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Thoughts on Amazon’s Kindle Fire
Jan 8th
Back in June 2010, while rumors were circulating that Amazon was developing a tablet device, I wrote a post which suggested that they would be the only company that could create a product to successfully compete with Apple’s iPad. My reasoning was that they were successfully developing a content atmosphere with products like Amazon MP3, Video on Demand and the Amazon App Store with its free app of the day that would compare to Apple’s digital hub. Now that I’ve used the Kindle Fire for a couple weeks I figured I’d share my thoughts about whether Apple should be worried or not.
Hardware
When I first pulled my Kindle Fire out of its box I have to admit that it was bulkier than I expected. Although I owned the first generation of the iPad, I had long since sold it, and so my closest frame of reference was my iPhone 4S. That’s probably not a fair comparison, but I’ll just say the Kindle Fire felt thicker than it should be, at least initially. Over time I’ve gotten used to the heft of the device and, now that I’ve used it for a while, I’m fairly comfortable with holding it.
One way that the Kindle Fire does compare to the iPad is its monolithic form factor with a lack of many physical buttons. The only button you’ll find on the device is located on the bottom bezel next to its charging and syncing port. I have noticed that the location of the button plus the device’s smaller form factor has caused me to accidentally push it (which causes the device to lock) while I’m holding it in portrait orientation from time to time. That issue is only mildly annoying and probably more of a matter of training myself to place my hands further from the center of the device while using it. Over time I’ve noticed the accidental device locks have been less frequent.
The form factor itself has been surprisingly useable. The only other tablet I’ve ever used for a substantial amount of time is the Apple iPad, so I’m used to a larger device. With that said, I think I prefer the smaller Kindle Fire in some cases, most of all for portability. It has also been more condusive to browsing the mobile web without feeling like I’m using a site designed for a significantly smaller device, and that carries over to using apps designed for phones rather than tablets. When using the iPad’s zoom feature to view iPhone apps on it, I always felt like I was using a Fisher Price version of the app (buttons and other UI elements were blown up and felt cumbersome). The Kindle Fire splits the difference however, which means that phone apps work just fine on the somewhat-larger display.
One last potential issue I’ve noticed with the Kindle Fire is that the display does tend to have some temporary ghosting. Every now and then I notice ghosted elements of a different application or of user interface elements that are on the screen frequently. It’s not a huge issue and the ghosting goes away, but it might bug some users. I think it’s important to remember that this device only costs $199 when nitpicking such issues, and when you take that into consideration I honestly think any slight ghosting isn’t a deal-breaker if you’re interested in the Kindle Fire. Additionally, since my Kindle Fire was purchased very early in the device’s life cycle, that issue might be resolved or could be a manufacturing glitch specific to my device. With that said, the problem isn’t significant enough for me to consider returning it for a replacement device.
Apps, Media & Web Browsing
Consuming content on the Kindle Fire is a joy. Because I’m an Amazon Prime member and have used Amazon’s various content services before, all I had to do was login to my Amazon account and I had instant access to my entire music library through Amazon MP3, all of the apps I had downloaded from the Amazon App Store, and all of the books I had purchased through Amazon’s Kindle app. Best of all, access to all of my content was instant because it’s all stored in the cloud so I didn’t have to spend hours syncing everything to the device.
Listening to music on the Kindle Fire through the cloud works well over wifi. I’ve experienced issues with their mobile app for phones such as my previous Motorola Droid X, where-in streaming over a 3G connection produced a lot of time spent buffering. That hasn’t been my experience on the Kindle Fire, however. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m using a more solid wifi connection, but playback has been fairly instant and I haven’t run into the same buffering problem. At this point I haven’t felt the need to sync any of my music to my device which is a testament to the playback from the cloud. If you’re planning on using your Kindle to listen to music I would recommend investing in a decent pair of headphones though, as the internal speaker isn’t anything to write home about.
