The Evolution of Books: A Review of the Kobo Wireless e-Reader

I am currently reading two very similar books in 2 very different formats: “Naturalists Voyage Around the World” is an old yellowing book that was given to my grandfather in 1890, and “The Origin of Species” is loaded on my new Kobo Wireless e-reader that was given to me at the ShesConnected Conference last week. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the latter:

The pros:

I admire the packaging of the Kobo because the box opens like a book and everything is neatly tucked away. The incentives are great too, as there are 100 classic books pre-loaded, including my great great grand uncle’s infamous “Origin of Species”. The Kobo buttons are well marked and the main control pad is as easy to use as a vintage Gameboy. It’s also extremely light and thin (only 221 grams, 10mm thick).

You can store 1000 books in this little tablet, so if you’re going away on holiday you can put this in your purse as opposed to packing Maeve Binchy‘s entire collection (which would take up valuable suitcase space). Speaking of going on holiday, if you were going somewhere sunny, you would have no problem reading the kobo outside, because there is no glare (unlike other tablets, this screen is not backlit). Because the e-Reader is wireless, you can download books on the go where ever there is a wireless connection and you can even read your public library’s ebooks for free! You can also adjust the text size and fonts for easy reading, so neck-craning and/or squinting need not be part of the reading experience.

One of the coolest things about the Kobo is that when you turn it off or put it into sleep mode, instead of the screen going blank, an image of the current book you are reading will appear. In this way, the kobo mimics a real “closed” book, like a book cover.

The Kobo comes in 3 colours: black, silver and purple (or as the marketing gurus at Kobo put it: “onyx, metallic silver & pearlized lilac”). I expect the latter to be popular with other women, although personally the lilac colour reminded me of hospital walls.

And lastly, because the wireless Kobo is brand new, this little device has a certain “cool” factor.

The Cons:

For being a brand new device, I am not very impressed with the technology of the Kobo reader. The black and white screen honestly reminds me of an electronic toy I was given for Christmas in 1989. They have dubbed this seemingly vintage look “e-ink technology”. The benefit is that you can read the Kobo in ths sun, but also like a “traditional book” you need a light source to read the kobo at night. I imagine that future incarnations of the Kobo will include some kind of optional back lighting so you read your kobo at night without a lamp or flashlight.

There is only one thing about the Kobo that I really despise: the clunky “page-turning”. Unlike the smooth graphics of page turning in online magazines, the Kobo screen goes black when you “turn” the page. This is the one thing that makes me think “C’mon, this is 2010 not 1989…There really wasn’t a better way to design this?”

The second thing that irked me was summed up by my sister, who said: “it feels cheap”. I agree. Despite one of the Kobo representatives at the conference saying “we know that our customers like the way a book feels in their hands, so we tried to mimic that with Kobo”, I don’t see how a rubbery backing feels like a book cover. For the price point of CAD$149, one would expect the Kobo to come with some kind of leather binding, like a real book, so you can “open” it like a real book, and have the benefit of protecting the screen when you “close” the kobo. I noticed that Dermapad sells a kobo cover like what I would have expected the Kobo design to include:But I don’t think I will bother getting one because this technology will probably be outdated in a year or so and then I’ll just have to buy another expensive case for something else. Finally, my last complaint would be the power button. It’s not as intuitive as one would think. I have accidentally put my kobo into “sleep mode” instead of “off”, and picked up the kobo the next day to find I need to charge it again.

Conclusion: All in all, the Kobo hits its target market: women who like to read and who want an easy-to-use device to do just that. As a member of generation Y, I keep thinking “this thing only does books? What about audio books? or checking my email?” I guess my next investment should be an iphone.

Bottom Line: Despite the $149 cost, the durable and light Kobo is definitely more likely to be thrown in my purse than my priceless 1890 edition of “Naturalists Voyage Around the World”.

Back in Canada

I have been back in Canada for about a month and a half. I have been super busy attending conferences, such as the excellent “Enterprise Toronto Small Business Forum” and the “She’s Connected” conference (put on by a new social media site of the same name).

