them up on it.

I want to fly on this!

Beats flying cattle class any day..


http://www.smh.com.au/travel/flight-test-emirates-business-class-20110915-1kaxr.html

China

I just completed a unit as part of my Accounting course which focussed mainly on the emergence of China as the new leader for world production (yes, accounting is not just all about numbers).

I had my own personal example of what the Chinese can achieve recently, and why Australian businesses should be worried:

After purchasing my Iconia tablet, I wanted to pick up a micro HDMI cable to enable me to hook it up to my fullHD TV.

I checked out local shops such as JB Hifi, Dick Smith etc and was surprised to find they don't even stock them. When I did finally hunt them down, I was confronted with a price of $59.95 for a 6 foot cable.

Embracing the power of the mobile internet via my newly acquired tablet, I checked out ebay and found the same thing from a seller in China for $3.95 delivered!

Honestly, it beggars belief that they can possibly be making a profit from that.  Surely it costs more than $3.95 just for the international postage.  One week later, the parcel arrived and the cable works as promised and I even got a paper pattern to stick on our window for 'good luck all year'.  Australian bricks and mortar stores just can't compete with that! In fact even the online ones would struggle.

My tablet - update

Typing this on my tablet and have to say it is my favourite new gadget for this year. A couple of forced shutdowns of apps has been the only issue I have encountered so far and that is more to do with honeycomb than the hardware.

All in all it's a great device which I have no regrets buying.

New tablet - Acer Iconia A500

So, I took the plunge the other day and snapped up an Acer Iconia A500 tablet whilst it was on special for $386.  I also took advantage of a special offer AMEX were holding where they give you $50 back if you purchase something over $250 from particular outlets.

So in the end it ended up costing me only $336 which, considering the RRP was $579 when they first came out,  I consider a bargain. 

First impressions are pretty good.  It's pretty zippy and has a good crisp display with excellent colours.  I have seen some reviews that suggest very high definition movies don't play too well on it but I am yet to try that out. So far I have had no issues with other formats.

One thing that always stood out for me with the Iconia vs other tablets is it has a USB input.  This is invaluable, in my opinion, as you can plug in a thumbdrive, or an external HDD or even a keyboard to type with.  Fantastic.

I will give further impressions as I get to test out more features.

From the Parramatta hostage siege yesterday, this photo appeared today in SMH with a caption "Police officers escort the young girl from the building"

Escort, drag...and she was the innocent party.

50 billion websites

According to http://www.worldwidewebsize.com/ there are approximately 14.3 billion web pages.

This makes me think a few things:

• Geez, that's a lot of web pages..
• I wonder how many are porn..
• It's no wonder that no-one reads my blog.

It also begs the question, if there are so many websites out there, how come I generally visit about 5 regularly?  Am I missing out on some fantastic stuff or is the rest just crap or sites about things that just don't interest me like Teapots from Around the World?

For those who care (there must be someone out there), the sites I regularly visit are:

Sydney Morning Herald
LifeHacker
Whirlpool Forums
Gizmodo
Commonwealth Bank

Lab Chimps See Daylight For First Time

I love the way the chimps hug each other..

Lab Chimps See Daylight For First Time