When I had an iPad my primary reading app was iBooks, but having read on the Kindle Fire I’m happy to say that it’s just as readable if not more so. You have many of the same options as with iBooks, including changing the background color of your book, how big or small the font size is, and the style of font you prefer to read. The reader also has a slew of other handy features, like the ability to search a book or document, make notes and of course leave a bookmark. Navigating pages is pretty simple, just a tap on the left or right side of the screen to move backward or forward a page, or you can swipe your finger across the page to replicate the page turning experience, though it’s not as elegant as the page turn in iBooks (but now I’m just splitting hairs).
The Amazon app store, though easy to use, does leave something to be desired. Although I’m sure the selection will improve over time, the amount of apps developed specifically for the Kindle Fire is lacking right now. There isn’t a great Twitter or Facebook client available yet, though simple apps which link to each service’s mobile website (think more of a bookmark) are available. It has been nice to revisit my collection of Amazon apps that I had on my old Droid X though, and like I mentioned previously even apps developed for phones specifically work pretty well on this device.
Between the Amazon video on demand software and the Netflix app, if you’re looking to watch video on the Kindle Fire you should be pleasantly surprised. Video streams very well in my experience, even when skipping around a video by scrubbing through its timeline. I can’t say a whole lot about the quality because I’m far from a videophile, but for a device this small I haven’t been let down at all. It’s definitely watchable, though I’d recommend some headphones because the sound volume is a bit low at times.
My time spent using the Kindle Fire has re-introduced me to the mobile web in a way. To make up for the fact that I don’t have a great Twitter or Facebook app yet, I’ve been using both services’ mobile sites more. Additionally, to speed up the Fire’s Silk browser I’ve defaulted to a site’s mobile version whenever possible. This doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Kindle Fire specifically, I have to admit that browsing the mobile web is often an enjoyable experience so don’t rule it out if you’re without an app! Most major websites have put a lot of time and thought into their mobile site, and you can usually complete the same tasks as you can with a full website or app. With that said, I have noticed that the Silk browser is a bit pokey at times. There are already guides on the web for settings you can change to speed up the browser, but by default it’s a little slow. I’m sure that Amazon will fix that issue with a future software update, though.
Recommendation
Overall, I’d have to recommend Amazon’s Kindle Fire. For a mere $199 it’s a heck of a package if you want easy access to your content collection. As is the case with most consumer electronic devices there are some imperfections in software this early in the product lifecycle, but many of those will be fixed in time. It’s hard to argue with a device that offers a lot of the great tablet experience I’ve enjoyed with the iPad at a price point that’s less than half that of the cheapest Apple model. The good news is that these things are flying off the shelf, so if you’re curious about the Kindle Fire just ask a friend or go try one out at a store!
Rumored Amazon tablet – the first true iPad competitor!
Jun 23rd
Steve Jobs said it during the iPad 2 announcement: 2011 would be the year of the copycat when it comes to tablet devices looking to compete with the iPad. For the most part, so far at least, I agree. Everytime I turn around I hear about a brand new tablet computer that will truly compete with the iPad and iPad 2 once and for all. For the most part I think these claims have been empty. The slew of Android tablets, though very tempting on paper, have yet to reach critical mass with the general public. Don’t get me wrong, Android-based tablets as well as other competitors like BlackBerry’s Playbook have been evolving all year, but at the end of the day if you ask your Aunt Susie what kind of tablet device she’s interested in there’s a pretty good chance she’ll want an iPad.
In my opinion, part of the reason for this is Apple’s approach to their device. Rather than start with hardware they built upon a stockroom of great services and features they had already developed for other products in their arsenal, whether it be music and video through iTunes or applications through the App Store. On the other hand, many other tablet manufacturers are thinking hardware first and ecosystem second, and that’s exactly why I think a tablet made by Amazon could be the first true competition the iPad has seen since its launch.