At the latter conference, I was lucky enough to see my former professor, Sidney Eve Matrix, give an excellent presentation on “Millennial Moms”…I also got a free Kobo Reader, CK perfume, a Danier leather wallet, Smashbox make up, and a bunch of food from Kraft…Never, ever, have I received such wonderful swag. I was only a little bit sad when I saw the Cadbury’s chocolate bar. (I still can’t believe Kraft bought Cadbury’s.)

I also noticed that Kraft is sneakily trying to rebrand itself. What do you make of that?

Quilts and Keys

I met with a quilter/artist today about making the quilt in the “Lady of Shallot” painting.  I want to reconstruct John William Waterhouse’s iconic painting in photographic form.  I also went into the local piano store and was again entranced by the anatomy of pianos.  This is my 102nd day in San Francisco. As my friend Emily said today, the reality of my situation has hit me. It’s not a vacation anymore, but I still love it here.

Roger Ebert Day / A Night of Celestial Popcorn

Quite the title, I know, but this was quite the event. May 1st was the Mel Novikoff Award at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival. According to Rachel Rosen, the Director of Programming at SFIFF, Roger Ebert was the unanimously elected recipient. After she invited Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz to the stage, Rachel informed the audience that Tilda Swinton was unable to make the awards ceremony (cue the disappointed “awwww” from the audience) because of a scheduling conflict with the production of Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to talk about Kevin”. (Which, by the way, is a book my friend Emily gave me months ago and I’ve been putting off reading it for months…but now that I know Tilda Swinton will be starring in the movie version, I’m more motivated to read it!) After Tilda’s touching letter, the evening began in earnest with a series of tributes. Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) was the first to take the stage:

The man strikes me as a hybrid between John Cleese and Tim Burton (I think it was the combination of the mustache, wild curly hair and witty, sarcastic, bitterness). “I first met Roger at Telluride Film Festival in 1984 where I had my first film, “Louie Bluie”…I think 12 people showed up to see the film…But one of the first people in line was Roger Ebert, which was a big deal to me. I remember that I was in the lobby selling LPs, which sort of dates the whole thing.” [cue audience laughing] “They were soundtracks to the film and Roger wanted to buy a few. I said, ‘Just take a few, you know, I’m a fan.’ And he seemed rather put off by that, rather irritated, like I was trying to bribe him or something…I’m so socially retarded that I don’t think I’ve ever become friends with Roger in the traditional sense. I did have dinner with him and Chaz once, but [John] Malkovich’s whole crazy family was there so I couldn’t get a word in.” Zwigoff wrapped up his section of the presentation by inviting Errol Morris up to the stage. “Ebert called Morris’s “Gates of Heaven” one of the 10 greatest films of all time” Zwigoff said.

Errol Morris, a large, shy man, leaned down over the podium. “I think this is true, many films later — you don’t really know if they’re good or bad. You really depend on someone to tell you that they’re really not as bad as you might think and in fact they might be good! For me, very early on in my career, it was Roger Ebert,” Morris said. “[Roger] champions unlikely films. His overlooked film festival is a perfect example of this. It’s my favourite trophy by the way, the golden thumb. It’s something I’m very, very proud of. Although I was disappointed to learn that it was not actually Roger’s thumb.” At that, Roger gave Morris his famous “Thumbs Up” and nodded proudly. “Oh, is that your thumb?” Errol asked. “Well now I like it even more.”

