Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Thanks For Being Open Apple, Amazon, Barnes And Noble
"Open systems" are really helpful for consumers. For example, on Friday I found what seems like the perfect book to help me learn how to create apps for the iPhone and iPad.
I found the book while surfing around using Safari on my iPad. I wanted to know more about it, so I went to the Amazon.com site, and read through the comments. I decided to buy it.
But I didn't want to wait until after the weekend to have Amazon ship me a copy. So, I went to BN.com (that's Barnes and Noble's website), and looked up the book, and they have a very handy feature that lets you see if it is available at your local store. And there it was! So, I let the store know I wanted it, and they texted me back that it was ready.
Barnes and Noble seems to be working as hard as they can to be ready for modern consumers. When I got to the store, I noted that the book (computer tech books can be quite expensive) had been marked down 20% already, and my member's discount of 10% would be taken off of that. I think that BN realizes that they are competing to some extent with Amazon. Based on conversations I've had with other booksellers, this is a hard concept to grasp.
I'm thinking of buying the ebook version of the book so I'll have it in my iPad reference library. As much as I enjoy Apple's iBooks versions of ebooks, I'll need to get it for the Kindle app on the iPad, because iBooks doesn't have it. Since everyone is working together, though, I'll be able to have the ebook version too.
I'd argue that this works out more conveniently than even sf writers imagined; the best visualization of ebooks is probably the tiny electronic book store from Stanislaw Lem's 1961 novel Return from the Stars.
Anyway, this whole scenario wouldn't work if each of these companies hadn't elected to have a more open system. So thanks, Apple, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/1/2011)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.' - Bernard Brown, 1934.
Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.' - Jack Vance (1952)
Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China
'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.' - George Orwell, 1984.
Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