I love Amazon. I use Amazon Prime constantly, I’ve bought 4 Kindles to give to friends and family as gifts, I use Amazon MP3 as my primary music store and I check into the Amazon App Store everyday on my Droid X to see what the free app is. Essentially, Amazon already has the ecosystem built to successfully support a tablet device. At the end of the day folks don’t buy a device because of the number of processing cores it's using, but rather the user experience. Instead of asking questions like “How much RAM does this have, and can I connect it to my TV with HDMI?” folks ask “Can I watch movies and listen to my music library, and does this have a ton of great apps I can play with?” It’s all about user experience, and Amazon already has the repertoire needed to support the average consumer’s laundry list of requirements for a tablet device they’ll love.
Consider that the Kindle is already the best-selling item on Amazon.com. Now combine that success with the growing popularity of tablet devices. If people could get a reading experience like they have on their Kindle combined with all of the other great services Amazon offers to users of their music, video and app services they’d have the total package. I’m not really sure what an Amazon-developed tablet would look like (would it use an e-ink display, or one of the many Kindle apps already developed for other mobile devices?) but I do think they have a shot to be a major player.
If nothing else I’m sure an Amazon tablet would have one hell of a shopping app!
Rupert Murdoch’s “The Daily”
Jan 31st
One form of content everyone expected the iPad would be absolutely overloaded with was magazines. The fact of the matter is that fewer people have given a digital magazine a proper go, and of those that do exist I don't think any have been a big success. In fact, even though the iPad dominates the tablet market, the Barnes & Noble Nook s actually the most popular digital periodical device. What gives? Can magazines not exist on tablet devices, or has no one successfully implemented one yet? With "The Daily," Rupert Murdoch will attempt to be the first breakout tablet-exclusive magazine - and I think he'll be successful. Here' why.
The Players So Far
Many of the current magazines in the app store have failed because they provide duplicate content taken from a print publication and the reading experience hasn't been properly modified to be finger friendly. There are some cool publications out there though, here are two of my favorites.
Esquire Magazine
The Esquire Magazine app was the first I saw that really wowed me. It was designed from the ground up for the iPad, and the user interface was one of the most exciting custom interactive experiences I had seen on the iPad at the time. Their use of video and audio to expand the traditionally text-based look of a magazine was also a big deal. It also lets you copy and save text which many apps don't. The cons are that it costs $4.99 an issue and each issue needs to be downloaded separately (many magazines have one free "mothership" app that can download individual issues as in-app purchases).
Project Magazine
Project is definitely the coolest iPad magazine I've seen so far, and I'm not just saying that because the first issue was devoted to TRON. Like the Esquire iPad apps the user interface is 100% customized for the tablet medium. Everything is interactive, and not just the magazine content but advertisements as well. Unlike the Esquire there is a "mothership" app with in-app purchases for individual issues. One thing that's a bummer is that there have only been 2 issues since the magazine was released. Also although the issues are significantly less expensive than Esquire, they do cost more than weeks of "The Daily" will.
How "The Daily" Can Succeed
I think there are many factors that will make "The Daily" take off like no other magazine app has. First off, it's being supported by the big dogs. Not only is Rupert Murdoch dedicated to the project but there's a lot of indication that he's been working closely with Apple to ensure the project is a success. This is a big deal because, if only "The Daily" receives special attention in Apple's app marketing, it can become the go-to magazine experience on the iPad because everyone knows about it. I can't think of a single other magazine app that was featured in an app commercial - maybe they've been holding out for Murdoch's creation?
Another potential reason for success is the total commitment to the tablet. None of the content will be copied from or influenced by a separate publication. Nuff said.
The final two points are price and anticipation. The rumored price for "The Daily" is 99 cents a week or $4.25 a month. You can get an entire month of this for less than one issue of Esquire. Of course the real question is how dense an issue of "The Daily" will be compared to the other magazines I mentioned. Also "The Daily" is actually anticipated by people. Before Esquire or Project existed people knew that Murdoch was making a play in the tablet periodical space. It actually has buzz going for it, and I think at the lower price point more people will be willing to give it a try when the time comes (and some of those people will become regular customers if the content is on-point. I know I going to try it out and I don't like magazines n general.