Next up was the only director I was really familiar with (I apologize for being such an uninformed Film Studies graduate): Jason Reitman, the director of “Thank you for Smoking” and “Juno” took the stage. Unlike the other directors, he had written a speech. Reading from his notes, he said: “I remember arriving at the Toronto Film Festival with this tiny movie about teenage pregnancy starring an unknown Canadian actress named Ellen Page and I really thought that it would be a festival movie, it would not be seen otherwise. And I remember the movie ended and people started to clap and I saw Roger who was actually just sitting a few rows away from me and he nodded at me. By the next morning he had already started talking about the film and he had shone a spotlight on it. He gave people a reason to pay attention to it. I believe that Roger is one of the very few reasons people know the name ‘Juno.’ ”
Reitman, in turn, shone a light on Ebert’s online alter ego, @ebertchicago, saying,
“I know teenage girls that tweet less than Roger Ebert. The Roger Ebert twitter feed is one of the best publications we have running. I don’t mean it sarcastically; I mean it honestly. It’s thoughtful, it’s political, it’s funny, it’s daring, it’s self-effacing. His instincts to write and to share can only be seen as one thing: he wants you to experience what he has experienced.” Later, when I was in line for popcorn, a woman asked me if I followed Roger Ebert on Twitter. “Not yet” I replied. “Today he tweeted about how you should go for walks in the park with the ones you love” she said, “because you never know when you won’t be able to do it again”. “That’s lovely,” I said. Of course, the thought of Roger’s health weighed on my mind. Roger seemed to have problems standing and walking. I thanked the stars for my good health and told myself I would go for a walk in the park the next day. I had been shocked to see how Roger looked after jaw surgery. His mouth was perpetually open, in what seemed to be a huge grin. “It makes him look younger” said my neighbour, when I showed him a picture after the awards ceremony. Speaking of which, it’s not done yet:

The final speaker was Philip Kaufman (“The Right Stuff, ” “Henry & June,” “Quills”). He sat next to Roger, instead of standing at the podium as the other directors had done. His speech was definitely the most personal, and it seemed that he and Roger had a friendship that extended beyond the Film Maker/Film Critic relationship. Kaufmann explained that during the battle to get “Henry & June” into theatres, Ebert fought along beside him. “Once, Roger called me, woke me up at about 6 in the morning. The ratings board had dropped the dreaded Rated X on the film, which meant essentially that it couldn’t be distributed. Roger had been fighting the same fight with the ratings system for years and was calling to tell me that the ratings board had backed down. Because Roger had led the forces of change, they were finally coming up with a new rating, NC-17. Later, he mentioned “Of course since then they’ve found a way to make NC-17 the new X, but that’s another story.”

Kauffman is also from Chicago, and told the audience that “everything you’ve read by this kid Ebert over all these years should be in the context, in the tradition of the Chicago writers. Tough, give-em-hell, non-compromising, no bullshit, tell it like it is, compassionate writers. Like them, Ebert spoke from his heart, spoke against the big boys, championed the little man against small-minded bullies. He told us the truth according to Ebert.” He continued: “Roger and I are both lucky enough to have found the loves of our lives.” Kauffman told the most touching story about his wife, Rose: “We went to see a film, I can’t even remember the name of it or what theater it was in…but anyways, it ended up that one of us liked the film and one of us didn’t, and it escalated into such an argument that Rose slugged me in the face. I spent the night in a series of bars, thinkin’ y’know, ‘who needs this shit?’ and I went home all ready to end it all. But Rose had bolted the door. I was locked out on a cold, windy Chicago night. I went around the side of the house, and I saw that Rose had left our bedroom, our tiny bedroom, window open just a crack. I crawled in and lay down on the bed. Rose had been crying, she had tears all over her face.” Kauffman choked up. “I’m sorry, I thought I’d be able to make it through, but this is really hard.” He took a moment while the audience sat in silence or tried clapping in encouragement. His wife had died in December. “She wrapped herself around me and said ‘enough of this shit baby, let’s make our own films. Let’s make our own films.” Kauffman thanked Roger Ebert for leaving the window open just a crack, although I can’t remember how he contextualized it to make sense, I was still wrapped up in the love story. He had described it such detail that I was already picturing it as a scene from a film. At the end of his speech, Kaufman presented Ebert with both the Mel Novikoff Award as well as a proclamation from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stating that May 1st would from that point on be known as Roger Ebert Day in the city and county of San Francisco.

