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My gut tells me that Kindle will go the way of poopy brown Zunes and Segways. 1. Expensive hardware. 2. Cheap looking hardware. 3. Expensive content. 4. Un-innovative software. 5. A name that sounds like firewood. I like Amazon – a lot. I think its really hard for a startup to come along and beat a company that has so much infrastructure and logistics nailed, and I like the innovation in S3 and EC2. But the Kindle has dog written all over it. Amazon needed to do something really disruptive here and this is not a disruptive product. Ebook readers have not taken off, and the difference between laptops and readers is narrowing. I suspect a market slice is needed to gain traction and that education could provide that in a way that would be world changing. What I’d like to see is a Kindle like product for schools and…

My wife is now nearly 4 months PREGNANT! So we’re launching a kids and baby site for Wists, called Yokiddo. Hopefully by saturating ourselves with fun kids stuff to look at, such as a $3M model of Moscow or Craftsman’s ‘my first chainsaw’, we will exorcise the need to actually buy any.

Is Rim the new Microsoft? The graph says it all. Far from denting the Blackberry maker’s stock, RIM has actually outpaced Apple’s massive surge since the iPhone announcement at the beginning of the year. Windows 3.1 was shabby compared to the original Mac OS, but businesses liked Microsoft because its very absence of polish made it seem less like an indulgence. Bottom line: Rim is the Microsoft of the business cellphone market, and there is a lot of money to be made there. The iPhone is years ahead of the Blackberry, but its presence creates context making Rimm’s the business device and Apple’s the consumer one.

T-Mobile charge 10c for every line of an IM conversation! Its worth checking the small print of your cell phone plan: Amazingly, T-Mobile are charging me 10c every single time I hit return, while using AIM on my Blackberry. They treat each individual line in an IM message as a separate text messag – which seems like a total scam. Can you imagine the outcry if using Instant messenger cost this on a computer? “Instant Messaging Use your existing username and Yahoo! Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger to see who’s available, then chat instantly–just like on your computer. Each instant message sent or received is charged or deducted as a text message. You may also be charged for all the administrative functions such as buddy list updates or signing on and off. “

Dr. Allan Wooley was my school Chemistry teacher and ‘Form Master’ as they called the teacher that was responsible not just for your academic performance, but your general well being. And he really cared about people’s well being. Making it all the more tragic that he apparently took his own life last week. He was a great and memorable teacher. Nobody can have a more widespread, meaningful and lasting legacy than a great teacher.

A Do-It-Yourself Quantum Eraser — [ PHYSICS ]: Scientific American

Daniel Tammet is simultaneously extraordinarily gifted and well balanced. His blog is the best thing I’ve read in ages. There, I have learned, amongst other things, that the collective noun for collective nouns is a ‘peculiar’. I’ve put the documentary about him posted on Smashing Telly it’s a must see. Optimnem Blog: The Blog of Daniel Tammet

Darrin sent in this graffiti gem: “A few years ago, in the men’s room in Fanelli’s Tavern, downtown Manhattan:” “(in large letters) I fucked your mother!” “(below, in a smaller hand) Go home, Dad. You’re drunk.”

The latest Wists shopping blog, Popgloss launches today. Popgloss covers womens clothing and accessories, an eclectic mix of quirky and fun or innovative design – fashion without the attitude. It has a similar feel to Cribcandy, lots of pictures few words, updated dozens of times a day and with the ability to save pictures and links to anything you like with one click.

Arab Barbie dolls with veils. From a mall in Aqaba.link » tags: [globalization] via Wists: link

My wife has put together a Wist of bathroom and makeup products, such as solid shampoo, that should be allowed in carry-on luggage, with the no liquids ban. Wists – non liquid carry on products.