Dribbble: Show and Tell for Creative People
Jan 25th
Today I have yet another social network to share with you called . Dribbble is billed as a place for creative people to share what they're working on at any given moment with their peers. Say for instance you're a designer working on the latest and greatest Pepsi logo, you could get access to Dribbble, upload a snapshot of the logo (simply called "shots" to stick with the basketball metaphor), and then other people can comment and give you feedback. A big-name brand like Pepsi probably wouldn't use the service fo fear of letting trade secrets leak early, but you get the idea.
Prospects & Players
One unique aspect of Dribbble is the two-tiered user structure. Anyone is able to sign up as a "prospect," which means you can search for and follow creative people whose work you like, but only "players" can submit their own shots and "rebound" other people's shots (basically reply to someone's creative work with your own). Prospects can become players by being "drafted" by someone who is already a player, but there's no guarantee you'll be drafted.
Inspiration for App and Web Developers
Sparrow 1.0 icon, uploaded by its creator to Dribbble
Although I'm not really interested in submitting my own designs to the site, I still plan to be active on Dribbble for the same reason I use LittleSnapper: inspiration. I was very happy to see that there are a lot of folks who work in web or application design that are submitting their work. For example, the image to the right is the new icon for the next version of Sparrow, the email app I wrote about last week. Since Dribbble lets prospects save their favorite works from their favorite creators you can easily establish a nice reference portfolio to review when you start a new project. Anytime one of the players you follow uploads a new shot it'll show up in your timeline just like tweets on Twitter. Plus if you are interested in posting your own work you don't have to worry about plagiarism because all shots have a size limit, meaning you can only post a "preview" of whatever it is you're working on at a given time.
Dribbble is an awesome example of some of the newer social networks that are targeted to a specific group of people, and I hope to see more like it in the future! I think the commitment to the basketball metaphor could be a little dense for some folks, I'm not sure how easy it is to make the jump from sharing creative works to rebounding and player drafts, but apparently the founders are huge Boston Celtics fans so they're allowed to have some fun. and let me know what you think!
Kevin Rose’s new podcast: Foundation
Jan 13th
Today's post will be a quick one, I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about a new podcast that I'm really looking foward () to watching in the coming months. In the first episode Kevin Rose of / fame interviews Jack Dorsey, the inventor of Twitter and the co-founder of an awesome service called that I hope to be dedicating a post to sometime soon.
In the interview Dorsey speaks candidly about how he came up with the concept of Twitter. It was very interesting to me because he talks a lot about the maturation process an idea has to sometimes go through before it can be turned into a successful project or product, and also ways to approach a new idea that will determine its viability. Enough of my rambling though, the video's below!
GetGlue.com – A Social Network that Sticks
Jan 10th
Last week I discovered a new social check-in site similar to Foursquare and Gowalla called GetGlue. What's new you ask? With the two services I mentioned above leading the way and Facebook Places making a big splash, how can there be room for another location-based check-in site? Well, GetGlue has its own take on checking in. Instead of focusing on physical locations you instead use GetGlue to check into the various media you happen to be consuming at any given moment.
Movies, Books, Music...You Name It!
The nice part about using GetGlue is that it seems to know about most types of media and all of the various artists and titles in that category. You can check into television shows, podcasts, video games...pretty much anything you can think of. As you check in and like different things you build a profile based on your tastes and GetGlue will start to recommend new things that you might not have experienced yet. What's more, if you add some friends on the website the recommendations will take their favorites into account as well. Ultimately the idea is to expose users to new things they haven't heard of before and it works pretty darn well.
Stick To It
A lot of the check-in social networks on the web use their own currency...badges in Foursquare for example. GetGlue is no different, but instead of badges you deal with colorful stickers, and who doesn't love stickers? As you like different things your collection of stickers will grow. The coolest part about GetGlue is that there's a physical aspect to the stickers because once you've earned enough you can actually have physical copies mailed to you. You only have to get 20 stickers within a 30 day period so if you love to listen to music or watch movies as much as I do you'll be swimming in collectible adhesives in no time!