Next it was Roger’s turn to speak. It was obvious that he wasn’t able to speak “the traditional way”, since he had been pantomiming the whole evening. He unfolded his laptop to at last say a few words. He typed in some commands, and a computer generated voice filled the Castro Theatre:

“How is it that Eric Zonca’s film “Julia”, starring Tilda Swinton, only grossed $64,000 at the national box office?” He questioned rhetorically . “We are in a crisis of cinema. Incredibly, some studios have announced that they will no longer make what we think of as real movies. They will specialize entirely in 3D, franchises, sequels, special effects, and superheroes. We all know stories about how the best projects from even a few years ago could no longer be financed today. The studios are running like lemmings towards 3D. 3D is an annoying gimmick useful primarily for increasing ticket prices.” The audience seemed to agree…or at least I did. Ebert gestured grandly as the computer pronounced what he’d written: “Truffaut said the most beautiful sight you will see in a cinema is if you sit in the front and turnaround to gaze at all those eyes lifted up to the screen. They are a characterization of the movie and they are an audience. An audience forms a personality. It forms an identity. It is how we shape our collective dreams. I love my DVD collection. I love streaming video. But when I finally am able to see the restored ‘Metropolis’ I promise you it will not be at home on television.” The audience cheered. After his speech, Roger Ebert and his wife walked off stage, and Eric Zonca’s film began. At first I was shocked by Tilda’s psycho, alcaholic, American character…It wasn’t until the second half of the film that I began to really enjoy the dark comedy and irony. It’s an excellent film. You should watch it. Here’s the trailer!

An Evening in an Impressionist Painting

Last night was the 26th annual Art Deco Preservation Ball. I was head over heels and over the moon with the entire event. I’ve always wanted to go back in time so I could photograph that era…but who needs to go back in time with an event like this? I felt like a character in Un bar aux Folies Bergère. I purposely kept my flash off in an attempt to imitate Manet. (Wong era, but whatever!) Click here to view the slideshow on my website.

Day 13: Alice Walker, Danny Glover, Robin Williams and Advice from Lady Gaga

I am 2 weeks behind on my blog. I skipped from Day 1 to Day 13. It’s going to take a lot of rainy days to force me to stay inside and catch up. Until then, here is a more recent update of what I’ve been doing:

Today I went to the “Sping edition” of San Francisco’s Green Festival. I was put off by the first talk I attended, which was supposed to be about the changing face of media, but instead ended up being about drug rehab, jail and West African hallucinogenic tree bark. The copious amounts of free samples made me feel better. I must have eaten a whole box worth of “Mary’s gone crackers” cookies. While I waited for Danny Glover and Alice Walker to appear, I killed time by wandering through aisles and aisles of “green” products…My favourite was Sheila Moon‘s athletic apparel: steam-punkesque biking gear. Finally 4 o’clock rolled around. Alice Walker gave a lovely talk about her memories of Howard Zinn. Danny Glover was good at rallying people, although to be honest, I couldn’t really concentrate on what he was saying because I was so mesmerized by his 1990s celebrity status:I just kept thinking “there’s a look I recognize from ‘Angels in the Outfield!'”…Terrible, I know. Afterwards a woman who I had never heard of (but apparently is a “Bay Area Sensation”) sang some moving, soulful songs. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Goapele (pronounced “Gwa-pa-lay”). Afterwards, I bought Alice Walker’s book “We Are the Ones We Have been Waiting For” and got it signed. I was saddened by the fact that she didn’t ask my name or what I thought of the conference…Oh well, the woman was probably exhausted.

Speaking of celebrities, my roommate nonchalantly informed me this morning that ROBIN WILLIAMS’ HOUSE IS 2 BLOCKS AWAY FROM OURS! AHhhh! She also mentioned that she went to school with his kids! Apparently “celebrities are no big deal around here”…so I hope she doesn’t tell me his exact address otherwise I might look like the only tourist/paparazzi in town. Oh, speaking of paparazzi, I’ve been contemplating some business advice from Lady Gaga recently:

“Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you any more.”

