That’s how crazy it is. Forget the iPad – that’s old news. The Kindle? A proprietorial dinosaur. Check this puppy out . . .

The Kobo is an open-source electronic book reader that uses cheap SD cards to boost memory. It plugs into your computer via USB, so you can carry thousands of books around at once. All nice and standard. No proprietary book format (although it reads many formats). It costs A$200 and can be bought at Borders.

Writers, Get out Your Pens

Self-publishing used to be a bad word. It was frowned upon by the chosen writers. The ones chosen to have their books put into print by publishers. People who couldn’t work in a team environment with a producer and an editor were cornered into self-publishing – and nobody would talk to them. Now they are rock stars. Brad Pitt was wrong in Fight Club. We’re all going to be famous rock-stars because we’re killing off the middle men one by one! What was it that Karl Marx said about access to society’s “means of production” being in the “hands of the few?” Not so anymore.

Now you can release your own music (like I do on Bandcamp) make your own films and upload them (like we do here at Geoffrey on YouTube). And now? . . . Now you can publish your own Kindle novelette.

Do be certain to follow this very handy guide. That’s actually a brilliant link to a list of tips for any writer. Check your work before releasing your novelette to the masses (because no-one else will).

And be sure to make it completely free.

Whaaaaaaat?

I’m sorry but your first novel is FREE

You ain’t going to get anywhere without writing and releasing your first novel for nix. If the Kobo comes with Dostoevsky’s “Crime & Punishment” pre-loaded, you’d better not charge a dime, friend. Dostoevsky is King!

So – all you people who ever wanted to publish a novel (or novelette, or short story, or anthology of poems) – now there’s no excuse. Nobody’s going to reject you. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. At least you won’t owe your publisher a penny if your book flops! And most do (keep that in mind as you write).

So what’s next? . . . Books, movies, music . . . Well. There’s a slew of computer printers that can “print” out plastic parts. It’s all in its infancy, but one day maybe even wannabe toy-makers and toolmakers can start their home-based careers. Without having to go through Hasbro or . . . Black & Decker? (I think that’s where toolmakers go).

In a Nutshell

Quick! Make a run for Borders and order your $199 Kobo. Use the SD card in your digital camera if you want to store more than 1,000 books. And get in now before third world labour becomes too expensive.

The Social Media Demographic is changing. In 2008 the kids (teens) thought Twitter uncool, but they are are now part of a steadily rising demographic. Key users are of working age as these social tools are increasingly being used to attract new clients and work. I’m 42, and because in the business of making websites, I should know.

How I Use Social Media

The following is how I use the various Social Network Tools available today and how I might use them if I could afford an iPad. Click the social media title to see my social media page/s and how I use the software (because that’s what it is people – software).

Facebook

• text-chatting to friends in front of the TV
• sharing photos with friends and family
• sharing links
• keeping in contact with overseas family
• keeping in contact with people you normally wouldn’t catchup with (like ex-girlfriends etc.). Indeed keeping in contact with everyone you’ve ever met!
• keeping friends updated on what you’re doing (status report)
• letting friends know what my latest website looks like
• letting friends or family know what l look like (as I age)
• gentle business promotion?

(As a general rule, it’s probably best to keep anything that resembles advertising to 1 in 10 posts. Facebook is mostly a social catch-up arena.)

Twitter

• Like the Facebook update status I can let my friends know what I’m eating for lunch ;p
• advertise a website special for the moment to 1000 people at once.
• follow topics of interest
• quickly send out a link to something of interest to a group of people
• follow a group chat about a particular topic by inserting a #hashtag into my 140 word post
• follow musicians realeasing free albums
• follow deals on specialist equipment
• follow deals on short courses / education freebies

Delicious

• I’m so tired of losing my links with different browsers and bookmarks, that now I keep them all in one spot … online. It takes a little longer to post a link of interest, but it’s worth the convenience when you work on several computers. If you click on the word delicious above – you can see all my saved bookmarks. I don’t care that they are available publicly. And that’s part of the social network issue . . . Privacy!

Tumblr

• basically an online scrapbook
• sound
• image
• movie snippets
• blog thoughts.
• half-baked ideas or noodles of mild interest I post here
• comments on things I see and like

Digg

• They email me daily with what’s popular on the web
• I often tweet it to my Twitter followers
• basically a run down of the most popular thing on the web

(younger Gen-Y audience – not business oriented)

Linked In

• my Business CV online
• associates can post job references.
• my work history and CV for all to see
• people “re-connect” with associates they may have worked with in the past
• 35-45 working age group

Flickr

• Hosts photos that you can share with friends / family / work colleagues
  I use this to show location stills to cast / crew for films

MySpace

• Musician / Filmmaker hub (mostly for musos)

Bands were once “discovered” here but those days (2007) are probably behind us. Youtube is more likely to show off your tap-dancing these days plus bands are increasingly cutting out the middle man by turning to self-distribution models using websites like Bandcamp. Even I have an EP on Bandcamp – The Mary Street Abduction.

RSS

• Really Simple Syndication. Clicking this link usually adds a website’s content to your reader. Or e-reader! Joining an RSS feed will have stuff (like this article) emailed to your inbox (if you like this Blog, join us here). This technology has yet to stretch its wings I feel. Readers are heading over to the couch right now. The electronic book may herald the boom of a new Blog reader. Blogs are so popular because they give search engines so much to find. Because of it, businesses also try to run blogs (like this one). You can get a basic e-reader for as little as $200 these days and some of them (the slightly more expensive ones) connect to your home wi-fi.

In Short

You can find a use for nearly all of these things. But in the world of business, people need to know that you exist. Letting them know at every turn that you are there, dilligently performaing a task for clients, is really important to me. Most of my work comes through friends and associates recommending my work. Not joining all these avenues for someone with my tiny advertising budget would be coinsidered a misdemeanor.

After all – every single one of these things is completely free!

The iPad is coming to Australia. But will it live up to the hype? It has some serious issues and, to my mind, may just be Apple’s final hurrah. , you need to be really close to your wi-fi hub in order for it to work. This problem can’t get fixed with a software update because of a tiny receiver behind the screen and most people use the iPad on their laps / cushions etc. – further reducing the signal.

Whatever you think about Apple as a company, they do tend to come up with 100% usable products. I would go as far as to say that they are a company more into usability than the technology itself. The fact is, that for most Macs, you are spending nearly double what you’d spend on a PC with the same specs. I’m not writing this to add to the PC Vs. Mac debate. They are both massive companies who seem to behave like little babies. Perhaps that’s what competition at this level does to us. At the very successful release of the iPod, Bill Gates (most probably in a fit of jealousy after his Zune music player bombed) announced that Microsoft were no longer going to support Internet Explorer (IE) for Mac computers (Ne-ne-ne-ner-nerr!). And the black turtle-necked Steve Jobs comes over as an absolute tyrant when it comes to secrecy about his latest Mac products.

In short, time will be the great leveler, but the issues with the current iPad seem to be getting worse by the day. We’re in a world where products are realeased way before they are ready. It’s cheaper to get your loyal (in the case of Mac, super loyal) customers to do your testing. They’ll prolly upgrade to the later version anyway. I’m going to wait until the iPad (which should retail here for around $650) has been around for a few generations before I buy in. In the meantime, keep watching.

Steve Jobs’ Six Sneakiest Statements
Jobs: “Flash Will Murder the iPad”