The final selling point I want to relay is that GetGlue has an awesome sweet of mobile applications, which is critical. I use their iPad app more than anything and it's incredibly well thought out and easy to use. They've also developed browser plugins that will automatically detect media within webpages and let you like things on the fly. There's really no excuse for you to ever go more than a few hours without increasing your like count.
GetGlue is totally free so give it a shot and let me know what you think! You can . Feel free to add me as a friend on the site (after all, social networks are so much more fun when you use them socially).
The Google CR-48 and Chrome OS
Jan 7th
In case you missed it, Google had an event not too long ago which detailed Chrome OS in-depth and, in effect, "launched" the cloud-based operating system. Chrome OS has been available for some time now, but it was never available as a product - you could download a copy of it and install it yourself, but starting this year you'll be able to purchase devices with Chrome OS pre-installed.
Chrome OS in a nutshell
If you haven't heard of Chrome OS before, it's very similar to Google's Chrome web browser. In fact, from a user interface perspective it's basically identical. The first thing you see when you login to Chrome OS is a window that looks just like the Chrome browser, and from there you can navigate the web and use various cloud services and web applications to get your computing done. The idea with Chrome OS is to work 100% on the cloud, which means you can't get a whole lot done if you don't have an internet connection, but more on that below. Chrome OS also has the existing Chrome web app store built-in, so you can run various rich web applications much like normal programs on Windows or Mac OSX.
CR-48
As I mentioned above Google will be partnering with hardware manufacturers to preload Chrome OS on certain devices available later this year, but at the Chrome OS launch even they also unveiled their own custom laptop running Chrome OS that is being used for testing purposes. As is usually the case, everyone in the audience had an opportunity to take one home for free, but Google also opened availability up to the public. It makes sense, they want to have as many folks try Chrome OS as possible so that they can work out the kinks before people start spending money on the hardware. The sign-up page is still available as of the day I'm writing this post, so head on over and if you'd like to try the CR-48 out. Not everyone gets picked but who knows, you might get lucky!
My Thoughts
It seems like Chrome OS is the perfect operating system for someone who needs a thin client. Say for instance you're a traveling business person, or someone who just needs a modest computer for meetings. However it could also have big implications in various areas, such as schools. Presumably when hardware running Chrome OS is released for purchase it will be a much more inexpensive alternative to traditional computers, I'm just wondering where they'll fit in the grand scheme of things with the prevalence of tablets lately. Even Google has its own tablet play, not the hardware per se but more and more Android-based tablets are coming out every month. So really, I'm just kind of curious about which attributes will cause a person to buy a Chrome OS device over a tablet. Some obvious benefits are larger displays, physical keyboards and not having the burden of storing information locally since the device is entirely cloud-based. In the end what will make or break Chrome OS will be the apps. If folks can get an experience that's very close to a traditional desktop computer for cheap then it could take off.
My hope is that when these devices come out they're super cheap...I'm talking sub $200. Since you need an internet connection for them to be used I wouldn't be surprised if they were subsidized, or even if they came free with a data package from one of the major wireless providers like Verizon (the CR-48 has a Verizon data connection). My worry is that Chrome OS was mostly developed and conceived of when netbooks were the big thing, but since that time the popularity of netbooks have died down and tablets are taking off.
As a web developer I'm very interested in what folks think about the CR-48 and Chrome OS in general. How much of your computing takes place while you're on the web? Do you think you could use ONLY the web to get your computing done? Would you buy a Chrome OS device? Leave a comment below and let me know!
How Rdio.com Made My Life Better
Jan 5th
The subheading for this post would be "and why maintaining your brand or product's online persona is so important." I didn't use that in the title because it would have made for one hell-of-a-long title. Here goes.
The Backstory
So a few months ago I wrote a post about Rdio.com. In it I labeled some of the things I liked about the service and some of the things I wasn't particularly happy about. I believe I posted a link to it on Twitter with the hashtag #rdio, and Todd Berman of Rdio came along and read it, which was very flattering. He also took the time to leave a comment, and he helped me out with some of the issues I listed (I have since stricken out my incorrect statements in that post). At the time I was on a free trial of the music streaming service, and to be honest I don't think I would have just let my trial run out without subscribing and paying to continue to use it.
