You touched on something im working with right now, actually. Voice input for recording, or for direct speech to text applications? and, what mic are you using?
That said, I dont like the IPHONE. i have a nice small brick that makes phone calls, and is an mp3 player. (sony erricson walkman cobranded phone. I get better audio quality from it than i do from a friends ipod, teh same headphones and file being used. ) I want a nice sized screen for reading a book. If i can get something with a screen the size of a paperback, im good. On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote: > Jones Beene wrote: > >> . . . why buy two similar handhelds if the iPhone can do the book task >> almost as well? > > Answer: People who read a lot do not want one that is "almost as good"; they > want the best possible gadget for the job, even if they have to spend $360 > extra. It is worth it. For the same reason, I am happy to pay $170 a voice > input microphone, even though others that are "almost as good" cost only > $50. It saves me countless hours of searching for voice input errors. It is > worth $120 extra to me. > > If they could make a Kindle with a larger screen, more suitable for > newspapers and magazines, that weighs less than 1 lb, I expect they could > sell it for $1,000. The audience would be limited, but it would be much > larger than it might have been a few years ago, because many people now > realize the benefits of the gadget. People sometimes have to learn the value > of new technology; it is not always readily apparent. > > It is surprising how often people fail to realize the benefits of a new > technology, even when the benefits are obvious in retrospect. A classic > example was the world's first telegraph, installed between Baltimore and > Washington DC in 1828. It cost an enormous amount compared to subsequent > installations, and it was paid for by the U.S. Government -- like so much > other cutting-edge, futuristic technology. For the first several weeks it > was open to the public, no one used it because no one saw any benefit to > instantaneous communication with Baltimore. A few years later, telegraphs > were one of the largest businesses in the world. Even so, in 1846, Thoreau > famously wrote: > > "As with our colleges, so with a hundred 'modern improvements'; there is an > illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance. . . . Our > inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from > serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end. . . . We > are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; > but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate." > > You still find Luddites who say the Internet and computers are overrated, or > more trouble than they are worth, and we should stick to printed newspapers, > fountain pens, typewriters and so on. Some cold fusion researchers, who > shall remain nameless, feel that serious scientists should publish only in > printed paper journals, not on the Internet. > > >> It is kinda-like the computer printers these days, where they practically >> give away the nice printer but then rob you with the high priced ink. Lesson >> there: get a laser printer instead. > > I recommend an HP Officejet Pro K550 inkjet printer instead of a laser > printer. The printer is a bit more expensive going in, but the black > cartridge holds 17 ml of ink, and it is far cheaper per page than others. > > - Jed > >
