When was the last time you read something for pure enjoyment? Are there books you once bought, but have yet to read? Information management and speed reading are gaining relevance as key skills for success in school and in the workforce. The video below simply illustrates how the internet has led to an explosion of information. How we deal with this is key. Enjoy the video!

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

Steve Jobs definitely knows how to put on a show. Apple unveiled their newest creation, the iPad yesterday. Aside from being a very nicely designed tablet computer, Apple’s iPad will also serve as an e-book reader.

Apple’s entry into the e-book market is a direct challenge the Amazon’s Kindle which has dominated the e-book market over the past couple years. Now it looks like Amazon has some catching up to do.

Apple’s iPad works like a regular computer. You can browse the internet, listen to music and read books. You can think of it as an entertainment hub. Amazon’s Kindle is a more simplified device. The Kindle basically only does one thing, but it does it really well. It allows you to read books on the go. The Kindle makes it very easy to get books from Amazon’s store (wirelessly with no internet fee).

Pricing: The most important thing to look at is pricing. Amazon’s Kindle is priced at $259, while the iPad starts at $499. With Amazon you get free internet, but with the iPad you’ll have to pay a monthly fee. Although it’s important to note, that the only reason you’ll really need web access on the Kindle is to download books. An iPad user is much more likely to be accessing the internet not just for books, but also for movies and music, along with simple browsing.

Battery Life: Amazon’s kindle wins this contest very easily. The iPad has a color display and will definitely kill your battery faster. However, I was surprised to know that Apple claims 10-hours of better life. The Kindle can run for up to a week with its wireless connection on.

Size & Display: If you compare the iPad to the Kindle DX (Amazon’s bigger Kindle), they’re both about the same. Both are a little over a pound and very light. Both screens are 9.7 inches.

Keyboard: The iPad has an on-screen keyboard while the Kindle has a physical keyboard. Which is best? This is usually based on the user’s preference.

Storage: The Kindle DX has 4GB of internal storage, which is roughly equal to about 3,500 books. The iPad has 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of flash storage.

Apple’s iTunes vs. Amazon’s Bookstore: This battle will be a tough fight. Apple’s iTunes store is very widely used for getting music, video and podcasts. It’s a great distribution system that already integrates very really well with other Apple products. Meanwhile, Amazon’s bookstore is the most visited bookstore in the world. The Kindle makes it very convenient to shop the store, but Apple could easily leverage iTunes to offer its iBooks.

It remains to be seen whether or not the iPad could overtake the Kindle’s domination of the e-book market, but you can certainly expect the competition to fuel more innovation, which is great for the consumer.

I discovered this quirky fact the other day after reading a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal by IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Cooper (see We Still Need a Simpler Tax Code). Naturally, I started thinking:

How long would it take too read the entire U.S. tax code?

• It would take 13 days (308.33 hours) of non-stop reading

This assumes the person is reading 200 words per minute (wpm) - the average reading speed. This also assumes the person reads the entire time and does not slow down, which is a little unrealistic.

Let’s assume that it is your sole job to be informed about the U.S. tax code. If you read 8 hours per day (9am-5pm), Monday-Friday, and you started your reading voyage on April 15, you would not finish until June 4. It would take 38.5 days of work to do this.

So that’s what accountants do in the off-season.

By the way… if you accomplish this feat, you deserve something more than a CPA. Maybe an official designation as Tax Czar or Tax Oracle. At the very least you should get a certificate of some sort to hang on you fridge.

So how long would it take the average person to read the economic stimulus? First we need to know the average reading speed, which is 200 words per minute (wpm). Now we just need to know how many words are in the document.

This is a long, tedious process that you probably shouldn’t do. So I took the liberty of doing it for you (you’re welcome).

There are 207,421 words in the economic stimulus bill.

The average person, reading at 200 wpm would take 17 hours and 17 minutes to read the entire bill (without blinking or bathroom breaks).

You can see the latest updates on the stimulus package on the following website: ReadTheStimulus.org.

Amazon’s original version has been out of stock for months after Oprah Winfrey endorsed it before the holiday season. This is the second time demand has outpaced the supply. Can this new Kindle generate the same amount of excitement?