Ever Since Then...
...I've been a paying customer, and I use Rdio literally everyday (in fact I'm using it as I write this). Part of that is because it's an excellent service, one that I've grown to love and become more familiar with over time. They've also added features and improved things along the way, which is awesome. However, another part of that is that Todd took the time to seek out folks using his company's product, interact with them, and provide an excellent online "customer service" experience. The fact that he took the time out to read and comment on some schmuck's blog post gave me the confidence that he was passionate about the company's product and wanted to use customer feedback to improve it in the future.
I'm An Album Guy
Just to recap some of the reasons I've grown to love Rdio, let me first say I'm an album person. I'm not the type of music listener that will just buy a couple of hits from a new album, I like to listen to the whole thing because some romantic part of my brain thinks that an album itself is one complete work. For that reason, Rdio saves me a heck of a lot of money.
When I do buy music I tend to buy MP3s since most of the time I'm listening to it I'm using a digital device of some sort, and if I really need to have a disc I can just burn it myself. Despite that, new MP3 albums are usually around $10, which is twice the base monthly subscription to Rdio. If you're a music lover like me there's a good chance you buy a couple of albums a month, so you can see how the savings would stack rather importantly. Even if you're just a casual listener, MP3 downloads of songs are generally $0.99, so your choice is buying 5 songs from Amazon MP3 or having access to Rdio's entire library. Pretty obvious choice to me!
Discovery
Finally, Rdio has exposed me to a TON of new music that I wouldn't normally listen to. In the past, if the choice was between spending $10 on an album that I may or may not like, or listening to something I already had in my collection that I loved, I'd generally save the cash and skip the album unless it was recommended to me by a friend. However, with Rdio, you can dabble here and there to find new favorites without worrying about breaking the bank.
Additionally it's great for those one-off songs that you just want to listen to because you thought of it. For instance, the other day I woke up with "Jessie's Girl" stuck in my head so I headed over to Rdio and gave it a few listens. I'm not ashamed to admit it. 
Instapaper: I Wish I Used It More
Jan 3rd
This post is more of an observation than anything else, and the thought could probably be wrapped up more in a tweet than a long-form blog post. Don't worry though, I'm going to blog about it anyways. If you haven't heard of yet, it's a way of saving content on the web for later use. For instance, say you're browsing your favorite website and you see a few articles that you don't really have time to read right now, Instapaper will save a copy of the article that you can read at a later date and, best yet, you don't even need an internet connection to read it! This has been a boon for folks that travel a lot. Just save some content before you leave and when it's safe to break out your iPad on the plane load up Instapaper to read that article you've been looking forward to.
Why I love Instapaper...
I love Instapaper because it seems to integrate with everything. I'm an iPad user on top of being an Instapaper user, and so whenever I see an app that has "Read Later with Instapaper" functionality my heart does a little jig. In a way I guess this post ties into yesterday's about how the way we, as web users, are changing the way we take in information. Whatever it is, I just like having the ability to save information that might not be vital to me at the current moment for later perusal.
...but why I don't "use" Instapaper.
Don't get it twisted, I do use Instapaper. Like I mentioned above, I love tapping that little "read later" button and collecting news stories. However, the times that I actually launch the Instapaper application to read an article are few in number. I'm beginning to realize that Instapaper is similar to "liking" something on Facebook for me. It's the least possible amount of effort I can put into showing solidarity for something without just ignoring it altogether.
For example, I might see a headline on the Engadget app and think hey, I might want to look into buying that new gadget sometime, this information might be useful to me at some point in the future, so *bam* Instapaper. In reality I'll never read it though. Again, if you're one of the folks who worked very hard to create Instapaper I think you have a great product that I've spent money on, I guess I just need to start flying more.