Day One: I Pine For Thee

I awoke the next morning with the thought: “I’m in San Francisco!” running through my head. I smiled and pulled open the blinds.
I walked into the kitchen and sat at the high top table, looking out into the beautiful, yet unkept, garden:I listened to India Arie and the sound of chirping birds. I made myself a veggie omlette. I heard a sudden rapping on the windows, and realized it was pouring. “A freak rainstorm…Welcome to San Francisco!” I sighed/laughed. I followed up my omlette with fresh pears in all-natural yogurt…I had a long day of exploring ahead of me, I had to be well fed! I had seen the “Pine Street END” street sign, and now I wanted to know where Pine Street began. I retraced my steps to the top of the hill and began my decent into San Francisco. The weather had cleared up: the streets were wet but the sky was blue. I took pictures of almost every house, the Victorian “painted ladies”, as my lonely planet calls them. Amusingly Lonely Planet also enlightened me to the fact that “Pacific Heights” is locally known as “Specific Whites”, which refers not only to the new beige and white paint jobs the formerly colourful “painted ladies” recieved, but also to the ethnic demographic, which is, you guessed it, mostly white.

My first point of interest was “Frankie’s Bohemian Cafe“, (I went there the next week, sadly their veggie burger did not live up to my expectations). The next point of interest besides the houses was a church. It was just after (?) Easter and I found the remains of some palm fronds in the garbage. The minister (?) told me that this church was the fourth incarnation of the church, as the others were destroyed by Earthquakes or other acts of God presumably. The windows were being replaced, which made for some interesting images. The main hall reminded me of a photographer’s studio, because of the transparents tarps set up, they looked like photographers light boxes.

Day .5: "Trader Joes"

I arrived in the late afternoon on March 29th. After meeting my roommate and dropping off my suitcase, my first order of business was going to Trader Joes. “It’s just up the hill…which is in itself an understatement” said my roommate. She was right. When I got to the top of the hill, I turned around and saw this:

I smiled, (laughed, actually) jumped up and down, wiggled my toes, and counted my lucky stars. “I’m in San Francisco!” I whispered, trying to convince myself that I was actually physically standing in San Francisco…Hard to believe, as just a few weeks before I’d been living in the mountains just south of the North Korean border.

When I walked into Trader Joes, It was like walking into the doors of some celestial grocery heaven. I had found my people. The first thing I saw besides the colourful fresh-cut flowers were the spiral honey hams, followed by a sea of fedora-wearing boys. I was simply euphoric. I felt I could be friends with anyone. One of the workers helped me look for chick peas (American: garbanzo beans) but alas we could not find any, so I settled on pre-made humus (which was excellent, by the way). “Do you have a discount produce section” I asked naively. “In this store? –No.” Later I realized how expensive everything was, it rivaled Korean produce: Everything was at least a dollar. “Note to self: go to China town for groceries” I thought. My bill was $32.38 and the tax was only 52 cents! I marveled at the fact I was marveling at the lack of tax. I guess you know you’re Canadian when you are shocked by low taxes.

I unpacked, ate some humus on bread, and went to sleep on my futon couch. (It took me about a week to figure out how to make it a bed…and still no pillow! That’s been on the top of my shopping list for 12 days).

Scott Treleaven & AnOther Magazine

As much as I get freaked out by facebook’s ability to advertise directly to my personal interests, I have to admit that it can be artistically beneficial. Today facebook displayed an ad for AnOther Magazine (based in London), which “places high fashion in a cultural context to the digital world”. It allowed my discovery of Canadian photographer Scott Treleaven (who attended York for a year, transferred to OCAD and did an additional 3 years at U of T, according to his online resume). His photos in AnOther are stunning:

This one reminds me of Klimt’s Judith and the Head of Holofernes

AnOTHER MAN MAGAZINE
“Scott Treleaven is something of a new wave Renaissance man, working in film, collage, drawing and photography. But this marks the Paris-based artist’s grandest entrance into the fashion arena. Stylist Alistair Mackie approached him about collaborating on a14 page story for the spring issue of AnOther Man. The quasi-surreal pictures are inspired by 19 th-century Paris’s “Club des Hashashins“-a bohemian literary group that boasted decadent gents such as Charles Baudelaire and Alexandre Dumas as members.”

Maddy Muse: The Flower Sessions

This is Maddy, the daughter of my mom’s co-worker. She was my flower fairy for a day. The images are numbered 1-7. Which is your favourite? and if you had to choose: 6 or 7?

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