New Features in Amazon’s new Kindle 2:

• Improved Battery Life: 25% Longer. “…read for up to two weeks on a single charge.”
• Better Designed: thinner - 1/3 of an inch and more sleek design.
• More Storage: 2GB Internal. Holds over 1,500 books.
• Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns.
• Read-to-Me: New Text-to-Speech feature. Will read books out loud to you.

Click see all of Amazon Kindle 2’s specifications

Here are some of the nice advantages of the Kindle that have stayed the same:

• Free Internet: No monthly bills. You can browse the internet using their basic browser.
• Over 230,000 Books: …and counting
• Low Cost Books: New York Times Bestsellers are still $9.99
• Quick Downloads: Most of the books download wirelessly within 1-minute.
• Free Samples: You can get free samples, usually a chapter or two, for each book.
• Email Your Kindle Personal Documents: You can send PDF or Word Documents.
• Listen to Music: Probably not a replacement for your iPod however.

I’ve been using the Kindle for over a year now and have been very pleased. Unfortunately, the version I have now is officially the “old version.” I’ll probably be tempted into getting this version eventually - that is, if they don’t end up selling out again.

If you’re like me and do a lot of random reading on a variety of subjects you’ll love the Kindle. I used to carry 2 or 3 books in my bag everyday and now I just carry the Kindle. Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) is probably alleviating thousands from future back problems. Thank you Jeff.

So what would you like to see in the next Kindle, Kindle 3.0? Feel free to post your comments on new features you’d like to see…

• LinkedIn.com - Remember the concept of six degrees of separation? This site is the MySpace/Facebook for business people. It allows you to easily to see who your friends are connected to. Is very helpful if you’re looking for a new job and need an introduction. Feel free to connect to me here to see who I’m connected to.
• GlassDoor.com - Allows you to see ratings, reviews and salaries for over 14,000 employers. Ever wondered what it would be like to work at a certain company? This site provides an easy way to get some insights.
• Startuply.com - Have you always wanted to work for a startup? Then this website is for you. This website lists positions with top startups such as Digg, StumbleUpon and many others.
• AfterCollege.com - Did you just graduate? Or are you graduating soon? This website provides listings to many entry level jobs and internships.
• Vault.com - This website has been around for a while and is very comprehensive. Has a variety of resources for those looking for jobs.

How about you? Are there any others out there that you would recommend? Please add to the comments.

Paul Nowak

One of the most impressive features, was the option to view your books in a “cover view” style, an obvious takeaway from the iPhone, but impressive nonetheless. Below is a screenshot of that view.

Like LibraryThing.com, GuruLib.com draws its information from Amazon and other places so you can easily find your books. Both of the sites offer a great way to organize and catalog your books.

Know of any other websites that might be interesting to readers? Share them with us by adding them to the comments.

I came across this site recently which allows you too easily search for books you have read or plan to read and add them to your catalog. The site’s search goes through Amazon and even the Library of Congress to find the book you specified.
The site allows you to tag your books, see what others are reading and make notes to your book. There are many other functionalities that I am still exploring, but from a first impression LibraryThing.com seems great for anyone that loves to read and wants to keep track and organize their books.

You simply highlight what you want to read, set your reading speed and press play. The words are then blinked in groups on the screen at the speed you set.

RSVP stands for “Rapid Serial Visual Presentation” and the methodology behind it was originally developed by the U.S. Air Force to train pilots in recognizing enemy planes at the blink of an eye.

Although the technology is still fairly new, initial research at Wichita State University is showing the technology to be pretty promising in helping people not only read faster, but also comprehend better.

Here’s a webinar I did demonstrating the RSVP Reader Add-on for Firefox. Know of any other RSVP Readers? Feel free to add them to the comments.

-Paul-

Earlier this week I came across, ReadBag.com. This is a great website if you do a lot of reading online. If you’re like me, and do a lot of reading online, sometimes you don’t have the time to read everything in one sitting. You might resort to bookmarking the link in your browser, emailing it to yourself or adding it to some social bookmarking site.

Readbag.com puts nifty spin on bookmarking while making it ridiculously easy. Below is a quick demo I did to show you some of the cool features.

Know of any other cool websites for readers? Let us all know by commenting on this post.
-Paul-