Thoughts on The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Jan 2nd
I recently finished by , and I feel somewhat obligated to put my thoughts into a blog post. I've been extremely hesitant to write this post only because I'm so inexperienced in the field and one knowledgeable person could come along and rip me to shreds with a few keystrokes. I also think that in many ways I'm biased in that I make my living from developing websites and applications that are precisely the culprit of the dramatic changes the internet are having on our brains (which I in no way refute, by the way).
My Understanding of Neuroplasticity
Basically, The Shallows details neuroplasticity, which I am now going to try to (and probably fail to) define. In essence neuroplasticity is how our brains are able to be bent and molded by our environment to more efficiently adapt to our current situation. Think of it as adaptation of the brain. In some cases the process can be relatively slow (weeks, months, even years), but scientists have proven that the "circuitry" in our brains can be reworked to operate more efficiently.
One example provided in the book was blindness. Say for instance someone becomes blind, it isn't uncommon for that person's other senses to become more precise, to be honed to compensate for the lack of vision. This is a really stupid example but if you've ever seen the movie , in which Jamie Foxx plays the blind musician Ray Charles, there's a scene in which Ray is sitting down to dinner with a woman and he mentions a hummingbird outside. The woman wasn't aware of the hummingbird, but Ray says that he can actually hear its wings fluttering. Presumably in this fictional scenario Ray's auditory senses have been increased because the synapses in his brain have been "rerouted," that is to say more of the brain's processing power has been directed to hearing. When Ray lost his vision the part of his brain that usually accepts and processes visual information didn't just die, it was instead repurposed to help Ray process information in other ways.
Now apply neuroplasticity to the average person that is exposed to information on the internet. We read facebook status updates, tweets, have message alerts on our phones, new email message alerts on our computers, we have RSS feeds that alert us whenever our favorite sites post a new article and so on. This is a huge departure from older forms of information consumption, where-in someone might sit down a read a newspaper or book. As a result, our brain is "adapting" to being constantly bombarded with small nuggets of information.
Information ADD
So what's the result? In affect, our brains have become like hummingbirds jumping from one flower bud to the next. We struggle with longer-form reading. I'll be the first to admit it, much of the time when I'm researching on the internet I won't read an entire article, I'll instead scan for the information that's useful to me, or even jump to the bottom of a blog post to find relevant links to downloads or other information.
Additionally, because information is so readily available on the internet our brains are learning to focus more on information acquisition than retention. Why, for instance, should your brain retain what the capital of The Netherlands is if you can find out in a matter of seconds by searching on Wikipedia? Again, I'm also at fault here. If I know I can easily regain access to information on the web I'm less likely to actually focus on memorization or retention.
Is This Bad?
So far you're probably thinking that I ate this book up and that I agree with everything found within, and truthfully I do agree with most of it, and I definitely agree that neuroplasticity is a real thing that is affecting users of the web. However, unlike Nicholas Carr, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. In one section of the book he discusses what might be filling our memory if not facts that we need to perform well in school, or at our job. I think that is an extremely interesting question - what if rather than filling our memories with facts, we had the ability to more accurately retain our life experiences? It could be that a lot of nonsense would be easily recalled but in ways I'd rather remember the things I do on a daily basis than what the capital of an obscure country that I'll probably never visit is.
I know that the web is changing the way we think and learn. I also know that most college courses are still being taught via lectures, a thousand year old method. Although I can understand that there is a value associated with deep reading and deep thought, I highly doubt that folks are going to throw away their computers or phones anytime soon to return to books as a primary source of information. There's an incredible opportunity for someone to come up with a new way of teaching that plays to our new way of taking in information, and I'm sure that will happen sometime soon. In my opinion this change is not bad, will not lead to the end of creative thinking, and will not make us a bunch of brain-heads living in filled vats hooked intravenously to the Intertron™ of the future. We will instead focus on content that is more valuable in order to work our ways to the same product more quickly. Will it have a negative impact on our intellectual blossoming as an individual? Probably. Will we care? Probably not, and folks that do will turn to traditional sources of information to have that experience.
